Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

Need Help Wiring LEDs

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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 12:02 PM
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Default Need Help Wiring LEDs

I bought some LED tubes that I want to hook up inside the car. I want them to turn on when I open the door, but i want them to stay on when im drivin at night. Do i need to buy a switch to wire it up to? and if i did, how would I wire it?
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 12:09 PM
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You would need a single pole, 2 position switch. So in one position it is set to turn on the lights when you open the door. In the other position it is on all the time (for at night). See the attached pic I just mspainted if it helps.

Last edited by SparkyJJO; Dec 9, 2009 at 07:32 PM.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 12:52 PM
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Are you sure you want to have them stay on at night? I had mine for a while but when driving at night the blue distracted me horribly. When it was raining it made things even worse. Just my opinion and something to think about though.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 01:43 PM
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That is why you can just flip the switch back to the "door only" position, they shut off then.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 04:53 PM
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the lights that get activated by opening the door are on a negative trigger. ie they have power all the time, then you open the door, ground it and it turns on, then the ground fades out. so that 3 position switch has to be wired with grounds, not positives.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 05:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Transamin00
the lights that get activated by opening the door are on a negative trigger. ie they have power all the time, then you open the door, ground it and it turns on, then the ground fades out. so that 3 position switch has to be wired with grounds, not positives.
Thanks for that clarification! I was not aware of that.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 08:00 PM
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Originally Posted by SparkyJJO
You would need a single pole, 2 position switch. So in one position it is set to turn on the lights when you open the door. In the other position it is on all the time (for at night). See the attached pic I just mspainted if it helps.
so when i wire it up this way, for the direct power can i tap into the cig wire? and the dome light, what wire would i tap into for that?
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 08:05 PM
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Note what was said above, the ground not the hot line is what you want. So the one for always on would be attached someplace in the dash to a good ground point, the other one would be from the door switch, the middle connection goes to the negative terminal of the light bar. Positive side of the light bar goes to the BATT connection.
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Old Sep 12, 2007 | 10:22 PM
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Originally Posted by SparkyJJO
Positive side of the light bar goes to the BATT connection.
A fused BATT connection.
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Old Sep 13, 2007 | 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by SparkyJJO
Note what was said above, the ground not the hot line is what you want. So the one for always on would be attached someplace in the dash to a good ground point, the other one would be from the door switch, the middle connection goes to the negative terminal of the light bar. Positive side of the light bar goes to the BATT connection.
k let me understand this better. i understand the grounding part that is easy. but for the other one, what do u mean by door switch. how do i find that wire and tap into? also for the positive side of the bar, does it have to be directly from the battery or can i tap into the cigarrette wire? btw, thanks a lot for ur help.
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Old Sep 13, 2007 | 10:32 AM
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Positive can go to the cigarette wire, AFAIK it is on the battery. I'm not sure where you'll find the door switch ground line though, I haven't looked for it.

Originally Posted by VIP1
A fused BATT connection.
Yeah guess I should have said that. I just assume things like that being fairly common-sense but I probably shouldn't. Thanks for mentioning it.
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Old Sep 13, 2007 | 02:39 PM
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http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/alarm96up2.htm
Scroll down to the part about the "negative door trigger". Use the same white wire from the BCM (body control module) to tap into for your negative connection. Wire the positive to the cig lighter wire (orange I think), and wire in your switch. The BCM is located on the passenger side around the glovebox/kickpanel area.
I did this with my LED footwell bars, and it worked perfectily (without the switch though).
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Old Sep 14, 2007 | 12:26 AM
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Originally Posted by zfastss
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/alarm96up2.htm
Scroll down to the part about the "negative door trigger". Use the same white wire from the BCM (body control module) to tap into for your negative connection. Wire the positive to the cig lighter wire (orange I think), and wire in your switch. The BCM is located on the passenger side around the glovebox/kickpanel area.
I did this with my LED footwell bars, and it worked perfectily (without the switch though).
holy crap dude. ur a life saver. that just made everything so much easier. thanks a lot to everyone. one question tho, ur leds turn off when u close the door or do they stay on?
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Old Sep 14, 2007 | 01:33 AM
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Post pics when you're finished. I've been thinking about doing something like this.
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Old Sep 14, 2007 | 02:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Yahelou
holy crap dude. ur a life saver. that just made everything so much easier. thanks a lot to everyone. one question tho, ur leds turn off when u close the door or do they stay on?
They fade out just as the dome and mirror lights fade out after like 5 seconds after I shut the door.
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