how to hook up led light in car
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Lights, Neon, LEDs, HIDs
Forum Discription: Under Car Lighting, Strobe Lights, Fog Lights, Headlights, HIDs, DRL, Tail Lights, Brake Lights, Dashboard Lights, WigWag, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=113065
Printed Date: May 12, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Topic: how to hook up led light in car
Posted By: peppers
Subject: how to hook up led light in car
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 4:36 PM
i want to hook up a blinking LED light in the car to make it appear that i have an alarm. i am pretty sure i know what parts i need i just dont know how to hook it up to the electrical system of the car and make sure that my car does not burn down. I want the light to blink when the car is off, and turn off when the car is running. i found many websites that briefly talk about it but i still dont understand.
i dont know how to read wiring diagrams. i saw them but to me its like Chinese. Please help
Replies:
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:03 PM
What kind of vehicle?
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:11 PM
2000 Toyota Corolla LE
Posted By: t&t tech
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:32 PM
what kind of led are you installing most leds for that purpose will have three wires constant twelve, a ground, and an ignition wire, that will cut the led off once you turn the car on.
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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF.
PSALMS 37:5
Posted By: t&t tech
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:35 PM
i'm giving this from the top of my head, the colour wires at the ignition harness you would need are BLACK/ red- constant twelve BLACK/ white- switched ignition of course this is right hand specs, testing is the key. ------------- COMMIT YOUR WAY TO JEHOVAH AND HE WILL ACT IN YOUR BEHALF.
PSALMS 37:5
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:40 PM
https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productid=2062553 Go to radio shack and purchase the preceeding product. Read the package carefully and notice the positive and negative of the LED. When there also purchase a 1K ohm 1/4 watt resistor. Notice the K in the value of the resistor. I will draw you a simple non-chinese diagram. and even give you the wire colors to connect it to. 
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 6:51 PM
i am an idiot wrote:
https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productid=2062553 Go to radio shack and purchase the preceeding product. Read the package carefully and notice the positive and negative of the LED. When there also purchase a 1K ohm 1/4 watt resistor. Notice the K in the value of the resistor. I will draw you a simple non-chinese diagram. and even give you the wire colors to connect it to.
if u would do that for me it would me nice. thanks
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 7:13 PM
I edited my post as you were typing yours.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 7:45 PM
i am an idiot wrote:
https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productid=2062553 Go to radio shack and purchase the preceeding product. Read the package carefully and notice the positive and negative of the LED. When there also purchase a 1K ohm 1/4 watt resistor. Notice the K in the value of the resistor. I will draw you a simple non-chinese diagram. and even give you the wire colors to connect it to.
do i need to wrap the resister in electrical tape or shrink wrap tubing to make it insulated? how do i connect it to the harness? do i need to cut into the wire or just stick the wire into the prong? do i need a fuse? thanks
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 7:57 PM
Yes you need to insulate the resistor and the positive wire of the LED. I do not think just sticking the wires into the harness is going to be a reliable connection.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 11, 2009 at 8:09 PM
so how do i tap into it? can u explain in detail. thanks a lot
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 8:45 AM
It might be worth your while to mount the LED where you want it and run the wires to the area behind the radio, remove the radio and go to your local stereo shop and see how much they will charge you to make the connections. Make sure to tell them that the negative wire is to be connected to the switched 12Volt wire of the radio. If they ground the LED to ground, it will stay on all the time.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 4:20 PM
i just bought an LED light (12v) form radio shack with a built in resistor
https://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productid=2062568
i hooked it up to a 3v camera battery just to test it out and it turns on but it does not blink. why is that? it says that it has a built in resistor
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 4:25 PM
It is because it is not a blinking LED. I just looked and the one I posted a link to appears to be an On-Line only item. You may have to order it. Years ago they stocked the item in their stores. I do not think they carry a blinking 12 volt LED. That is why I suggested the blinking LED and the resistor.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 9:04 PM
so i bought a blinking led but it is 5 volts. if i connect it in my car (12v) will it blow? what do i need to do to make it work? i also have a 1k ohm 1/4 watt 5% tolerance resistor
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 9:22 PM
Yes if you connect the LED to your car it will blow. But since you have the resistor, try connecting the resistor to the LED as in the picture I posted earlier, and that will prevent the LED from blowing.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 9:25 PM
i am an idiot wrote:
Yes if you connect the LED to your car it will blow. But since you have the resistor, try connecting the resistor to the LED as in the picture I posted earlier, and that will prevent the LED from blowing.
is that resistor big enough? how do i know if its the correct size in terms of watts and ohms
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 9:46 PM
A 1K resistor is safe to connect any LED to a 12 Volt system. An 1/8 watt resistor is plenty enough power handling capacity to do the job. I just don't know if radio shack has that resistor available in 1/8 watt without buying a huge assortment pack. I do know they keep the 1/4 watt in the store.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 10:23 PM
this is prob my last question. u have been a lot of help so far. does it matter which end of the resistor is soldered to the LED? it has bands that go from brown to gold on t.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 10:49 PM
The resistor is not direction sensitive. However there is a ground and positive connection on the LED.
Posted By: peppers
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 10:53 PM
i am an idiot wrote:
The resistor is not direction sensitive. However there is a ground and positive connection on the LED.
but u said not to ground it otherwise it wont blink right?
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: April 12, 2009 at 10:58 PM
Connect the ground terminal of the LED to the Grey wire on the harness that plugs into the back of the radio. The positive terminal connects to the Blue / YELLOW wire on that same plug.
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