turned out pretty well. Now onto the doors. @Proppilot let me know if you find anything useful with the doors. I’m probably starting later in the day.
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RGB Ambient Lighting project for Palladium Model S - lets do it
- Thread starter Proppilot
- Start date
turned out pretty well. Now onto the doors. @Proppilot let me know if you find anything useful with the doors. I’m probably starting later in the day.
Hi there, just finished the drivers door and did this write up. Took 3 hours start to finish for one door (first one always longer). That looks OUTSTANDING !!!
The file is too large to upload so please grab it from here
RGB trim and door pocket light installation.pdf
That's it for me for the weekend. You have decoded the console for me/us and hopefully I have decoded the door(s) for you/all so the only think left to explore is the footwell lighting. I think the front will be easy and for the rear, I plan to feed four lights (two each side) from the console, under the carpet to the area under the front seats where the existing white lights are. similarly I am going to keep the white ones plugged in but cover them and will likely want/need to design and 3D print some brackets for the footwell lights unless VHB tape does the trick cleanly.
Do you have the controllers actually IN the lower bin where you can see them when you slide it open or in some blind space in the console ? The bin is not a bad idea (accessible) in case you need to swap one out.
The file is too large to upload so please grab it from here
RGB trim and door pocket light installation.pdf
That's it for me for the weekend. You have decoded the console for me/us and hopefully I have decoded the door(s) for you/all so the only think left to explore is the footwell lighting. I think the front will be easy and for the rear, I plan to feed four lights (two each side) from the console, under the carpet to the area under the front seats where the existing white lights are. similarly I am going to keep the white ones plugged in but cover them and will likely want/need to design and 3D print some brackets for the footwell lights unless VHB tape does the trick cleanly.
Do you have the controllers actually IN the lower bin where you can see them when you slide it open or in some blind space in the console ? The bin is not a bad idea (accessible) in case you need to swap one out.
Attachments
Last edited:
Thanks for this! about to start on the doors here soon.
I chose the single control box variant of this kit, which is currently in the lower cubby bin. I pulled all the wires so that as little of them exist in the cubby space as possible, and then once they were run to where they needed to be and connected, bunched the excess up into bundles and zip tied them together. The 4 bundles for the dash strips/center console strips are bundled up and shoved in the empty space behind the phone dock, secured in a way that they wont rattle.
The one tradeoff is that if the box fails, it's hardwired, so replacing the box would be rather hard.
Linking the various service docs I used as well:
Center Console Side Panel (YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE THE ASSEMBLY, USE A WEDGE AND PRY TOOL TO POP THE PANEL)
Center Console Carpet (SEE ABOVE)
Phone Dock
Instrument Panel Service Panel
Touchscreen (HW4, if HW3 choose the HW3 Variant)
Door Wire Routing/Disassembly (For reference only, no need to follow all the steps)
A Pillar Middle Trim
A Pillar Lower Trim
Instrument Panel End Cap
Passenger Footwell Cover
Driver Footwell Cover
Drivers Side Trim
Passengers Side Trim
Center Console Side Panel (YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE THE ASSEMBLY, USE A WEDGE AND PRY TOOL TO POP THE PANEL)
Center Console Carpet (SEE ABOVE)
Phone Dock
Instrument Panel Service Panel
Touchscreen (HW4, if HW3 choose the HW3 Variant)
Door Wire Routing/Disassembly (For reference only, no need to follow all the steps)
A Pillar Middle Trim
A Pillar Lower Trim
Instrument Panel End Cap
Passenger Footwell Cover
Driver Footwell Cover
Drivers Side Trim
Passengers Side Trim
This is excellent. This thread became rich very quickly and at this point, contains just about (I think everything) that anyone would need who wanted to endeavour on this project. For anyone interested, it is a LOT of time to do this and no wonder the shops are charging major money but it is really a beautiful upgrade to the vehicle.
I will make a note for the curious. There are RGB acrylic strips and RGB light pipe kits for sale. The light pipes are fibre optic strands with an LED light source at one end. They are larger and the light will diffuse the longer the distance. The RGB acrylic strips are extremely low profile and it is almost impossible to tell the strip is tucked in there between the trim and the panel. FWIW as some have asked how visible the lights are when off.
I will make a note for the curious. There are RGB acrylic strips and RGB light pipe kits for sale. The light pipes are fibre optic strands with an LED light source at one end. They are larger and the light will diffuse the longer the distance. The RGB acrylic strips are extremely low profile and it is almost impossible to tell the strip is tucked in there between the trim and the panel. FWIW as some have asked how visible the lights are when off.
I purchased two of these kits ( 10 in 1 ) - Emitting Color: 10 IN 1
The attached picture says '18 in 1' at the top however you will see the kit I selected (second from the left) is the 10 in 1 kit X 2
The attached picture says '18 in 1' at the top however you will see the kit I selected (second from the left) is the 10 in 1 kit X 2
Attachments
Used this kit (one control box variant) and purchased 2 extra 43in strips as well. If you are wanting to simplify your wiring and are tapping power from somewhere other than the cc power socket choose the basic dreamcolor lights 6 variant
That's exactly what I got. Phew! May I suggest you list all the parts on your pdf?
My wife is going away for a long weekend next month. I intend to take over the entire driveway and pul apart my car and do the entire thing while she is away.
Hi All, I have been evolving my thoughts on the door bin lighting solution based on opening up a door and seeing what is there. There is an acrylic light pipe that runs across the top length of the door bin and is fed by a single while LED emitter unit. My plan now is to use this
These are RGB LED emitters that feed a fiber optic pipe. In the little controller, the solder pads are labelled R G B + so you unsolder the light units and solder on a MALE connector (spare) from your kit to align with the R G B and + (black typically) wire and use with your existing controller. In the OEM door config, the white LED emitter sits over top the end of the pipe. The emitter can be removed by prying out the holding pin and removing a torx screw. I am anticipating that the new RGB emitter can slide back in place over the existing OEM pipe. I like this much better than my prior plan which has an RGB strip stuck to the roof of the door bin. It looks fine and works fine but if you can reuse the OEM light pipe.....it would be super integrated and clean !
These are RGB LED emitters that feed a fiber optic pipe. In the little controller, the solder pads are labelled R G B + so you unsolder the light units and solder on a MALE connector (spare) from your kit to align with the R G B and + (black typically) wire and use with your existing controller. In the OEM door config, the white LED emitter sits over top the end of the pipe. The emitter can be removed by prying out the holding pin and removing a torx screw. I am anticipating that the new RGB emitter can slide back in place over the existing OEM pipe. I like this much better than my prior plan which has an RGB strip stuck to the roof of the door bin. It looks fine and works fine but if you can reuse the OEM light pipe.....it would be super integrated and clean !
Alright, I received the kit above and it works perfectly. You have to drill out the emitter assembly (one end screws off) to a 6.5 mm hole (or closest imperial size) and it slides right over the existing acrylic light pipe in the Tesla door bins. This shows the original fibre that comes with the kit and then one emitter drilled out and the actual OEM Tesla door bin pipe inserted. It will look 100% stock OEM and way better than my original trial posted earlier with an LED strip in each door bin.
I also tested one of my acrylic strips to see how easy it was to bend the wires to a 90 degree angle so they could drop back into the dash right at the end of the strip. See attached before and after shots.
I also tested one of my acrylic strips to see how easy it was to bend the wires to a 90 degree angle so they could drop back into the dash right at the end of the strip. See attached before and after shots.
Attachments
That looks great!
What was your method of getting the godforsaken wires through the grommet? Wondering if there is a better way.
Also did you have to remove any of the clip retainers on the door card? Or ones still attached to the clip? Noticing mine is slightly misaligned and i need to fix it.
What was your method of getting the godforsaken wires through the grommet? Wondering if there is a better way.
Also did you have to remove any of the clip retainers on the door card? Or ones still attached to the clip? Noticing mine is slightly misaligned and i need to fix it.
Hi guys I just came across this kit
it seems its usb powered, some reviews claim the same, but the description is misleading as it says powered: 12v DC. thoughts?
Also one question @Proppilot for the longest acrylic pipe (110) that has two connectors, does having any of them connected make it work or do you have to connect both of them? I am assuming one end is good enough but better safe than sorry, thanks for the wiring diagrams and for the ideas on reusing the OEM pipes! that is cleaver!
it seems its usb powered, some reviews claim the same, but the description is misleading as it says powered: 12v DC. thoughts?
Also one question @Proppilot for the longest acrylic pipe (110) that has two connectors, does having any of them connected make it work or do you have to connect both of them? I am assuming one end is good enough but better safe than sorry, thanks for the wiring diagrams and for the ideas on reusing the OEM pipes! that is cleaver!
It was super easy. I popped the grommet out of the door frame which gave me access to the wire as it came through from the door, fed it into the car and popped the grommet back in. It literally took a few minutes to do. I did not have to remove any retainers at all.
BTW It seems ali-express took down that kit of lights you linked. I just got my kit (facepalm) I ordered the wrong one and got two tiny led bars and a controller. I used my multimeter to measure how much output each bar gets, and although some of you may already know it (and has likely been stated), the controller switches the 12 v between each of the channels for each output, so if I select red there is ~4 volts going into the red wire of the led bar (sorry again if this is obvious for some of you). That gave me couple of ideas, here is a picture of one of them, grabbed an old battery power case used for el-wire (2xAA) ~ 3v peeled of the wires and connected them to the connector on the led bar, albeit I can only make it red, blue or green depending on which wire I plug, This gave my my second idea, provided that someone would set for one of the basic colors, theoretically it would be possible, if and only if our cars non used but existing ambient lighting connectors for the trim get powered, to connect the strip directly to it. I know this would be super basic, but, if this works doors can be wired in a breeze. Over the weekend I will try to test if the non used connectors for the ambient light get powered and if so how many volts.
I know myself and despite of this working I will go for the full installation, but sharing this in case it leads somewhere.
I know myself and despite of this working I will go for the full installation, but sharing this in case it leads somewhere.
can you find the kit at this store on Ali ? This is where I got it and I still see it
lymoyovip.aliexpress.com
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lymoyovip.aliexpress.com
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Thanks, I find an alternative there, as the first item once you click it shows 404 (not found) for me. I'm all set, just need to wait a bit for them to arrive.can you find the kit at this store on Ali ? This is where I got it and I still see it
LYMOYO VIP Store - Amazing products with exclusive discounts on AliExpress
Discover the wide range of from AliExpress Top Seller LYMOYO VIP Store.Enjoy ✓Free Shipping Worldwide! ✓Limited Time Sale ✓Easy Return.
vcor
Tech Specialist
Not a great idea to directly connect LEDs to a battery. LEDs need to be current-limited or they will suffer an early death. The different colors also have different voltages typically between 1.8 and 3.3 volts. So using 3V battery might not even light up the blue LEDs. Controllers use PCM to control the brightness, with current limiting. Best to use a controller, and they are quite low in cost.
Yes as stated, the controllers are super cheap. Even the first kit I purchased for the door wells came with a controller with bluetooth connectivity and four RGB strips for under $ 15 dollars Canadian. RGB is RGB and any of them will work.
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