DIY Glove box light

[TbM]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Aim: To set up a glove box light that turns on when i open it and turns off when i close the glove box.
NOTE: This was done on an EK civic with no glove box light but the same idea can be used for other cars without lights and also to put in a momentary push switch(SPDT, DPDT or SPST N/C) for those cars where the glovebox light is always on:)


Required:
8mm ratchet or spanner
Drill
scissors
tape
zip ties
LED's(i used a panel of 30 smd leds)
wire(i used speaker cable)
Momentary push switch(SPDT, DPDT or SPST N/C)

Step 1: Remove
Remove the two 8 mm bolts at the bottem corners of the glove box to remove the glove box.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1064.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1035.jpg

Reach your hand up behind the cig lighter area on the passengers side to find a plug, Unclip and remove the plughttp://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1039.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1040.jpg

You can also remove the centre console if your having trouble getting to the plug but its not nessicary.

Step 2: Installation
Wire up the speaker cable to the back of the plug. Black is ground. Yellow is + accesory and Red Is + when headlights are on, i used red so that its only on with my headlights.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1048.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1053.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1054.jpg

You can splice the connection if you want but i just folded the speaker cable and jammed it in the back of the plug

Tape that shit up tight with electrical tape so it cant pull out
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1055.jpg

Run your speaker cable up to the where you will mount the LED, remember to run the cable past where you want the swtich location. Ive marked mine out with a red line for the wire and a yellow dot for the swtich location.
My setup:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1051-3-1.jpg
Alternate Config:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1051-1.jpg

Wire in and mount the LED panel to the bottom of the climate control ducting inside the dash. I mounted mine with zip ties and double sided tape as i didnt want to drill into the ducting.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1049.jpg

Wire in your switch and tape it up with electrical tape, you need to hook it up in a push to break config if you need help with this post it or pm me and ill tell you how to hook it up.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1068.jpg

Drill a hole to mount the switch. i mounted mine up high so its not as visable but you need to remove the lower panel that has the ash tray and cig lighter to do this, if you mount it on the sections highlighted red then you can just drill and mount without removing the panel.http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1051-2.jpg

I had to remove the panel to cut and grind out the back area of the panel to fit the switch up high.http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1067.jpg


when the holes drilled, mount the switch then you just need to put the plug and glove box back in and your done, Now enjoy the smell of burning retinas briefly before you are blinded and crash into a tree whenever someone opens the glove box :)
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1070.jpg


Before:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1056.jpg

After:
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1058.jpg
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/IMAG1062.jpg

If i have left anything out or anyone needs more info feel free to post and ill updated the guide with more info :)

[lefty]

nice job. An option is to use a LED strip from Jaycar /ebay. I put one in my Subaru glovebox.
I made the mistake of not trimming the tip off to fit and eventually it started to lose its stickiness.

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo32/gorotsuki69/P1000324.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo32/gorotsuki69/P1000327.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo32/gorotsuki69/P1000328.jpg

[TbM]

^^^ Nice one i prefer not to see the lights so ive mounted mine where they arnt visable, only time you can see them is if you have you head down in the foot well looking up.

Another way to do it if you cant mount it above(looks like that on your pic) is to cut out a section in the side or the back of the glove box and mount something like this, Its a boot light so it has a switch, if you get a glove box light from another model it probably wont have the switch.
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/light.jpg
This will give you a more stock look and still illuminate the glove box :)

[Chriskoss]

Great DIY. Could you if you have time, draw up a diagram for the wiring of the switch. Looks like it comes out in 3 sections then back to one? Cheers and great work!

[TbM]

Sorry I dont quite understand what you mean by "comes out in 3 sections then back to one" if you can elaborate on that id be happy to try and draw up what your after. The wiring(1 positive and 1 negative) goes from the led panel to the plug that powers the ash tray light, its simply cut in the middle and a switch has been wired on the negative cable and the postive has been rejoined. the switch is a DPDT switch so it has 6 legs but you only hook it up to the legs which give you a push to break circut which on mine is the outer 2 legs so that the light turns off when the button is pushed and comes on when its released.

[grifty]

You dont need to have a switch, it would be easier and take less time if you just wired it up so it turns on when your turn your headlights on :)

[TbM]

^^^ That is true but then you have a very annoying bright light shining all the time at night, which i definately dont want, dont know why you would cheap out on wiring in a switch takes 10 min work max, more like 5 or less if you know what your doin, cut connect drill mount your done..... most gloveboxs arnt sealed so you will end up with light coming out(can take a pic if you want) its a 30 smd led panel meant for interior lighting, i use the same panel to light my whole interior, extremely bright compared to your standard leds, gets distracting if you can see it at night.

[Chriskoss]

Where'd you get these LED panels? Seen people replace them for their bootlights to go from the crappy dim festoon bulbs to these bright LED panels? Did you just get them off ebay? As for the wiring ill try and work it out, but all I meant was just draw up a wiring diagram from MS paint or something easy to help people who aren't the best at wiring, like me :) thanks

[TbM]

I get all my leds from http://www.superbrightleds.com/ there not the cheapest around but they work well, ive got the 30 smd panel in my roof light, boot light(the pic in the 3rd post) and glove box. Its a very good panel IMO :) Ive also used their 3mm, T5 and T10 leds and they have been great too.

Ill try and draw some thing up in paint but im shocking at that sort of stuff lol so ill post it up and let me know if i need to add anything or make it more clear :)

[TbM]

Here ya go let me know what i need to add,
http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd458/TbMindustrys/led.jpg
Its drawn with a SPDT(single pole double throw) switch so the switch is hooked up so the light goes off when its pressed, ive also drawn it with the positive going to the red wire on the cig/ash tray plug as i have mine configured but you can use the yellow wire if you prefer to have the circut active whenevr the car is on. You could also hook it up to a constant positive so that even with the car off the light will come on but i often leave the glove box open after grabbing stuff and getting out the car so not a good idea for me lol.

[Chriskoss]

Thanks so much TBM.. true legend :)

[TbM]

No worries i hope it helps :) if you need any more info let me know :)

[lefty]

depending on how good a quality LED you buy, you may need a resistor to drop the voltage. I would use anything from ebay with a resistor. Reason is they are designed for 12v but when your engine is running voltage could go up to around 14.5v which will fry LEDs quickly.
That said my cheapo ebay LED panels have been running fine for 2 years

[TbM]

depending on how good a quality LED you buy, you may need a resistor to drop the voltage. I would use anything from ebay with a resistor. Reason is they are designed for 12v but when your engine is running voltage could go up to around 14.5v which will fry LEDs quickly.
That said my cheapo ebay LED panels have been running fine for 2 years

^^^ thats why i dont use cheap ones :) my panels are rated for 10v -30v so 14v aint nothing to worry about, even my little t5's are rated for 10v -16v.