Poor Man's Ambient Light Cup Holder Ring, Installed
07-13-2013, 12:59 AM
#111
Senior Member
Thread Starter
https://www.f150forum.com/f38/annoyi...-fixed-210081/
I mounted the right angle corner guard to the plastic clip that locks down the seat cover to the frame, all of the mounting was done with 5lb rated outdoor double sided tape. Wipe down everything with rubbing alcohol so the tape will stick, there's some slippery stuff under the seat
Doing this produces a much better glow across the rear floor area
10-20-2013, 10:37 PM
#116
Senior Member
Got mine all installed a few weeks ago, thanks to all those who helped me out. The footwell lighting is very vibrant blue and the cup holder wire almost matches the factory blue perfectly.
I am having an issue with the cup holder lighting though. I went with the el wire suggested earlier in the thread and it worked great for the first couple weeks but now it goes full bright when I first turn it on for a split second and then dulls and stays very dimly lit.
I tried emailing the company but have yet to get a response, but would it be a good bet that it's a faulty inverter since it lights up fully at first the dims?
I am having an issue with the cup holder lighting though. I went with the el wire suggested earlier in the thread and it worked great for the first couple weeks but now it goes full bright when I first turn it on for a split second and then dulls and stays very dimly lit.
I tried emailing the company but have yet to get a response, but would it be a good bet that it's a faulty inverter since it lights up fully at first the dims?
10-20-2013, 11:41 PM
#117
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Yeah, it's possible the inverter crapped out. Another thing to check is with the el wire, did you make any really sharp corner bends? If so, that bend could be shorting out the wire. I did that with my first elwire setup.
Did you buy your elwire setup from the thatscoolwire website? I will say there is a quality difference between their stuff and some of the other stuff that can be bought on Amazon/ebay. I bought one of those and it came out the bag messed up. A tell tell sign the wire is damanged is if you see dark spots along the glowing wire.
I hope you can get it replaced, sorry to hear it! Post some pics when you get it running!
Did you buy your elwire setup from the thatscoolwire website? I will say there is a quality difference between their stuff and some of the other stuff that can be bought on Amazon/ebay. I bought one of those and it came out the bag messed up. A tell tell sign the wire is damanged is if you see dark spots along the glowing wire.
I hope you can get it replaced, sorry to hear it! Post some pics when you get it running!
10-21-2013, 11:46 AM
#118
NP Kmax, ya mines still going sting really looks good since I have the LED for sills and changed all my inside bulbs to red...
Looks WAY better in person and the picture does no justice ha
Looks WAY better in person and the picture does no justice ha
The following users liked this post:
kmaximus (11-23-2013)
02-05-2014, 10:41 AM
#119
Senior Member
Cupholder light ring and storage tray LED lighting fab
Hey guys,
I know the thread is a little dated but I found it and decided to do the mod.
I purchased the Pilot optic glow in blue from Autozone as others have done.
Its the one that is about 3mm in diameter.
I had to dremel out some plastic around the edge of the cup holder to give the light wand a place to sit and allow the chrome to sit flush on the console.
I found that hot glue actually holds the tube in place pretty well. Its a little messy if you're not careful but it works fast and seems to bond okay to the light wand.
I know others had said they tried multiple adhesives with little success, not sure if hot glue was one of them.
While I was under the console I also added a small blue LED to the small compartment at the front of the console. Its dark and I can never see my wallet or whatever I have in there without the dome light.
I decided to tie my power into the shift lever LED lights as another poster suggested. This way nothing to turn on or off, it works with auto parking lights which come on when its dark and I need the extra accent lighting.
Next is to tie in some footwell lights to my drivers sill wires. I think someone said thin purple and black. Others have said yellow/green. I'll figure it out.
Anyway, this was a cheap mod ~$20.00 and looks pretty decent at night.
Definitely better than spending $300.00 on a platinum cup holder light ring that's for sure.
BTW- The blue in the storage compartment and rings match perfectly. The camera photo makes it look darker but its not. I may need to put a resistor or potentiometer on the hot lead since when its totally dark these two accents are bright. They do dim with the factory dim switch since I tied it into the shift lever LED. But may need to tone them down independently of the factory dim control.
I know the thread is a little dated but I found it and decided to do the mod.
I purchased the Pilot optic glow in blue from Autozone as others have done.
Its the one that is about 3mm in diameter.
I had to dremel out some plastic around the edge of the cup holder to give the light wand a place to sit and allow the chrome to sit flush on the console.
I found that hot glue actually holds the tube in place pretty well. Its a little messy if you're not careful but it works fast and seems to bond okay to the light wand.
I know others had said they tried multiple adhesives with little success, not sure if hot glue was one of them.
While I was under the console I also added a small blue LED to the small compartment at the front of the console. Its dark and I can never see my wallet or whatever I have in there without the dome light.
I decided to tie my power into the shift lever LED lights as another poster suggested. This way nothing to turn on or off, it works with auto parking lights which come on when its dark and I need the extra accent lighting.
Next is to tie in some footwell lights to my drivers sill wires. I think someone said thin purple and black. Others have said yellow/green. I'll figure it out.
Anyway, this was a cheap mod ~$20.00 and looks pretty decent at night.
Definitely better than spending $300.00 on a platinum cup holder light ring that's for sure.
BTW- The blue in the storage compartment and rings match perfectly. The camera photo makes it look darker but its not. I may need to put a resistor or potentiometer on the hot lead since when its totally dark these two accents are bright. They do dim with the factory dim switch since I tied it into the shift lever LED. But may need to tone them down independently of the factory dim control.
The following users liked this post:
kmaximus (02-05-2014)
02-05-2014, 07:43 PM
#120
Senior Member
Thread Starter
IT LIVES!!!! J/K 
dannytexas, that looks great. I'm glad to hear you were able to get it going with the hot glue. Hot glue was one of the 20 different glues I tried, but it would never fully stick for me. Do you have any pictures of how much you used? I didn't apply much when testing, it was the same time the clear shrink tubing idea came to light and I went that route
I'm more than 7 months with my ring setup and still looks great, best not 300 bucks I spent yet
Check out this controller as an alternative option for your dimming:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...te-/1370/3140/
dannytexas, that looks great. I'm glad to hear you were able to get it going with the hot glue. Hot glue was one of the 20 different glues I tried, but it would never fully stick for me. Do you have any pictures of how much you used? I didn't apply much when testing, it was the same time the clear shrink tubing idea came to light and I went that route
I'm more than 7 months with my ring setup and still looks great, best not 300 bucks I spent yet
Check out this controller as an alternative option for your dimming:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...te-/1370/3140/