Interior Lighting Wiring Question

[Grayguy]

Ok, I just finished mounting a set of blue Cathodes under each on of my front seats. How do I wire them so that they come on when the doors open, but I can also turn them on/off if the doors are closed, basically the way that teh stock dome light works.

[lucanhookup]

if i were u ill put a switch or if u want them on when u turn the car on wire them to the cig lighter

[jaguar]

+ dome light circuit. to 3 way switch, to relay to CCFL circuit (dome pos)
+ 12V, to 3 way switch, to relay, to CCFL circuit (on pos)
and the off pos, needless to say, not connected

that's what i'd do, about right ?

[SnakeyeS]

^ johnny on the spot

[Knailgun]

jaguar answered that one peerfectly. Personally you can run it with the parking lights as well.....maybe a better choice for switching the leads to....it's your call

[Grayguy]

Jaguar: Thank you very much. I know it may be asking alot, but do you think it'd be possible for you to do a little diagram in paint or something...I am very good with mechanical things, but for some reason, wiring kicks my ass.

[Grayguy]

Anybody? I really will mess this up by myself.

[88 LE]

Relay:

http://www.nteinc.com/relay_web/R51.html

You can use either (SPST or SPDT), it doesn't matter.







Door trigger wire: red/white wire.

Remove black plastic air ducting covering the top right side of the fuse box to access a 6 pin plug containing the red/white wire.

The plastic air ducting is behind the drivers side dash. So you need to remove the lower portion of the dash to access it.

[jaguar]

looks like someone beat me to it, not exactly as i pictured... but there's no doubt about 88 LE's vast knowledge. so go with his plan.

88 LE, could my setup, using a positive switch work aswell ? i planned on tapping +12 (trigger) from the dome light circuit.

[Grayguy]

Thanks alot guys, now all i need to do is go buy a relay and switch. That is a normal on/off switch right? Not the 3-way kind suggested before? And in that diagram, is there any thing going to the switch besides the ground and the "85" terminal of the relay. And I put the power to both the 86 and 87 terminal?

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by jaguar

could my setup, using a positive switch work aswell ? i planned on tapping +12 (trigger) from the dome light circuit.

Dome light has a constant +12V. The negative side gets switched.

So no it won't work.

[88 LE]

Originally Posted by Grayguy

That is a normal on/off switch right? Not the 3-way kind suggested before?

Yup.

Use a SPST (2 prong) switch. Or a SPDT (3 prong) switch.


SPDT comes in 2 styles:

1. on-on

2. on-off-on


You want the on-on. Use the center connection and one of the outer connections.

And in that diagram, is there any thing going to the switch besides the ground and the "85" terminal of the relay.

No.

And I put the power to both the 86 and 87 terminal?

Yes.


85 and 86 are for the coil inside the relay. One side must be connected to positive and the other side to negative. Since 85 is connected to ground. 86 is connected to positive.

When the coil (85 and 86) is powered, 30 is connected (switches) to 87.


Door trigger wire is a negative trigger. In other words it outputs ground whenever any door is open.

Switch is there so you can manually trigger the relay when all the doors are closed. The switch supplies ground to pin 85 of the relay.

[Grayguy]

Well, I finally had time to wire my lights. Thanks for all the help guys. The only issue is that when I turn the lights on with the switch, the open door light on the dash comes on along with the ring around the ignition switch. That makes perfect sense, but I don't really want to add another switch just to fix that...Here's some pictures:



and here's some shots of the trunk:


then just the car with the doors/trunk open

thanks guys

[V6LE_CAMRY]

Where did you buy the cathodes at? I whant some for my trunk.

[RningOnFumes]

nice...lol...horrible first two pictures..i coun't make them out, thought they were jsut more pics of your trunk.


Good job man