[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

I'll check with the mutimeter a little bit later.
Thank for all of the repsonses.

NP Let me know when you do.

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by msinfo_us

NP Let me know when you do.

Alright, it's been a while, but I finally got this working after a bunch of trial and error and talking to multiple engineers. The light is bright; it works only when the car is off and the frequency is perfect.

The key was to use a 5.1V Zener diode and then reverse it. Since the green wire is at 4.3 V when the car is running and 12 V when the car is off then the 5.1V Zener Diode will block all voltage when the car is running and therefore it won't blink.

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

Alright, it's been a while, but I finally got this working after a bunch of trial and error and talking to multiple engineers. The light is bright; it works only when the car is off and the frequency is perfect.

The key was to use a 5.1V Zener diode and then reverse it. Since the green wire is at 4.3 V when the car is running and 12 V when the car is off then the 5.1V Zener Diode will block all voltage when the car is running and therefore it won't blink.

Great job! I like your solution to get brighter LED output better than my option two. :rocks::rocks::rocks:

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by msinfo_us

Great job! I like your solution to get brighter LED output better than my option two. :rocks::rocks::rocks:

Thanks man! It took a while but it was very fun and well worth it.

[JJP]

Mr. 5,
Could you post a picture of the front and back of the finished product. I would like visual help. Also, could you please list the parts you used. I know I am asking alot. Thanks for your help!

Thanks!
Justin

[nocloud]

i've read this thread over once and one thing is still not clear to me. where did you guys end up putting the board? inside the mirror? the sunroof control panel assembly?

[msinfo_us]

Inside sunroof console.

[cgnahc]

I actually went to buy almost all the parts, but don't have the time to finish. I have about $20 worth of various pieces if anyone wants them. Maybe in exchange for a built unit...if not no biggy. PM me if interested.

[mach330]

awesome diy...

[Alpine]

I'm going to give this a shot today using Mr. 5's diagram. I hope I can remember my college physics... Odds are pretty good I'll have questions in about an hour. Wish me luck!

[Alpine]

An hour.. or half an hour..

Mr. 5, it would be great if you could somehow show an actual picture of your setup. I think I'm following the diagram correctly, but I don't want to solder it all down if its not right. Trial and error I guess...

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by Alpine

An hour.. or half an hour..

Mr. 5, it would be great if you could somehow show an actual picture of your setup. I think I'm following the diagram correctly, but I don't want to solder it all down if its not right. Trial and error I guess...

I played a lot with the soldering and resoldering. You can always desolder it if it doesn't work and use the mini "turkey baster" to suck up the solder.

Just replace the R3 pot with the reversed 5.1V zener and you should be fine.
If not try it again. I probably did this aproximately 4-5 times trying to get the ultimate solution and spent at the most 30 bucks.

[Alpine]

Ok so I did mine.. and the LED doesn't light. What a surprise... ha

Could anyone explain the function of the pots? I have no experience using these at all.. I assume they act as a resistor, but why are there 3 'legs'? I think the problem I have lies within the location of the pots.

Is it possible to just use normal resistors in place of the pots? That would make the placement much easier.. but once I understand how pots work I should be fine.

Also, what is the best power source to use to test the circuit? I used a 9V battery to try to light the LED.

Thanks!

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by Alpine

Ok so I did mine.. and the LED doesn't light. What a surprise... ha

Could anyone explain the function of the pots? I have no experience using these at all.. I assume they act as a resistor, but why are there 3 'legs'? I think the problem I have lies within the location of the pots.

Is it possible to just use normal resistors in place of the pots? That would make the placement much easier.. but once I understand how pots work I should be fine.

Also, what is the best power source to use to test the circuit? I used a 9V battery to try to light the LED.

Thanks!

Make sure the LED is correctly wired. For example the flat spot on the LED is the negative and the round is the +. Also there is a + and - on the capacitor. Make sure that's correct.

You need pots for the adjustment of the LED blinking rate. When you set everything up to the 9V then adjust the pots to get the blink rate down.

[Alpine]

Ok so I completely redid my entire circuit, and wired it exactly according to your diagram, instead of anyone's pictures. It works! A lit LED is a beautiful thing. I've been playing around with the pots and I think I've got it pretty near the OEM system. Any tips on installing it into the car? I'm going to reread the whole thread, but any special side notes would be greatly appreciated!

[Alpine]

So I installed the circuit tonight, and the LED is pretty dim. This is even after using Mr. 5's diagram with the Zener Diode. I'm going to post up a bunch of pictures of my circuit- maybe if some of you have some spare time you can look over it and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.

As far as the install goes, I cut the two wires that go to the LED up in the sunroof area, and connected to those to gain access to the LED. For power, I tapped into the green wire going into the #1 connection of the 14 pin black plug, and I grounded to a screw I drilled in. (I double checked multiple grounds, and that's not the problem.)

Thanks for looking over it for me! I'm stumped.

[Mr. 5]

First of all, it looks like you have 2 zener diodes.
Make sure that the zener that is reversed is 5.1V and not rated higher.

You're supposed to wait a minute or 2 until the LED flashes, since the voltage changes from 4 to 12 (roughly). The LED shouldn't blink right when you hook it up. It should only blink once the green wire changes to 12 volts. Play around with the pots for timing.

Originally Posted by Alpine

So I installed the circuit tonight, and the LED is pretty dim. This is even after using Mr. 5's diagram with the Zener Diode. I'm going to post up a bunch of pictures of my circuit- maybe if some of you have some spare time you can look over it and see if you notice anything out of the ordinary.

As far as the install goes, I cut the two wires that go to the LED up in the sunroof area, and connected to those to gain access to the LED. For power, I tapped into the green wire going into the #1 connection of the 14 pin black plug, and I grounded to a screw I drilled in. (I double checked multiple grounds, and that's not the problem.)

Thanks for looking over it for me! I'm stumped.

[Alpine]

The first diode is just 'switching diode' 1N914/1N4148. Its the one that was recommended earlier, and was shown in the diagram. The Zener diode is rated at 5.1V.

The light doesn't come on at first, it does take a little while to start blinking, but its just really dim. Compared to the OEM alarm, its a joke. I had the timing down perfectly- exactly like OEM.

Is there anything in the circuit that looks out of whack? I thought I had everything connected correctly until the LED barely lit in the car. It lit when I was testing with the 9V, but looked pretty dim, too, but I figured since the car was 12V it wouldn't be a problem...

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by Alpine

The first diode is just 'switching diode' 1N914/1N4148. Its the one that was recommended earlier, and was shown in the diagram. The Zener diode is rated at 5.1V.

The light doesn't come on at first, it does take a little while to start blinking, but its just really dim. Compared to the OEM alarm, its a joke. I had the timing down perfectly- exactly like OEM.

Is there anything in the circuit that looks out of whack? I thought I had everything connected correctly until the LED barely lit in the car. It lit when I was testing with the 9V, but looked pretty dim, too, but I figured since the car was 12V it wouldn't be a problem...

So did you have the alarm before or are you just comparing?
Here's a vid of what mine looks like because I've never seen what the stock looks like.

I will say that in the full day time, you have to look for it but at night it's pefect.

[msinfo_us]

Mr.5, cool video thank you for posting it. My blinking LED looks very much the same :rocks::rocks: and you are right at night it looks very bright but in the sun it is not. But the same goes for OEM alarm as well.

Alpine, do you have a multimeter?
1. Make sure R1 and R2 are NOT in minimum resistance position. Try MAX resistance for testing purpose.
2. Disconnect LED and use multimeter to take a V reading -- let me know what you've got. Reconnect LED and take another V reading -- what did you get? With LED connected you should see V around 10-11V when LED is ON.
3. Take V measurements before D1 (power to circuit board) and on leg 8 of the timer chip (after D1 and D2).
V drop on a timer (V to the LED) should be within 0.1-0.5V of max V on a timer.
Let me know your V readings in each step it should help us to pin point the problem.

[Alpine]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry it took a while for me to get back to you- I've been out of town for the weekend.

Thanks for the video of the blink. Mine was definitely dimmer than that.

I don't have a multimeter, but I'll pick one up tomorrow and check those voltages.

By the way, which way do I turn the pots to get them to max resistance? I'm not really familiar with the pots in general, I just messed around with them until I got the blinks right.

Thanks again for everyones help. I'll try to post some numbers up soon.

[msinfo_us]

Originally Posted by Alpine

By the way, which way do I turn the pots to get them to max resistance? I'm not really familiar with the pots in general, I just messed around with them until I got the blinks right.

Thanks again for everyones help. I'll try to post some numbers up soon.

Dpending on your implementation it could be either left or right ... if you unsure just put them in the middle ... as long as they are not at the min it should be OK.