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Backup and Rock lights


PathyDude17
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4 hours ago, AlabamaDan said:

 

Experience...  how does one develop that?  :lol:

 

I haven't run enough wire to have the gauge quite figured out by eye either, but I can compare the diameter of the conductor to the grooves in my wire stripper and get a ballpark estimate that way. I should probably print that chart and put it up somewhere.
 

Different climate on this side for sure! And thanks. :)

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763535828_IMG_2719(1).jpg.80e45d08f1493533dc1c3e8ec742fc35.jpg

I apologize for terrible photo quality, but for anyone interested, this is the wiring schematic that I'm planning on following. A relay that can be triggered by the dome and OEM reverse lights or manually powered. I already have a high current wire running to my sub-woofer, so I'm planning on powering the entire circuit off of that, as well as putting diodes on the taps into the reverse and dome wires. Using a SPDT switch, i should be able to turn on the rock and backup light when 1. Anytime the sub-woofer can be powered (Acc/on) OR 2. Whenever power is supplied to my OEM backup lights or the dome light AND the switch is in the bottom "on" position. Also, this way I can have the lights all manually turned off. Simply tapping into the existing wiring would not have given me that option. As far as I can tell, this is a viable way to wire my lights, but I'd value any input where I've gone wrong or could improve upon this setup. 

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No sooner do I post this then see my own error. I can't use the subwoofer as the power source for my relay if i desire to use this with keyless entry. I'll have to pick a different power source such as the dome light line, which we already established can handle up to 54W

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I can't quite see your diagram (loads about the size of a wristwatch on my screen for some reason) but the sub may actually be a reasonable place to pull power from, depending on how it's rigged up. I haven't gone too far down the car audio rabbit hole but I think they're generally set up with a constant power connection (fused but not switched) and a signal wire from the head unit to the amp to turn the amp off when the stereo's off.

 

 

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I wish I could get a better picture to load. If that is the case, I could use the sub. I know however, that if I supply power to the lights from the dome light, they'll definitely turn on when I want them to. So now what I'm thinking is that I'll tap both the sub and the dome light as power sources. It may take some experimentation upon install

Edited by PathyDude17
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51 minutes ago, RainGoat said:

Please post your final wiring diagram & pointers. It’s a great project & I’m sure others would love to follow your lead (I know I’m interested). I like your multiple auto & manual options!

Alright. I've been ordering parts this weekend (I'm realizing that tubing, wire, switches, relays, and diodes add up... *sigh*), and hopefully I'll put together a high resolution diagram for you all. 

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I’ve got two magnetic work lights that are gonna be pretty similar to my puddle lights, and I’ve been playing around with sticking them to my undercarriage. There’s actually quite a few good mounting points, and a potential to throw some pretty good light. 2 will suffice for now, but I could see how a 4 light setup would provide almost full coverage. You could say I’m getting excited haha... 

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https://colevalleychristiansch-my.sharepoint.com/:o:/g/personal/tyler_smith_cvcsonline_org/EvmfQVX_0vRBvU_dGBPQbHsBGJNLG8GK6IrkVtTL3uVTXg?e=OL4NGS

 

The link above is what appears to be my final wiring diagram. I apologize for the lack of actual wiring symbols. This has gone through multiple iterations, and due to my limited experience, took a lot of research and development. I constructed this after pulling apart my dome light and tail light circuits earlier this week and experimenting with a voltmeter. So, I'll lay out the basic workings of this diagram. Hopefully, much of this wiring already makes sense to the vast majority of people here. However, knowing that there are plenty of people like me who are not electrically inclined but may be interested in this, I'll try to leave no detail unmentioned, so bear with me. This wiring diagram requires a constantly live and fused power source, an SPDT (single pole double throw, aka ON-OFF-ON) switch, two relays (5 pin or 4 pin will work), and connections to the dome light ground wire and backup light wire. First, the switch: an SPDT switch can either be left in an open position, or complete one of two circuits. In this diagram, my switch either stays in the off, open position, and no lights come on no matter what (For me this was a must, as I wanted to avoid accidentally blinding anyone when backing up, and not needlessly run my lights during the day), or when flipped to the upper position, completes a circuit between the subwoofer's wire (Which actually goes directly to my battery-live power source) and the lights. This way the lights can be turned on anytime, period. If the switch is in the lower position, it connects the my relays to the subwoofer, so that when the relays are triggered, the lights can come on. As for the relays, the leftmost relay is triggered by the same ground that grounds the dome light. This was the main hang-up in my previous ideas, as there is no one wire that supplies power only when the dome light is lit (well, door switch and keyless entry wires, but that would've required 3-4 wire taps in the smart entrance control unit, which would be an absolute pain to access. It may be possible to access those near the door switch sensors, but I have no idea why you would attempt either of those options). Rather, there are ground wires that provide ground at specific times to otherwise constantly live wires. Through testing, I was able to determine specifically that the ground wire directly connected to the terminal on the dome light provided ground only when the dome light (as it functions in the "door" position) would come on (keyless entry, open door, etc). And so, with ground provided to that relay the first relay via that wire, the switch between 30 and 87 is closed, and the other tap from my subwoofer provides power through the relay to my lights. The rightmost relay is triggered by the backup lights, and so whenever my backup lights come on, my lights will also come on, once again powered by the subwoofer. I have the power line from the second relay (out from pin 30) going into pin 87a on the first relay. I am still considering whether to tie that line into 87a or link into the wire where my green and blue wire meet. As far as I can tell, no discernible difference would be achieved, other than that maybe using pin 87a prevents any back feeding into my subwoofer, as doing so would make it impossible for the both dome light and the reverse light to (at the same time) trigger my lights to come on. So I guess using pin 87a guarantees that only one circuit at a time will provide power to my lights. But honestly, how often is it that your dome light is on at the same time that your reverse lights are on? I will be planning to fuse the wire tap from my sub with a 10A fuse, though 7.5A would work fine, and even 5A would give me enough clearance for this current circuit and more. A brief note on the dome light circuit: Using the manual "on" switch will not trigger my extra lights to come on, as that switch makes use of a different ground connection (the screw holes in the dome light casing). Also, the dome light does not need to be left in the "door" position for this circuit to work. The switch wired into this circuit is by all means the master switch. It is possible to drain the battery by accidentally leaving the switch in the upper "on" position (but not the lower position), which I'm allowing myself to be ok with. Avoiding this would require a 3rd relay or a different, and likely lower amperage, power source. There would be plenty of workarounds for this, they just require more wiring. As far as I can tell, this is the minimal amount of wiring required to accomplish what I desired out of my lights. Obviously, this circuitry could be modified to isolate the reverse and puddle lights, or can be easily added to. For what I desired, it made sense to have all the lights come on together. I couldn't think of a time when I would only want one or the other on. If at some point I add more rock lights, and want to be able to drive with them on (I know, ricey, right? At least it’s a Nissan), I would rewire this and isolate the backup light from the circuit. Not difficult, just more work. Also worth noting is that at no point in this diagram is power drawn from an existing power line in order to run the lights. This is all powered from the car's battery, and with proper fusing I will leave myself plenty of room to add lights to this circuit. As for the actual lights, I will be using 2 KC cyclone rock lights (5W, 516 lumens each) and a KC C2 Scene/backup light (20W, 2200 lumens). These are very efficient and low draw lights. Another brand worth looking into is Black Oak LED- their products draw great reviews, and have almost unbeatable lumen output and pricing, as well as great warranties and waterproofing. This is one of the few applications that I have researched where KC was an equally viable option. Vision X would have been slightly cheaper, but I couldn't verify the waterproofing on their products. Rigid was slightly more expensive for no discernible change in performance or durability. So for anyone not wanting lighting from eBay or amazon, I recommend researching those companies. Anyhow, I ran this diagram by a friend of mine, and everything seems to check out. Unless anyone has any further suggestions, the only thing left for me to do is put this circuit together and test it out (parts are being shipped to me now, should be able to install early next week). Thanks for your help!

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I used the exact setup from my wiring diagram (EXCEPT I had to swap the my hookups between pin 87 and 30) to get one rock light and the backup light hooked up before I had to stop. They work exactly as I thought they would, the only thing is the relay “chatters” and rattles when the lights are subject to dimming like the dome light does. I believe a capacitor should fix that, and I’m hoping to get the other rock light wired tonight. Definitely put out a ton of light. Hopefully get pictures up tonight as well

Edited by PathyDude17
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Huh. I didn't know the R50s dimmed their dome lights, that's unhelpful. And yeah, a cap is probably the way to deal with that. A cap across the relay coil and a diode to isolate it from the rest of the circuit would make sure the cap was keeping just the relay energized and not dumping its power through the dome light bulbs or possibly confusing some other part of the circuit.

 

I did something similar when I wired a lighted ignition cylinder ring off my dome light circuit. I wanted the ring to stay on briefly after the door was closed (because otherwise what's the point), but I didn't want the dome light to stay on. I wired a couple of capacitors to the LEDs on the ring and ran power from the dome light circuit through a diode, preventing the caps from discharging through the dome and footwell lights.

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Well, one diode and one capacitor later, my light setup works perfectly now. So I guess this project is complete unless I add anything to the circuit later. I’m happy to help if anyone has any questions that weren’t covered or wants to see more pictures. Thanks for all your input, I definitely learned by taking on this project

 

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@hawairish, you may be interested to know that now instead of my dome light glowing like yours does, when my switch is in the on position my backup light (but not either of the “puddle” lights) glows even though it’s powered by the relay. If I put the switch in the off position, the dome light glows. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Funny that you say that. KC gave me a coupon code for another free rock light just for submitting a review, so I think that will be in the works. Thanks!

36 minutes ago, RainGoat said:


Looks good but I think you need to add another set of undercarriage lights to light the front if the front wheels. Overall fantastic project!!

Edited by PathyDude17
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