Poor Man's Ambient Light Cup Holder Ring, Installed
#102
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Here's some videos of the current setup installed in the truck. I'm also including the parts list of everything I used to make this build.
Materials Needed:
1. Side Glow fiber optic filament 3mm at 2ft:
a. http://www.thefiberopticstore.com/pu.../SGS-Fiber.htm
2. 1/8th clear heat shrink tubing:
a. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=082-026
b. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-CLEAR-10...-/180525788900
3. RGB LED Strip of Choice:
a. b. http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...wfls-rgb/1472/
4. RGB RF Controller of Choice:
a. http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...ote/1261/2932/
5. RGB Extension Cable:
a.
a. Female -
8. Hollow Wall Anchors
http://www.lowes.com/pd_326650-10457...hor&facetInfo=
Tools needed:
1. Dremel or small carving tool
2. Soldering tool with preferred solder
3. Heatshrink gun or lighter
The basic instructions for adding the cup holder ring are as follows:
Adding the glow tube to the cup holder
1. using a dremel tool with a carving bit, carve a channel into the inner lip (roughly 3/8th of an inch deep, I recommend taking it slow and test with the optical tube)
2. position the clear heat shrink tubing around the optical tubing and heat from the middle out to make sure no air pockets are produced.
3. After you've test fitted the tubing in the groove you carved, use some clear crazy glue and glue the shrink wrapped optical tube to the cup holder. Press down firm to make sure the tube binds to the plastic of the cup holder. (The clear shrink tubing is the key to making the optical tube connect to the cup holder, without it, no glow that I could find will make the slink optical tube stick)
Creating the RGB module for the tubing:
1. Cut a 3 LED section from the spool of RGB 5050 LED strip (only 2 of the LEDs will be used)
2. Solder a short run of RGB wire to the strip and add a connector to the othe end of the RGB wire
3. Modify the Hollow Wall Drive Anchors by removing all parts from where it begins to be hollow to the tip, (this will be used to keep the optic tubing in place and fixed on the LEDs) slightly curve the head of the ancher so it matches the contour of the RGB LED strip.
4. Crazy Glue the curved anchors to the RGB strip LEDs so that they are resting directly on top of the LEDs. You should be able to see the LED through the hole at the top of the anchor.
5. Using various sizes of shrink tubing (3/4 being the largest) begin to cover the strip so that you in case the strip and anchors into one unit. This is the ugly part and can vary in design, but the most important thing is to reinforce the anchor on the strip so it won't come apart along with blocking any light other that what will shine through the anchors. (Also, I recommend using marine grade shrink tubing as it gets harder after it's heated)
6. slide the optical tubing into the anchor hole and take more shrink tubing to lock the two together.
At this point you should have a setup similar to the pictures of the module I've shown. Once all that is complete, you can add the RGB LED strip with the optical tubing to the controller and wire it anyway you desire.
If needed I can work on creating instructions for adding the whole RGB wiring/strips and connecting it to truck, but most of that is covered in previous posting in this thread.
I hope this offers enough to get you started, it's easier that my instructions let on and the outcome is great I haven't yet added up the cost, but I'm still very close to below 100bucks for everything Another note is, with this setup you can use any RGB LED controller you like. I picked the one listed as it was small and offered the RF remote option.
Materials Needed:
1. Side Glow fiber optic filament 3mm at 2ft:
a. http://www.thefiberopticstore.com/pu.../SGS-Fiber.htm
2. 1/8th clear heat shrink tubing:
a. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=082-026
b. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8-CLEAR-10...-/180525788900
3. RGB LED Strip of Choice:
a. b. http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...wfls-rgb/1472/
4. RGB RF Controller of Choice:
a. http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...ote/1261/2932/
5. RGB Extension Cable:
a.
Amazon.com: RGB Extension Cable Line 4 Color 10m for LED Strip RGB 5050 3528 Cord 4pin: Home Improvement
6. RGB Male/Male and Male/Female Connectorsa. Female -
Amazon.com: 20pcs 4 Pin Female Copper Connector for Led Strip Light RGB 5050 3528 Insert Easy: Electronics
b. Male -
Amazon.com: Pack of 30pcs 4-Pin RGB Connector Male Female for RGB 5050 3528 LED Strip DIY: Musical Instruments
7. Various sizes Black shrink tubing8. Hollow Wall Anchors
http://www.lowes.com/pd_326650-10457...hor&facetInfo=
Tools needed:
1. Dremel or small carving tool
2. Soldering tool with preferred solder
3. Heatshrink gun or lighter
The basic instructions for adding the cup holder ring are as follows:
Adding the glow tube to the cup holder
1. using a dremel tool with a carving bit, carve a channel into the inner lip (roughly 3/8th of an inch deep, I recommend taking it slow and test with the optical tube)
2. position the clear heat shrink tubing around the optical tubing and heat from the middle out to make sure no air pockets are produced.
3. After you've test fitted the tubing in the groove you carved, use some clear crazy glue and glue the shrink wrapped optical tube to the cup holder. Press down firm to make sure the tube binds to the plastic of the cup holder. (The clear shrink tubing is the key to making the optical tube connect to the cup holder, without it, no glow that I could find will make the slink optical tube stick)
Creating the RGB module for the tubing:
1. Cut a 3 LED section from the spool of RGB 5050 LED strip (only 2 of the LEDs will be used)
2. Solder a short run of RGB wire to the strip and add a connector to the othe end of the RGB wire
3. Modify the Hollow Wall Drive Anchors by removing all parts from where it begins to be hollow to the tip, (this will be used to keep the optic tubing in place and fixed on the LEDs) slightly curve the head of the ancher so it matches the contour of the RGB LED strip.
4. Crazy Glue the curved anchors to the RGB strip LEDs so that they are resting directly on top of the LEDs. You should be able to see the LED through the hole at the top of the anchor.
5. Using various sizes of shrink tubing (3/4 being the largest) begin to cover the strip so that you in case the strip and anchors into one unit. This is the ugly part and can vary in design, but the most important thing is to reinforce the anchor on the strip so it won't come apart along with blocking any light other that what will shine through the anchors. (Also, I recommend using marine grade shrink tubing as it gets harder after it's heated)
6. slide the optical tubing into the anchor hole and take more shrink tubing to lock the two together.
At this point you should have a setup similar to the pictures of the module I've shown. Once all that is complete, you can add the RGB LED strip with the optical tubing to the controller and wire it anyway you desire.
If needed I can work on creating instructions for adding the whole RGB wiring/strips and connecting it to truck, but most of that is covered in previous posting in this thread.
I hope this offers enough to get you started, it's easier that my instructions let on and the outcome is great I haven't yet added up the cost, but I'm still very close to below 100bucks for everything Another note is, with this setup you can use any RGB LED controller you like. I picked the one listed as it was small and offered the RF remote option.
The following 3 users liked this post by kmaximus:
#103
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Oh I forgot to add that the controller being used, will do static colors and dim as well. I didn't illustrate that in the videos, but I had it on it's brightest setting and will go down 3 additional settings.
I had a chance this morning to collate my pictures, so this will help with the build instructions:
I had a chance this morning to collate my pictures, so this will help with the build instructions:
#106
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Thanks, I'm really loving the final product
I purchased mine off ebay sometime last year, but this is the same product on amazon:
the strips under the seats are configured like this:
rgb wire from controller -> front 9 led strip left side -> direct solder rgb wire to back 9 LED strip right right side.
So, basically I have a 9LED strip hardwired wired to another 9LED strip with open connectors on it for future adds. the RGB wire between the 2 is resting on the seat guts with no issue. I'll take some pics tomorrow that will help.
I purchased mine off ebay sometime last year, but this is the same product on amazon:
the strips under the seats are configured like this:
rgb wire from controller -> front 9 led strip left side -> direct solder rgb wire to back 9 LED strip right right side.
So, basically I have a 9LED strip hardwired wired to another 9LED strip with open connectors on it for future adds. the RGB wire between the 2 is resting on the seat guts with no issue. I'll take some pics tomorrow that will help.
The following users liked this post:
kmaximus (07-12-2013)
The following users liked this post:
kmaximus (07-13-2013)
The following users liked this post:
kmaximus (07-13-2013)
#110
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Yup, with this controller has 4 levels to dim, all the pictures I took were on the highest so they'd show up well. The mood can be set just right, lol
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...ote/1261/2932/
"Function: Dim and control 3 channel RGB LED products from 20~100% using PWM with RF remote control"
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...ote/1261/2932/
"Function: Dim and control 3 channel RGB LED products from 20~100% using PWM with RF remote control"