Wiring question (with pics)

[Micra Jim]

Alrite,

I think im gonna invest in one of Ed's led interior kits, and as i dont wanna bother him with any more questions im asking you guys . (though feel free Ed :upside: )

I want the led's to switch on when the car doors are opened, and as Ed's has pointed out to need to wire the kit to a 12V source and to the negitive on the door switch.

Im guessing the ciggy lighter has a power source so im guessing i could use this?

Is this the 12V wire?

12V Wire

Also ive find the sensor for the door, but im unsure of which wire would be the negitive one im after.

Theres are three wires, Red, Black and Red/Black. Which one should i use?

Which wire?

Also (bear with me!) should i wire it straight to the sensor (like in the above picture) or use the connectors that are just further down the wire?

Further down the wire

Thats it!

If anyone can help, much appreiated.

Cheers
Jim

 

[Herr_spl1ff]

The live for the ciggy lighter is the big fat one, not the one you have circled

I would guess that the black wire from the door sensor is your negative, but you're best off testing it with a multimeter between some bare metal on the body or a bolt or something and each of the wires, then you know which is which!

I'd probably shave the plastic off the wire somewhere in the middle then solder the new wire into that and wrap it back up with electrical tape.

 

[NeX]

you don't want to attach the negative, you want the positive.

attach the negative to a bare peice of metal

then run a wire from the interior light or the interior light fuse so that the lights are given 12v when the doors are opened.


anything else is just over complicating things.....

good luck

 

[Paynee]

i used some twin core cable, soldered one of the cables to each side of the bulb holder in the interior light then ran it to my footwells, i didnt bother earthing the cables, thought it was probably easier to do it the way i did cus duno how difficult it would be getting an earth with carpet etc. in the way

 

[NeX]

yea that's probably the most simple way except you only need to run the 12v + cable and then take and earth from anything metal like the metal thing under the gearstick gator or anything, even the pedals

 

[Micra Jim]

Hi guys,

Just to update you on the progress, if your interested.

I spent most of yesterday figuering out how i would wire it all, and came to this:

I connected the negative wire to the black/red wire at the door switch. And connected the positive to my HU's constant 12v supply, which is already earthed.

This works flawlessly.

I did go through afew different methods though.

I tried to connect both positive and negative to the door switch, but found out there wasn't a constant 12v supply (but there was a little supply of power, because it activates when the passenger side door opens). So as i wasn't getting a supply from the door switch i tried getting 12v from the ciggy lighter (as i couldnt be bothered at the time to get the HU out), this worked fine, BUT i would only get a 12v supply when there was a key in the ignition (which would be pointless cause when i open the door there would be no key in the ignition at the point, as it would still be in my hand!!). So then i just gave in and got my HU out and used that constant 12v supply (im glad i hooked it out to a constant 12v because i think i might want to add a switch at some point).

Jim
p.s hopefully gets some pics up later tonite.

 

[NeX]

good work glad to hear it's all working...

so do the neons only come on when you open the driver's door or any door?

 

[Micra Jim]

Any door mate!
:upside:
Only got the driver footwell lit at the moment as there passenger footwell led's were faulty.

 

[NeX]

nice

is it 4 or 2 door?

i have neons under the seats so they light the back foot wells too

mine come on with the headlights and look groovy :laugh:

 

[Micra Jim]

two door mate.

I think i will put led's under the front seats to light up behind footwells aswell, looks smart.

Though i might buy neons, or buy the led's and try and wire them myself.

hehe

 

[NeX]

LEDs are better for inside the car but don't look so good on the outside,

If you go to www.ultraleds.co.uk you can get a single led which produces enough light to light the whole underneath of the seat...

i'd buy them but they are £20 a go....

 

[Micra Jim]

yer man, i brought my led's for the dash from there at afew quid a pop.

And to be honest i dont want to spend a total of £50 just to light up my footwells, hehe.

maybe im just tight

 

[NeX]

yea but they are very bright, 4 will do the whole of the underneath of the car

i want to get all leds for my car apart from the headlights and the neons.

because they take less power and last longer. also they don't have an inital glow time so if your brake lights are LED then they will come on about 0.5 seconds faster than a bulb which can make the difference....

 

[simmo]

if you want to light ur ur footwells dont bother with leds iv tried. Neons are far better and u get a better spread of light with them.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...rder_col=sell_price&order=ASC&subcat_uid=1294

If you click that link you can get sets of neons for only a few quid. Iv got them ni my micra and i wouldnt use anythin else.

 

[Micra Jim]

Heres some pics:

http://img194.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img194&image=dscf00335ay.jpg
http://img194.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img194&image=dscf00379ug.jpg

Hopefully get the passenger side footwell sorted soon!