I was able to purchase individual 20 ma LEDs from a local electronics shop
for about .60 each.
They had various colors, I ended up installing 7 of the amber colored ones
in the westy interior lamp that is
installed under the parcel tray.

I used two different resistors on each lamp and a 3 pos switch to give a low
.140 milliamp on high and
50 milliamps on low for the lamp.
The westy diffuser looks really cool with the amber colored LEDs.
It makes a great night light in the van for not messing up your night vision
and allows you to see without using
almost any electrical off the battery .
I can leave it on for days and not worry about how much its drawing on the
battery.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Edward Maglott" <emaglott@BUNCOMBE.MAIN.NC.US>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 6:50 AM
Subject: Bright LED Cheap source & usage

> Always looking for a good hack, I noticed recently an LED flashlight on
> sale for $10 at the Eckerd Drugstore.  This has 21 bright white LEDs in it
> and uses 3 aaa batteries in series.  All the bulbs are in parallel, so
each
> one is getting straight 4.5V DC.  It makes a nice little flashlight, and
> I'll probably use it as one before hacking it up for the bulbs.  This
works
> out to $.21/LED, which is a great price, especially if you consider most
> electronics places you would have to order them from, and pay shipping,
> meet a minimum order, etc.  I measured .4 amps draw or 1.8W.  .4 amps
might
> run down those 3 aaa batteries pretty fast.  I think it said 10 hours on
> the package.  If you buy one, be sure to use the "try it" button and make
> sure all 21 LEDs are working, one was bad on the one I bought...
>
> Here's a link to the same item on a
> website:              http://snipurl.com/kgds
>
> Now my question.  What size resistor do I need to run one of these LED
> bulbs on the 12V system of the vanagon?  I want to put one in the back
> light of an aftermarket tach I have, which is very dim at night...
>
> Thanks, and enjoy.
>
> Edward