Lighted Key Head Conversion to LED
 

Hey Everyone,

In picking up our new old 78 911SC on New Years Eve, the PO only could provide us with a single key. Knowing how keys like to disappear, I decided to get a couple of duplicates made up.

In contacting my friend Jason Harris who owns "***********, LLC" a parts source for our cars, and obtained two Porsche keys. One of them was a standard black plastic head key and the other a Porsche key with the light in the head. I quickly discovered just how dark the inside of the car is late at night when trying to unlock the door or even located the ignition. Anyway, when I received the keys, I was not to impressed in the light output of the small incandescent bulb. Well, with me being me, I began a search to find a way to improve the light. After searching high and low, I located a posting on Rennlist by "Borland". Following his direction and techniques I competed a LED upgrade to our new Porsche key head successfully and would like to personally thank him for such a great idea.

I would just like to share with everyone what I did and to let everyone know it works great. If you would like to check out the original post, it can be found on the Rennlist site under the same heading. Please do not think for one moment I am trying to take credit for his original idea or technique. I just want to share with you my attempt to duplicate his work.

Here is the original factory incandescent bulb output.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389761398.jpg
As you can see, it is not very strong.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389761509.jpg
In a dark room, it can barely illuminate the battery package.

Project item list:
1. package of 5mm High Brightness White LED (2 per package)
2. one CR1025 battery cell
3. one 3/8" O.D. x 1/8" I.D. x 1/8" nylon spacer (I always get two just in case)
4. one 5/8" O.D. x 1/8" I.D. x 1/8" nylon spacer

total cost for all items minus the initial cost of the lighted key head was a whopping $9.84.

Everything shown except the LED package
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389761710.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389762563.jpg

Carefully separate the case housing, button, the battery and bulb on the original key.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389762720.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389763094.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389763359.jpg

The LED has a small flat spot on the bulb itself, remember that this is the negative side of the light and the longer lead is the positive. When you place the LED in the housing, it is important that the flat side is facing up and the longer positive lead is on the bottom. If this is reversed, then the light will not function properly.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389763584.jpg

Using some very fine snips, I cut a small notch out of the larger nylon washer. This washer will be used to keep the new CR125 battery from flopping around in the housing while allowing the LED contacts to touch the battery's negative side and positive side simultaneously when the button is pushed.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389764072.jpg

Then using fine needle nose pliers, GENTLY bend the LED's leads approximately 90 degrees. I don't recommend cutting them just yet because you may need to manipulate them slightly. Just remember the flat side of the LED indicates the negative lead and the longer lead is the positive side of the LED.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389764617.jpg

(Continued onto a second post)

Continued..........

As you can see, the LED's leads are positioned.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389765316.jpg

Then I carefully placed/inserted the LED into the key head making sure the flat side of the LED was facing upward or skyward. This picture is a little fuzzy, sorry about that. You will also notice that the notch in the nylon spacer is lined up with the bottom(positive) LED lead.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389765589.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389767404.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389767634.jpg

The final few steps is to trim the LED leads so that they have enough length to accommodate where you chose to route them. After trimming to the desired length, then place the battery in the center of the nylon spacer. As discovered by drleah, it may be necessary to shave down the inside edge of the spacer to get a proper fit with the battery. This can be accomplished by either a small knife or exacto blade. Using a small pair of needle nose pliers to hold the spacer can prevent one from inadvertently shaving your finger too, I'm just saying. Be sure to place the positive side "DOWN". Remember, the negative side it at the top and needs to touch the top of the negative pole on the battery. Once you have completed this, then place the small nylon spacer onto the battery and carefully place the black button on top. This is sort of tricky since it is a bit of a balancing act.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389768072.jpg

One more step and your done. Carefully place the cover onto and over the button and snap into place. There you go, a new battery, new LED and a blazing light source on your once wimpy key light. This is a killer upgrade that took all of ten minutes to put together. It look longer to get the parts and tools than it did to do the job.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389768325.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389768540.jpg

This shot was taken 10-12" above the book in a dark room.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389768695.jpg

Final parting shot to show the difference between the two lights.

BEFORE: incandescent bulb (notice how close I am to the package)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389769046.jpg

AFTER: LED bulb (12" away"
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1389769232.jpg

I would just like to send out a thanks for the original poster on Rennslist who gave me the idea and my buddy Jason Harris of ***********, LLC (jason@********************) for supplying me with the needed Porsche keys. And a huge thank you to our HOST at Pelican and the staff that have responded promptly to all of my dumb novice questions and provided needed parts, books and misc stuff.

Cheers

Nice!!! Thanks for the write-up.

This works so much better than the incandescent bulb. Had to whittle on the nylon washers to get the fit perfect but otherwise the directions are spot on! Thanks!


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I did this today as well. Went well. I like it.

Great thread! Thanks for sharing.

Bookmarked for future reference. Thanks!

Bookmarked. Nice.

i did this many years ago .. its amazing .. im still on the same battery :)

Thanks for pointing that out. I'll be sure to get that in the instructions. Thank you for the feedback.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the feedback on this posting. I have gotten so much good info from this site in such a short amount of time, I was just happy to be able to contribute something back that others could successfully use.

Cheers Trev

Bought the battery and led but didn't use washers. I used a couple of small properly sized
O-rings instead. Works great!
Thanks for posting.

Thanks Trev!

Bookmarked for a lazy Sunday...nice giving credit to the Rennlist guy and sharing with us. S

Great instructions. I just finished it in about 15 minutes while watching the pre-game show (go Broncos). The LED makes a big difference. Instead of whittling the inner surface of the larger washer with a knife or Exacto blade, I used a small round file. Thanks.

Great info.

Hi everyone,

I'm really glad so many are able to use this idea, this is what make Pelicam so great, the sharing of useful intel Great ideas and add on's too. I like Timmy2's idea of using a properly sized rubber o-ring around the battery instead of the nylon spacer. I know from personal experience regarding our diving, I've got plenty of rubber o-rings hanging around. Steve84 also had a good idea of using a small file to shave the inside of the spacer. All great ideas to make this better and better.

Cheers everyone, Trev

Did this Over the Weekend
 

Got this done over the weekend. Super easy.

Of course I started tearing things apart before searching the forum. I went a little different and stacked two 389 (1.5 volt) batteries, secured together with heat shrink. Ran the LED legs in a similar fashion. Brought the light from unusable to 21st century.

I never would have thought of the nylon spacers or O ring. Might make my set up more stable with the smaller batteries.

Thanks. Anyone know how to get the key itself (the metal part) out. Bought a new key head and cant seem to get the key out. Thanks

See photo below, the metal key is notched and the spring loaded plastic piece at the bottom of the pic holds it in ...either push the plastic piece back and pull key out or remove spring and push plastic piece back to release key from head

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/...porschekey.jpg

Thanks!

Nice thread, thanks for the great ideas.
I cut a piece of vacuum hose, and stacked 2 - 1025 batteries inside the hose for 6 volts. The light seemed brighter than using 1 battery.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1411350746.jpg

Mike

Must be the cheapass China made batteries I have been using......they don't last long. Couple of months max.

How often are you using it?

Whatever batteries everyone is using; they will certainly last longer with the led bulb.

Maybe once a week...IF that. I'm a cheap bastard and refuse to pay 5 bucks a piece at the local camera store or drug store. I have two converted key heads and the spare one I never use went dead without any use.

I just use the lithium flash and laser on my .357 when it's real dark.:rolleyes:

I used to send out freebie batteries and LEDs with graphics orders. I picked up a big lot from a wholesaler that went out of business.

I haven't heard back from anyone on longevity. I just said screw it......not worth the hassle......good idea. Could be the power source is not the best. Parasitic draw, crappy batteries, whatever.....

Be nice if someone other than me had feedback on how long the batteries lasted.

Lol, my iPhone is
My weapon of choice when finding my car. :)


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Lol, my iPhone is
My weapon of choice when finding my car. :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the instructions!
Just did it and works well.
I found a step drill perfectly enlarged the 3/8" ID to fit the battery.

Glad it has helped.... There has been some good refinement of the original plan in this thread.

Strong work everyone!!!!

Cheers

$2 Conversion
 

Ok, all these ideas are terrific... but in the interest of over-optimizing in a completely unnecessary fashion, here is your $2 LED conversion solution:

Step 1: Buy the Rayovac LED Flashlight shown here ($2 at Walmart)
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1430949363.jpg

Step 2: Open up the LED Flashlight
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1430949437.jpg

Step 3: Remove the Guts
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1430949481.jpg

Step 4: Bend the LED leads as shown, and load the 2 batteries (stacked in series). I also cut a bit of plastic to serve as a spacer around the batteries.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1430949555.jpg

Step 5: Snip the flat metal leaf just beyond the hole, and assemble to the LED lead as shown.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1431120176.jpg

Step 6: Stack the silver flashlight button under your black key head button, stack the buttons on top of the metal leaf, thus trapping the leaf between the button and battery. CAUTION: Ensure that the leaf doesn't touch the other LED lead!!
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1431120212.jpg

Step 7: Snap back together and enjoy the lighted glory!

Mine is missing the little spring, anyone have an extra?

That is a tough one. Not sure unless you have a non-working mini mag light you could pilfer the small spring from.

I know that you can buy just the head portion to these keys, utilizing your original cut portion.

Not much help but good luck.


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Rayovak parts - cool!

Trim one from a ball point pen, BTDT...

Where in Walmart did you find that flashlight?

I've got to try this

I failed.....fat fingers keep getting in the way :(
Back to the old bulb that works ok, & I phone / green lazer on my Rugger as back up :)

JoeshA,

PM sent

Trev

FYI all - I bought one of these, yes it was $37 but it's perfect.
Porsche 911 964 993 LED Lighted Key Head New Genuine Great Gift | eBay

For some reason, I can't get this to work. Is there a minimum voltage the LEDs require?

Steve