Honda Ridgeline Owners Club Forums banner

Know Of Any Super White Bulbs ?

14K views 58 replies 27 participants last post by  wanderer7453 
#1 ·
Hey all,
Got done changing out all interior bulbs with LED's white and blue, as well as the cargo, license plate and rear reverse lights. I also bought some for the signal/parking lights for the fronts but haven't installed yet.
Question arises when I finally figured out how to get to (not remove, don't know how, yet) the courtesy orange light next to the mic and homelink. And I got to the tiny one inside the center console at the back of it.

Does anyone know where to find super white bulbs for these two lonely orange bulbs? Even the glove box is showing off its super whites. Please help these lonely soles find their guiding light... :(

Kam...
 
#2 ·
Minihummer. I am no expert by faaaaarrr. But I had one of those Chevy HHR's for a rental last week, and the first thing I noticed was the Super White 'ambient LED light'. Cheaply mounted ofcourse, in typical GM fashion. Basicaly suspended from the flimsy headliner, meaning the light beam moved everytime you touch the headliner! It looked so odd. :p Not even mouted in any sort of console! Just hanging out of a square piece of platic about the size of a quarter.

Anyway, maybe it's the same size bulb? I guess you would have to check with a GM service department.

Oh, by the way, the HHR's LED ambient light, was annoyning because the bulb was not recessed up in the housing far enough, as in the Honda / Acura models. You shouldn't 'see' where the light is coming from. And that sucker is pretty bright. I found myself putting my finger over it to cover it and give my eyes a break. Bad enough we have to fight those annoying high beams in our rear view mirrors occasionaly, now GM has added another blinding light right above it! GM can't even copycat right. But on the other hand, I was impressed that even thier 'rental fleet version' was equipped with this option.

Does anybody else's blood pressure rise when they drive inferior cars? Okay, I am done venting, sorry.

fins
 
#3 · (Edited)
I'd suspect Honda may have studied the the brightness and color/frequency of the ambient light so as it didn't interfere with your night vision closing your pupils down. In astronomy when using telescopes at night we use a certain red filter for flashlights so our pupils stay dialated for good night vision.

Of course oncoming headlights probably invalidate my theory Honda went to such trouble knowing the ambient light color frequency wouldn't make a difference but ya never know.
 
#5 ·
Minihummer - Let me save you the trouble. Like you, I have already changed out my interior and cargo lights to bright white and I have already disassembled the ambient light unit. However, it looks like the bulb cannot be removed/changed. Bummer! If you find a way, please let us know.
 
#6 ·
Im not even sure if Im repeating the right info here, but if you mean the ambient light module for the center console, I think someone in another thread mentioned it being the same as the one in the Acura models (TSX I believe was mentioned) and those had a different color then the hue in the Ridge.

Hopefully this helps :)
 
#7 ·
I am interested in doing the same thing..... replacing all bulbs possible to hyper/super white. Can you post any pics of the change for me please?
I am really curious to see how the headlights/turnlights and other front lights look when they are all super white. thank you

fraz
 
#9 ·
Don't have a ridge ..... yet .... so I can't say for sure, but the common honda bulb setup seems to be a constant throughout the years. You may want to check out what kind of socket it the bulb will be going into. I performed a full LED converion on my Prelude and wrote up some documentation hosted over at http://www.ledautomotive.com you may have to figure out what best suits you (for bulb fitment), but if you can find (even better take a pic) I might be able to help you out with a conversion. If ya order through him, tell em katana62678 sent ya over :D
 
#12 ·
Hey Paladin, I'm stuck at that point as well and don't want to try too hard before I break something...

I changed the front parking and turn signals to Led and the blinking was crazy... I remember reading about someone buying something from Radio Shack and hooking it up. Help on this topic please because that led looks awesome with my HID's :D
 
#13 · (Edited)
minihummer said:
Hey Paladin, I'm stuck at that point as well and don't want to try too hard before I break something...

I changed the front parking and turn signals to Led and the blinking was crazy... I remember reading about someone buying something from Radio Shack and hooking it up. Help on this topic please because that led looks awesome with my HID's :D
Try here http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?p=21330#poststop

Go to Radio shack and get 2(two)10 ohm resistors and tie those between the power wire and the ground wire in the turn signal circuit on the rear lights.
 
#14 ·
Thanks Joz Rigz,
If I only have the LED's on the front would a 6 ohm work instead of a 10 ohm and would Radio Shack sell it. When I placed my order with autolumination.com they did not mention that I would be needing these resistors. I went back on their website and they are selling them for around $5. a piece. :(
 
#16 · (Edited)
minihummer said:
Thanks Joz Rigz,
If I only have the LED's on the front would a 6 ohm work instead of a 10 ohm and would Radio Shack sell it. When I placed my order with autolumination.com they did not mention that I would be needing these resistors. I went back on their website and they are selling them for around $5. a piece. :(

Yes, Radio Shack carries all values (ohm) of resistors. $5.00 is a ridiculous price. Should be under $2.00 ea.

A LED has a no-load effect on the flasher circuitry and is the reason for the erratic flashing on-off (duty cycle) of the turn signals.

The ohm value you need may be different than 10 ohms because you still have the rear bulbs in the circuit which still have a loading effect on the flasher circuit.

If you really want to get fancy you could install a variable resistor (potentiometer) in the circuit and adjust it for any flash rate you like. They are approximately $3.00 to $5.00 ea.

P.S. Just read your next post showing the schematic. It's really not that complicated. Just think of it as the resistor taking the place of the filament of the discarded bulb. Connect it across(parallel) with the LED. The 1157,3157,7443 schematic is just showing you to make sure you install it in the brake/turn signal circuit. And yes, the resistors will get hot like a filament. Be sure to get 5 watt or larger resistors.
 
#18 ·
Sorry minihummer for not getting back to you. I do agree with JOZ RIDG on what he stated. Resistors will do the trick.

Kudos to you JOZ RIDG :) Well stated!
 
#21 ·
minihummer said:
Hey guys, Got the resistors at 10 ohms .5 watt 5% tolerance, is this the correct one and how in the world do I go about doing this splicing and dicing and connecting. I would like to get this done tomorrow if possible...

Thanks,
Kam...
The answer to your splicing and connecting is in your own post third one up at 10:39 am

Or here: http://autolumination.com/images/leds/installation.jpg

I hope you meant you got 5 watt resistors and NOT .5 watt. They may get pretty hot and a 1/2 watt might burn to a crisp.
 
#24 ·
#25 ·
minihummer said:
Holy Crap :eek: I need to go back to radio hack and get 5 watt resistors. Should I get a higher wattage so it does not heat up as quick?

minihummer - STOP, DO NOT connect your load equalizer (5 watt resistor) across the plus and minus leads as indicated in the schematic you included in your above post at 10:39am yesterday. You will burn up your truck. That application would need a 50 watt resistor.

Go here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/1157.htm and scroll down to "Electronic Led Flashers" and "Load Resistor Kits" to see pictures of the correct resistors for load equalizing for the circuit you indicated.

The smaller wattage resistors are for a single LED in series with the LED.
 
#26 ·
Hey, I just ordered those and then came back to read this post to see if you had replied and you did. Wheww I did good. I think they also sell the bulb for inside the center console and above next to homelink and mic. I ordered those will let you know if they fit or not...

Thank you once again,

Say, did any of you guys ordered the electronic tailgate lock from swishman, read the thread and saw that there is also that company out of dallas selling a similar product...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top