how to make my LED's dimmer??

i bought some superflux 4-chip led's from oznium, they are crazy bright. thing is i already modified everything to fit them so instead of going with a dimmer led i want to dim these. i bought the prewired led's for a 12v system. what do i need to do to dim them. 25% of the normal output would be great.

A biggest resistor I believe

potentiometer is the easiest but ghetto.

it is lighting up my turn signal indicators and gear position indicators. they are in the gage cluster i made, i dont need adjustable dimness just dimmer. i can solder a diode inline but havent a clue about what kind i need. i am assuming i need to limit amperage not volts right?

Limit current or limit voltage. They are both directly related and I won't go in depth into the idea. You'll want to throw a resistor in series with the LED. What color LEDs did you buy?

i added 4.3k resistor to get the light level i wanted which makes 4.45k total. i didnt think an led would even light on that but it did. and it is nice and dim. turn signal lights on full strength will blind you, with 4.45k resistance is perfect

To dim my leds I sand them with sandpaper to make them look frosted..it also dissipates the light evenly so you dont have "hot spots" .. you can sand down a led to make it shorter too..just dont get down to the point where you hit the filament ..this wont work if your leds are made of glass..I dont know if there are any that are.
I will have pictures as soon as I look over this site more and figure out how to use everything..lol

what the deuce? Sanding the led won't dim it!
And no there are no LEDs made out of glass.
It looks like he already figured it out with a resistor.

D_M_A_N wrote:

what the deuce? Sanding the led won't dim it!

It will help dissipate the light...so yeah, it will SLIGHTLY "dim" the led (although output will still be the same, it'll just be over a wider, less concentrated surface)...

and everything else you said it right lol

no it wont technically dim the led..but wont let all the light emitting from the led out..which causes it to seem dim visually..and visually is what really matters ..at least to the majority of people. Ive done it with all of the leds that I recently installed and dimming is what occurred .. my post is simply another possible way to solve the issue. And if your leds are mounted where you can see them...like in vents or in your gauge cluster housing (like mine).. they dont blind you when you look at them . I have 4 white 5mm leds in mine and they dont bother me during night driving.
remember these posts help more than just the people who start the topic you provide multiple solutions that can potentially help all no matter what skill level they are at. people without a knowledge of resistors or without a soldering iron would appreciate it

^^^
They don't dim at all. The light output is still the exact same. No light get trapped in the plastic. It's all getting "let out" and nothing is trapped (it's not physically possible to trap light in plastic). Kevin said it perfectly, it's still the same quantity of light (same CDL) but it's spread over a larger area. More of the light is scattered so it appears dimmer. Like you said, appearance is what matters.

Thanks fellas for better clarifying what I was saying or attempting to say.. I guess I'm gonna have to be more exact with my posts ..lol

My first day posting on oznium forum and already I have been blessed to be commented on by PwrRngr...I've read through a LOT of the posts on many topics and you do seem to be one with a load of tech knowledge. When/if I have a tech question I will be lucky to have you post on it.

Might I add...sanding(frosting or etching) the LED down makes it more visually pleasing..at least in my opinion.. Try it out sometime and see what you think.

In case you are wondering I use 220 or 320 grit wet/dry sand paper(use dry) when I get the desired amount sanded off..I use a 2000 grit to smooth it out evenly..but its not totally necessary.

maybe people are responding the way they did cuz you make it sound like a new idea.
That's an old trick brudda.

Every idea is new the first time you hear it.
If everyone knew everything..we wouldn't have the need for forums.
I supplied an alternate method and NEVER claimed it was my original freshly hatched idea nor did I attempt to make it seem in a round about way that it was such.

scarce911 wrote:

Thanks fellas for better clarifying what I was saying or attempting to say.. I guess I'm gonna have to be more exact with my posts ..lol My first day posting on oznium forum and already I have been blessed to be commented on by PwrRngr...I've read through a LOT of the posts on many topics and you do seem to be one with a load of tech knowledge. When/if I have a tech question I will be lucky to have you post on it. Might I add...sanding(frosting or etching) the LED down makes it more visually pleasing..at least in my opinion.. Try it out sometime and see what you think. In case you are wondering I use 220 or 320 grit wet/dry sand paper(use dry) when I get the desired amount sanded off..I use a 2000 grit to smooth it out evenly..but its not totally necessary.

I didn't mean to offend you at all. I just try to make things perfectly clear. If you ever need electrical help I'll be right there to help if someone else hasn't already helped you out.

I was in no way offended I appreciate being corrected or if something is worded incorrectly..... IF it is done in a respectable way such as yourself and Kevin_S did. I thank you both for the mature responses