Quote:
Originally Posted by sharpsicle
2 things:
First, you're going to have some abrupt lighting transitions with this setup. While it looks okay on paper, this isn't going to look as nice in reality as you're expecting. Imagine someone flicking a light switch on and off quickly and repeatedly. That's what you're going to get. Integrating with the factory signals will not only relieve that, but will give you the ability for the footwells and underglows to illuminate as you approach the car, and fade to zero as you walk away and lock it. At night, that kind of integration will look 1000x better.
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http://www.streetglow.com/SG201GR?sc=2&category=2832
Here are the specs I found...these are probably newer as mine are almost 10 years old.
Technical Specs
Input Voltage: 11-14V
Current Draw: 3.5A
The underglows I have has a sharp voltage cut off. Below a certain voltage, off, above a certain voltage on. So the nice dimming won't work and might damage the dome light circuitry with 40 watts of power drawn. The built in neon transformer may also get damaged with power applied below a certain voltage. The other nice thing is that if I'm pulled over by John Q public, when I turn on my dome light, the underbody and footwell stay dark.
If I used a relay, it would be the same thing, the solenoid requires a minimum voltage. It's on or off.
Good thought and thanks for thinking of this!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sharpsicle
Secondly, there's no reason you can't use the signals from the factory wiring in conjunction with relays and/or diodes and still have ability to remove everything with little to no trace of the install. Burning up any of the factory circuitry is a sign of an install without proper circuit isolation and draw, nothing more. Not only would this prevent that rough transition and allow the lights to fade in the same manner as the factory dome light, but would significantly reduce the work, wiring, and risk of failure throughout the system. Utilizing existing resources wherever possible is almost always worth doing, and having done quite a few of these myself I can vouch for it. Less wire running, tucking, hiding, connecting, and less spots with a risk of wear and breakage. Not only that, but you aren't adding more equipment and sensors and have the ability to make it seem 100% factory when you're done. Drilling into the car at any point to add additional door sensors contradicts your desire to remove things without a trace. No added hardware anywhere visible. Clean install is the best install.
You've had a bit of a run with over-thinking things and going a bit overboard, this is another situation to take a step back and seriously consider if you're doing it again. I've included a video of my personal lighting setup which taps into the factory lighting signals to power the footwells. Sequence is Everything off > Running lights on > Door open > Door closed (fade to illum) with the final brightness setting controlled by a PWM.
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My concern is more of a natural failure of the dome light dimming circuitry and the dealership blaming hooking in to it to power something as the cause instead of a warrantable issue.
This is one of the videos I looked at and definitely looks cool. At the end I see a little bit of flickering, was that the camera artifact or is that your led's undervolting and flickering?
The sensor I add in will be behind a cover. The only presence would be a small magnet, about the size of your fingernail in an inconspicuous location on the door.
All the videos I looked at showed someone pulling plastic insulation off of a wire and soldering to the wire. Others I saw using taps that damage the wire. Either way, didn't look appealing.
My method are very clean and the evidence of the reed switches and magnets adhesive can be completely erased.