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Try something on the order of 100k ohms, or even a megohm. You can't hurt it by experimenting with higher resistances.
That probably close to what I need. I ran the 4 resistors I took out of the old ECM giving me 3360 omhs and it made next to no difference. The resistance from my finger tip to thumb was a tad dull for daylight, but I couldn't measure the resistance😂.
I have been looking at picking up a breadboard kit and just start testing through that till I get it right. In the mean time I just disconnected the grounds and taped them up so the indicator lights don't come on when the switches are on.
ok false start on the last post. A current limiting resistor (or combination) at 3360 ohms installed in series with the LED on the ground wire should have limited the current down to just a couple milliamps. It is interesting that this much resistance failed to dim the LED down to almost no light output if it lit at all. I wonder what is not as straight foreword about this as it seems it should be.
a current limiting resistor is commonly part of the circuit to prevent the LED from being destroyed by the current passing through it at automotive voltage levels. The switch likely has one already. Adding to it should further limit the current. I just thought it was interesting that 3360 ohms of additional resistance had no visible effect. Something is not straightforward here in that the circuit does not seem to be-- source, LED, ground, with a current limiting resistor in there somewhere. Limiting current through a standard LED to 4 or 5 milliamps or so should have had an effect on light output. Of course there are different ways of doing things. I would like to see this circuit drawn out.
hapdad
Interested in your solution, I recently installed some lit switches in my dash. Different type than yours but are brighter than I expected, though not quite the laserbeam effect yours seem to display, it's especially distracting at night. I figured a resistor in the ground to the switch would do the trick, and was about to post a new thread on this subject when I saw this thread. I may go by the electronics store over the next few days to get a recommendation to which value resistor might work best.
I am still running my temporary solution of just disconnecting the grounds on the switches because I don't have a local pace to buy resistors. Unfortunately for me it has already caused a dead battery. I accidentally turned on the pod lights during the day and didn't notice they were on. Don't know if I would have noticed it if the indicator lights were working at a lower output.
The laser beam affect on my switches is due to the little lense is actually a magnifying glass. One of these days when I have a bit of free time I am going to order a resistor kit and a small bread board to find the right values. That or just flatten out the lense on the switches with a file.
Originally Posted by ElMartillo
Interested in your solution, I recently installed some lit switches in my dash. Different type than yours but are brighter than I expected, though not quite the laserbeam effect yours seem to display, it's especially distracting at night. I figured a resistor in the ground to the switch would do the trick, and was about to post a new thread on this subject when I saw this thread. I may go by the electronics store over the next few days to get a recommendation to which value resistor might work best.
Old thread, new and simple solution. I simply cut some electrical tape of the same color as the led and placed it on the switch. Any color led switch has a corresponding color electrical tape. I have found two layers of the same color tape cuts the glare down to a reasonable level. For my round switch I used a punch to make the mask, and the rectangular switch I just cut with a razor knife. I realize the photos don’t really show light output, but I believe a post without a photo is BS.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, y viola!
Last edited by ElMartillo; Jul 10, 2019 at 08:13 PM.
Could use a can of spray tint.... Like what you would use to "smoke" your tail lights. Tape where you don't want spray to get and coat until brightness level is reached.....
. I accidentally turned on the pod lights during the day and didn't notice they were on. Don't know if I would have noticed it if the indicator lights were working at a lower output.
