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Cool 2015-2017 Camry EL wire, led ambient light MOD for $10

6K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  sethr 
#1 · (Edited)
I watched the Mercedes E300 review and saw the cool LED ambient light. I want something similar in my car. I know there are the footwell LEDs which light up the floor. But I don't want look at my dirty floor mat and I thought that light is kind of bright and distracted.

Our 2012-2017 Camry has a very attractive contour on the center console for ambient light, so I did some search and found this: 12v EL wire! I ordered 3 meter light blue EL wire on Ebay, the driver and wire totally cost $10. The light blue wire is transparent, so it is almost invisible at day time. Plus it fits the contour of the car's interior, so most people won't notice it.

The installation is EASY and takes less than 20 minutes! Just stick the flat edge of the wire into the gap of the interior panels. The only tool I used was a pair of scissors. I use it to cut a slot on the tape so I can bend the wire to sharp corners. I connected the power to the cig lighter. I read some reviews said that the cheap Ebay driver may catch fire. So I am keeping the drive in open area for reliability test, than I am going to connect it to 12v power using wire splicers inside the center console for hidden installation.

Pro:
Cool,
Less distracted,
Give you some orientation in night time driving.

Con:
The power converter is making a slight high pitch noise, I am going to wrap it with something to reduce the noise.

Here are some pictures I would like to share with you. Thanks for reading, Enjoy!












 
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#2 ·
Too much light when I'm driving country or dark interstate.
You ought to see what that converter voltage the driver is outputting find something better.

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk
 
#4 ·
Just the instrument cluster on dim is too much night vision ruining light for me. No way I would add more interior light. Every car I have had since around 1980 has had all the night illumination switched to a night vision friendly red. Although now I am hearing there is a shade of green that is supposed to be better, I'll have to research that. But that is just this guys opinion. To each their own, it your cars do. What you like.
 
#5 ·
True, too much light in night driving, I usually turn off the center screen and dim other instrument lights. Maybe I should connect the power of this light to the door light. It will light up when I open the door. Does anyone know how to connect the light to doom light or door light so it lights up with the door opening?
 
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