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1997 - 2006 Expedition & Navigator 1997 - 2002 and 2003 - 2006 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator Discussion

LED interior light conversion with theater dimming??

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Old Oct 20, 2016 | 09:05 AM
  #1  
AGrayson84's Avatar
AGrayson84
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LED interior light conversion with theater dimming??

I'm not sure about the second gen Expeditions, but my '06 Navigator has the theater dimming feature when the interior overhead lights come on and go off. My G8 did the same, and I quickly found that LED's flicker as the voltage is very low during the dimming. I know LED's have evolved a little over the years, but has anyone successfully installed LED's without flickering on a vehicle with theater dimming? If so, what's the trick-- a special component, or just a special LED? Would a CAN-BUS LED work for our interior lights? Thanks!
 
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Old Oct 20, 2016 | 03:15 PM
  #2  
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Travis S
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Originally Posted by AGrayson84
I'm not sure about the second gen Expeditions, but my '06 Navigator has the theater dimming feature when the interior overhead lights come on and go off. My G8 did the same, and I quickly found that LED's flicker as the voltage is very low during the dimming. I know LED's have evolved a little over the years, but has anyone successfully installed LED's without flickering on a vehicle with theater dimming? If so, what's the trick-- a special component, or just a special LED? Would a CAN-BUS LED work for our interior lights? Thanks!
Generally speaking, LEDs' brightness is controlled by current. It can be done by PWM (think microcontrollers) as well, but very low pulse rates (for super low brightness) create visible flickering.

My gauge lights (all converted to LED bulbs) don't flicker at all, regardless of the dimmer position. Might give you some ideas on how to make it work the way you want.
 
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