Timer for Puddle lights

[SMOKEYVIP]

does anyone know how i can hook up puddle lights to a delay timer so that they fade out after the doors are shut??

[d1deuce]

Um... Hook it up to your dome lights, I'm guessing tho..

[Brokey33]

Yup
What duece said

That's how I did mine, couldn't have came out better

[romeo291]

Hook it up to a PLC, and you can write some ladder logic to have it do whatever you want. =)

[SMOKEYVIP]

no idea what romeo was talking about so i don't think i'll be doing that....


so you're saying, by hooking to the dome lights they fade out with the dome light? my my only concern with the dome lights is don't the lose brightness? and get progressively darker as you go back the chain??

also, is it possible then to have the dome light setup so that when set to 'door' they come on etc when you open the door. and then when the dome light is set to off, they don't do anything at all. and then when the dome light is set to 'ON', the puddle lights come on even with the doors shut......but how could i hook it up so that the light in the cabin didnt come on for cruising and show purposes. i dont mind if i lose the 'ON' function of the in-cabin light......just cut the wires to the light after the switch and solder them together, thus eliminating the circuit to the light??

[SMOKEYVIP]

i just thought that i would need to run relays on them so not to have too much power drawing on the cabin light? but i guess if i'm replacing the dome light with SMD's then that will already lighten the load significantly....and from there it's just another 40 LED's in the puddle kit ....eek! will this be ok??

[nervekiler]

just run em through a relay. they wil come on whenever the dome is on BUT willl keep the delay from when you shut the door and walk away.
good idea.

are you comfertable wiring them up through a relay?

also, if you've got an aftermarket alarm you can hook em up to dome light supervision output. so they come on when you unlock the car (itll turn the domes on) but wont turn on when you open the doors. i personally think putting them on the domelight circuit, mayeb with an extra on/off switch would be how i'd do it on my personal car if so equipped.

[GrumpySteelMan]

If you're comfortable with relays it would be easy enough to handle all of your needs, but assuming your puddle lights are traditional LED, they won't add enough load to the dome light circuit to matter.

If I was looking to fade the puddle lights off when the door closes, yet retain the ability to keep them on, without worrying about backfeeding power into the dome light circuit, this is how I would do it:

First, you need to find a SPDT switch that you like. A SPDT switch is a single-pole double-throw switch. This is a switch with THREE posts. Instead of a simple on/off switch, this switch is used to shift the connection on the common post (C) from one side (1) to the other (2). This is not to be confused with an illuminated switch, which has three posts, but one is a ground, used only for the light in the switch itself.

First you need to determine whether your dome lights are switched ground or power. Most cars used to be switched ground, as the pin switch in the doorframe just grounded out to turn the interior lights on. This is not the case anymore, with computer controlled fading domelights, so this is important. You want to get this right so you don't screw anything up. The easiest way to determine this is to remove one of the bulbs and use a test light or a multimeter and see if when you ground the meter/light to the chassis and then touch the metal of either terminal, it will light up (when the lights are OFF) when you touch one of them. This means you're switched ground...i.e. the control for the lights is on the GROUND wire. If not, you're probably switched +12v. If you need help in determining this, please let me know via PM.

If your domelights are switched power (+12v) then you will GROUND all your puddle lights (to the chassis is fine) and wire the positive leads to the (C) post on a SPDT switch. If your domelights are switched ground (-) then you will run +12v power either from your battery or your fuse box to the puddle lights and you will wire the POSITIVE lead to the (C) post on an SPDT switch. I would put a 2.5amp or lower fuse on this wire, just in case.

You will then run the switched wire from your domelights to the (1) pin on the switch. This means that when the switch is in the first position it will allow the puddle lights to turn on and off with the domelights, and retain the fade-out function (if you used a relay to switch the puddle lights on from the domelight you would lose the 'fade' and the coil on the relay will probably draw almost as much as the LEDs anyway).

Then you will wire the same polarity to the other pole (2) of the SPDT switch. So if your domelights are switched positive, then you'll run +12v (with another 2.5amp fuse) to pole (2), if your domelights are switched ground, then you'll run a ground to (2).

Then you're done. Position 1 will make the puddle lights turn on and off with the dome, and position 2 will keep them on without backfeeding to the domelight circuit.

If you want to protect the domelight circuit with a 5-wire relay anyway you'd wire the switched wire to pin 86, and the opposite (same as the wire you connected directly to the puddle lights) to pin 85. The puddle lights + or - wire would go on pin 30, and the + or - source would go on pin 87. You could add that same source to pin 87a, with a standard SPST switch, to allow the lights to stay on without worrying about backfeeding the power through the domelight circuit.

http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/imagehosting/12527647e874402a60f.bmp

[ac921ol]

can someone tell me how to hook puddle lights up to a dome light??? do i really need to get inside my pillars to hook them up??? or are footwell lights part of the same circuit with the dome light.

[SMOKEYVIP]

Grumpy, that was an epic post, and very helpful. i will make sure i come back to that soon.

unfortunately, i have hit a snag. i got all the wiring run into the car, and was testing the lights. i hooked the red wire from the lights and inserted it into an empty globe socket in the footwell, and then grounded the puddle lights to the chassis. the lights came on fine, and continued to work. however, my dome light circuit ceased to work. it appears that i have blown the integration relay somehow.

i am still not 100%, but i'm fairly sure its a switched ground circuit. the domelight shows approx 11.5v on both sides of the terminal with no globe inserted and power off.

will let you know how i go as i move forward.

[squadoneY33]

hey I just did my puddle lights and I ran them to lights under the dash you know the ones that shine on your feet and they fad out and they stay on as you drive and you can turn them off with the dome switch that was the easiest way I could find I did blow one fuse in the process and thats why you don't do it with the battery connected but once I replaced the fuse then connected the battery I have had no problems since hope that helps good luck:biggthumpup:

[SMOKEYVIP]

yeh, that would be all well and good if toyota engineers were nice and friendly and wired it up positive switched like nissan.....but alas....they didnt. otherwise i'd be sweet. need to fix this integration relay then i'll be giving that SPDT switch a go.