Interior LED wiring

[Finnish~Racer]

ok so i'm wiring up some accent LED's in my interior....

i have a 96 ex coupe, just so you know what i'm working with.

I installed two lights in the rear paneling cupholders and spliced them to the rear brake lights....the light that comes on with the head lights. lol they look geat and all but i have 4 left that i need to wire up.

I have two that i want in my center armrest in the little depression under the emergency brake, and two more in the cupholders.

i'm wondering where i should wire them to so they come on with the headlights too...

what do you guys think??

 

[lethal6]

I would figure that it would be better to run them all to a switch. That way you can turn them on any time you want and it would also allow you to turn them off when you need. Cops don't like lights being on in the interior at night when you are driving. Not very smart.

The way you want them wired now you are stuck with them only coming on with the column switch, which also means that you would have to run your running lights when you are trying to parking lot pimp.

 

[Finnish~Racer]

hahhaha i got that lol.
the LEDs aren't bright enough to distract me while i'm driving....plus i have 25% tint so no ones gonna pull me over.

umm i dont parking lot pimp very often but when i do i'm showing off whats under the hood so the running lights are usually off. lol

but i think i'll run a single 16 gauge power wire to the same wire that i used to power the two other LEDs under the carpet in the rear and then ground it out on the chassis bolt that holds the brake handle.

it should work.

 

[TheDog]

i would run it to a switch as well, you never know, it might come in handy. i currently have 1 light installed in my 08 SI, and its on a switch and makes things easier, ill be installing several more lights, all to a switch as well

 

[lethal6]

Hey, your money. Your problems.

They can pull you over for the tint. When that happens, he/she then walks up to the car and sees the l.e.d.s on and more than likely will write you up for that as well.

Running them to the wire that you used will work. ANY power source will work. All they need is a power and a ground.

I am just going off of experience. I have been pulled over for tint. I have been pulled over because of interior lights. I have been given fix it tickets for both. The tint I didn't remove. The lights I hooked up to a switch so I could turn them off when I needed. That was years ago though. Interior lights got old for me very fast.

 

[Finnish~Racer]

yeah i'm young and bold....i think a switch would be a good call but could there be a way to hook up a switch as a backup to the column? like they could come on at night with the runnng lights but then if i wanted them off i could flip the switch and still have the running lights on?

i sat in my car on night when it was dark out and turned on the lights.....they looked really good. it was uber bright but in my area no one i know has been pulled over for tint or lights.....south bend has bigger problems then that.

what do you guys think?

 

[lethal6]

You could run the switch inline on the l.e.d. light end just like a fog light switch. If you turn on your running lights, the l.e.d. lights will come on if the switch is thrown, but if it isn't they won't come on.

Make sense? It does in my head and I don't know if it comes out right in typing.

Like I said it is like a fog light switch. They get their power from the running light circuit, but are on their own inline switch as well so you can turn them on and off separately if needed.

 

[Finnish~Racer]

no that totally makes sense.

you have the power running off the main running light line, then it leads to the switch which will if open when the column light is flipped, it will then turn on. if not the circuit is not closed so no power to the lights. makes total sense.

but i think using the column switch will work fine but having a toggle switch would make it easy to cutoff quick.....but how could i do that? i already wired them to the rear running lights. if i cut the LEDs the running lights will cut off too......hmm....fun fun!

and where would be ok for a toggle switch where it wouldnt look faggy! we all know a toggle switch for lights would just look stupid in a area with switches for the engine, boost, etc. etc.

 

[Destroy]

You have led lights in your cabin yet you're still afraid of looking "faggy"?

 

[Finnish~Racer]

hahahah true....but in the sense of toggle switches, not light placement. cuz i'm looking to put the engine and electrical management switches on the tabs of the center console and i dont know where else would look astetically correct and pleasing.

its a 96 ex by the way

 

[lotz6996]

use a rocker switch, run the led's off of the fuse under the dash and put the rocker on the positive wire that runs to the leds, my leds are on a small distribution block i got at radioshack and had to do some soldering on to get them all to power, check out my avitar and garage for my lights, ill post the pics of my switch and distribution block. it wasnt hard at all.

 

[Finnish~Racer]

ok sounds good man. can't wait for some visual aids!!!

 

[lotz6996]

power terminal strip, mounted under dash on top side of glovebox, crimped terminal connections where used to tie the positive wires from each set of lights into the terminal strip.


light switch. power came from accessory (cig lighter) to the switch then to the terminal strip.


all of my lights are tied into the terminal strip as sets. ie: front window, rear window, under dash- 2 wires each terminal, ac vents 4 wires to 1 terminal.

 

[Finnish~Racer]

idk man, the strip is a great idea but where'd you get it from.
the switch is kinda tacky in that location, but i have that exact switch for my fuel pump cut-off.
i don't really want to hook the power to an accesory. i think i'll stay with the column switch with a secondary switch to cut the power if need be.

 

[NIKE H34D]

I don't see how thats tacky you cant even see it unless you know its there.... lol not like its a nawwwwwwwws switch lol

 

[Finnish~Racer]

hahahah true. but no it's not centered on that part of the center armrest part.
idk.....i'm just wondering where a cool switch placement option is.

 

[lotz6996]

use a rocker switch, run the led's off of the fuse under the dash and put the rocker on the positive wire that runs to the leds, my leds are on a small distribution block i got at radioshack and had to do some soldering on to get them all to power, check out my avitar and garage for my lights, ill post the pics of my switch and distribution block. it wasnt hard at all.

im planning on putting more switches in there, thats why its not centered, i still need to install the switch for my amp and one for something else, not sure what yet. that and its easy access when i see a cop or something, not so obvious that im reaching for the switch. i had to use a pair of sidecutters and pliers to cut sections of plastic divider out of the distribution block and then run a bead of solder down the middle to get the power to go all of the way through.

 

[Esotericimage]

You have led lights in your cabin yet you're still afraid of looking "faggy"?

OE>LED

 

[lotz6996]

OE>LED

maybe for you, i like my leds

 

[Finnish~Racer]

dude i like the power strip....but where did you get it from? lol cause i want one similar like it. i'll prolly drop it under the center armrest.

umm in regards to the interior fagginess.....i don't like the OEM look. its not that its not fine, but its the fact that i have the chance to experience new kinds of work and what -not, so that is my arguement.