TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Correct on all accounts. You don't need to go all the way to the engine bay though for your grounds, you can ground them directly to a clean metal surface on the doors (if that's where your putting the LED's)

You are NOT removing any terminals, you're just splicing into the wire that goes to the terminal. All of this work should be done with the battery disconnected obviously. Terminal #31's wire is the one you want to get at.

dh4pres

One thing I just realized is that my lighter has no power to it while the car is off. Will it work regardless?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

dh4pres

I think im just going to tap into the dome light without a relay, instead of going to the secu. It would be easier for me. But with a normal bulb in the dome light will 4 3" led strips draw too much current?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Good luck with that

dh4pres

Well as long as i can get the one side b pillar off it shouldnt be a problem to tap into the wire and run everything off that without removing the headliner.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

And how do you plan on hooking up the ground to the positive? The dome light is triggered by the ground, the Map light is triggered by power. you cant just join the wires or one light will be on all the time.

dh4pres

I was going to wire the positive of the LEDs to the positive of the dome light and the ground of the LEDs to the ground of the dome light. So that it functions the same as the light would by itself

Tyutyunnik

iTrader: (1)

Then I'm pretty sure both lights would just be on all the time. Unless you're saying that you're going to add another bulb which defeats the purpose of the thread as stated in the original post.

I feel like there should be a "grade 9 science 101" thread to teach people about circuits and ohm's law etc. I feel like that would eliminate half the posts on this forum regarding electrical issues.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

This. If you're adding lights, then yes, you can do it the way you mentioned. If you're doing it that way, then please find another thread to post in, as CLEARLY stated in the 1st post, this is for the guys that DON'T want to wire it that way.

Electrical is tricky for most people though.

dh4pres

So tuner your saying that the method I was going to use would work? Or were you referring to tyuts comment?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

If you're planning on just adding some LED's rather than actually touching the MAP light or it's wiring, then YES, it will work. You can run any light off the wiring on the Dome light, and as long as it's not connected to any other circuit it will work. If you're trying to connect the STOCK MAP light to the dome light, then no, you can't do it as simply as you posted.

Again, this is the 'cop out' way of doing things, I'm not interested in doing it the lazy way personally, some are, and there's nothing wrong with that. But this thread is dedicated to the method posted, using the SECU terminal that's triggered by the doors/unlock button to power the MAP light or other AUX lighting.

You're welcome to do it another way, this just isn't the thread for it, that's all. Electrical can be confusing enough without posting a bunch of different ways to do things, that will just confuse all future readers of this thread. Hope you understand why I don't want this in this thread, just to save some headache for others down the road.

dh4pres

Okay cool. Yeah i totally understand! Sorry for the trouble. And thank you for the help!

Chris Gregg

iTrader: (59)

This method really does the job but, is a bit complicated.

I knew there was an easier way. So, here is what I've done:
Got tons of extra maxima parts so I didn't have to cut anything. Found an extra plug identical to the one in the front map lights.


The main part of this mod is in the image below. Using the extra plug, you have to wire it into the stock wiring BUT reverse the polarity! Then, on the map light itself, you have to tie the end prongs for the bulbs together (green wire). The consequence is that either button you push, both lights come on. But, this also means both will come on with the dome light auto function. At one of the wire ends, I connected a long white wire. This wire will run under the headliner (no sunroof) to the dome light. I believe even with a sunroof, a single wire can be ran between the map and done lights.


There's no need to discuss what I did to wire in my DVD system, nothing got changed. But here is what it looks like.


Here it is with the white wire run.


At the dome light, I connected the other end of the white wire to the ground wire on that harness (ground triggered only by door and keyless entry).

Put everything back together, then you're done.


Now, open the door or hit keyless entry, both dome and maps come on. Hit either map button, map and dome comes on (if set on auto).

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Great work dude, thanks for posting!! This will be perfect for those without sunroofs.

rimi

I wanted to wire up some LED strips to the cig lighter, but wiring it to the dome light is even better.

The thing is, I want to wire long LED strips on the sides of the car, and footwells, but I'm worried about the battery. It's a 5 meter strip rated at 1.2amps/meter (planning on using most of the strip, wired to the dome light).

If I wire it to the dome light like as described in the OP, would it be ok on the battery?

I don't wanna drain it. I think the battery is rated at 600 CCA.

ps this is the strip I ordered:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/120909198641?...#ht_2473wt_922

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Cig lighter is un-acceptable.

Wiring it so it's triggered by the Dome light IS acceptable. BUT IT CANNOT BE RUN OFF THE DOME LIGHT!!!!


The battery has nothing to do with this.

See above. CCA stands for Cold Cranking Amps. This has nothing to do with what you're planning, at all.



Now, here's some info to help you out and hopefully, stop you from lighting a fire or destroying something in your car:

-What you're concerned about is the AMPERAGE, which is the flow of power.

Think of a River with a Dam in it:

If the dam only has a SMALL opening (small wire), it can only handle so much water flow.

If the dam has a large opening, it can handle a lot more water flow (large wire).

-The dome light trigger that is listed in this thread is just that, a TRIGGER, it is NOT INTENDED TO RUN AUXILLARY LIGHTING DIRECTLY. Doing so WILL cause you to wreck something.

-Same goes for that Cigarette lighter, but with the lighter you'll just blow a fuse

Do some research, what you want to do is install a relay, just like I did.
You will get power from a larger circuit that is MEANT for larger FLOW.
Then you'll use the small TRIGGER circuit to turn the power on.

rimi

Hey thanks for your quick reply.

I understand the triggering concept. I am going to use a relay to accomplish this for sure. Because the whole strip is going to use 6 amps (1.2amps/meter x 5m), I don't want to draw this from the SECU. I think it's too much for the SECU anyway.
And also, I'm going to wire the relay's constant power directly to the car battery's positive terminal with a 10A (would this be a good value?) fuse. I already have located a hole in the firewall for this.

My concern about the battery is, would 6 amps be too much, because let's say I unlock the car from the remote, the LEDs (along with the dome light) will come ON, and they will draw power straight from the battery). I don't know how much current draw is too much, I don't want to kill the battery. Because the LEDs and dome light come ON on several occasions when THE CAR IS NOT STARTED (like opening doors, opening locks...and stay on for a bit of time).

Another concern I have is that, I know we're only using the dome light as a trigger, but the relay still needs current from the wire to change state, correct? This is safe for the SECU; and has nothing to do with the circuit I'm running from on relay right, whether it's a few LEDs or a whole 5m strip? I don't want to risk the SECU.

It would have been great if the dome light had an actual ground (in "door" position), but the dome light is just connected to the SECU on both sides, and it worries me to consider terminal 31 as ground...because I don't know how it is on the circuit board inside the SECU.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Happy to hear this. Your initial post had me concerned for your SECU!


5 amps. The load rating on those LED's is the MAXIMUM current draw, this only occurs during start up/fire, and for LED's that time frame is VERY short, they're almost instantaneous ON/OFF.

This means that if the amount you were putting in equalled a potential for 4amps, you should install a 5 amp fuse.
If it equaled 2.7 amps, you should install a 3 amp fuse. You always want the fuse to be JUST above the maximum current draw potential, but not much higher. This is a general rule of thumb when making your own circuit.

In actuality, the current draw on those LED strips when they're running will be hundreths of an Amp. Or, two-thirds of fuak all, in laymens terms.



The LED's will run just like your Dome light does now. Your battery will be fine. Triggering off the SECU like I posted will put this on a timer also, so it will shut off automatically, etc, to save the battery.


Correct that's the whole purpose of a relay. they're completely separate.

It's fairly simple. You know how to trigger a Relay on the POSITIVE side of things, right? well all the SECU is doing, is triggering on the NEGATIVE side of things.

It's the EXACT same thing, just with the opposite polarity. No need to over-complicate it.

And the SECU does it with a series of transistors, which is a Non-mechanical, much smaller much faster relay. Capable of very high speeds but can't handle high current.