Adding led lighting and need some ideas.

Bludge · Post by **Bludge** » Mon May 19, 2014 7:48 pm

I have been meaning to do footwell lights in the lude for ages now, got a set of cold cathodes i used to have in my corsa (

) which had two cathodes linked to an inverter and switch, but i want leds this time as they are less likey to get damaged and easier to mount.

The led strips here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221135606344? ... 1423.l2649 just have a ground and live wire coming off each. so can i just solder the 2 grounds and lives together and run them to the desired point yeah? like in the amazing diagram i have drawn up?

And i have one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Add-A-Circuit ... 56637c11b6 as i wanted to just plug into the fusebox rather then tap into wiring or go straight to the battery.

So i was going to solder the lives and grounds into one wire to run to the switch, then from the switch to the fuse tap thingy which will have the correct fuse in it. and obviously solder the 2 grounds into one and find a suitable grounding point.

Is this right, or am i gonna set fire to myself/blow myself up/give myself super powers?

Also i want to do a similar mod in my mondeo, but i want a bright and low light option with switches on the dash. the reason being is that i have a little girl who sits in a rear facing seat, and i have one of those mirrors that you attach to the head rest so you can see them in the rearview. i want a bright light for getting her strapped in in the dark, and a low light one thats just bright enough for me to see her in the rearview when its dark, but not bright enough to keep her awake. any ideas on how this would be achieveable?

Post by **lewd lude lover** » Mon May 19, 2014 7:55 pm

I did a guide on how to wire in courtesy lights in the 5th. I cant find it but andypont recently hooked it out. It links up to the door switches and internal caps to light up the footwells and then dim when you close the door, after a few seconds. might be worth a look see.

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:13 pm

I will have a look, and try to find the link. it was on PUK.
I got a Honda loom extension with the climate control I bought. Basically that just tees in to the fog light feed from the footwell fuse box and returns the earth to the white and black wire that plugs in at the bottom of the panel.
Initially I found a white and black near the door sill and connected into that, but the footwell lights only went off when braking!

EDIT: LLL's write up...
http://preludeuk.forumup.com/about25441-0.html
I think it's actually positive to the white, and negative to the white / black, but not important.

Bludge · Post by **Bludge** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:24 pm

Unfortunately as i never managed to get an account activated there i cant see the pics.

Im wanting the footwell lights to be a completely seperate circuit from anything else though, which is why i got one of the fuse tap things. i know i can run it from the footwell fusebox for the live but im just wanting to make sure that running one live into the two wires for the strips is gonna be ok and that i havent overlooked anything thats gonna be dangerous! lol.

Post by **Gayno** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:25 pm

Yeah, the diagram you've done will be fine.

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:33 pm

No that's fine.
Its just how you return the earth that controls when the lights are on. Mine taps into a constant feed for the + so is no different. Its only if you want them to come on and off with the dome light that LLLs write up would help.

Bludge · Post by **Bludge** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:42 pm

Ok cool, thanks guys! will get all the stuff ordered and will post up some pics when i get it done!

Might buy a fire extinguisher too....

andypont · Post by **andypont** » Mon May 19, 2014 10:50 pm

Let me know if you get fed up with operating them with a switch, and i'll post those photos up here. Would only be a matter of leaving your switch on and reconnecting the earth.

K30DPC · Post by **K30DPC** » Tue May 20, 2014 6:24 am

I thing the other option which andypont suggested will be easier as you already have hot wire close to LEDs destination and will have to use only one wire to go to the switch as ground can be taken from almost everywhere.

One question is how you gonna use them lights?
They designed to use 12V supply, but if you wanna use them during the driving then you will supply them with around 14V. This will damage LEDs after some time (rather quick). You should install in line resistor.

Dimming can be archived in the same way. You can install another in line resistor and switch to short it when you wanna full intensity

andyconnolly · Post by **andyconnolly** » Tue May 20, 2014 6:39 am

Your drawing will work fine

i did pretty much the same on my old civic. i had 4 switches: 1 for the front, 1 for the rear, one for the boot around the audio build and i added one in the engine bay for when i was working at night

Also had a wee LED for each one at the switch panel so i knew if i had left the rear, boot or engine ones on