Turn on all interior lights (2016)

[Don Ridley]

The switches are in the latch mechanism. This is why I had to get the switch signal from the door module.

[jrm223]

You could do what I did - take out the bulbs! Lol

[BSJBSJ]

On 7/11/2020 at 11:37 AM, collinjx said:

I found these interior lights on EBay https://www.ebay.com/itm/303539642506. I wired red to a always live terminal, black to ground, and yellow to the ground on the cargo area dome light. Open a door, now all lights turn on, shut the door all lights turn off. You would think all was good. Wrong.

 

After closing the door, the newly added interior leds will come back on after 20 mins. The forward dome light stays off. I've contacted the supplier and I'm hoping they have a solution for the problem. 

 

 

 

Did you ever find a solution for keeping the added light turned off?

[collinjx]

2 hours ago, BSJBSJ said:

 

Did you ever find a solution for keeping the added light turned off?

No, haven't found a solution yet.

[BSJBSJ]

9 hours ago, collinjx said:

No, haven't found a solution yet.

 

Bummer. I thought it would be easy to just make some splitter wires to power my added second OEM cargo area light from the dome light. But that didn't work... So I went looking for more info and found this thread.

 

Guess I'm left with two cargo area lights sharing the some source.

 

I've changed the incandescent bulbs to Red LEDs. Thought it would be good to have one in the rear that could be controlled from the front seat. But alas...

Edited March 31, 2021 by BSJBSJ

[BSJBSJ]

I figured out the way to do it.

 

The second wire has to be attached to the middle copper colored piece. I bent the thin little tab up and used an exacto knife to trim a small amount of plastic away from under that part, so that it wouldn't melt when I soldered the wire to the tab.

 

For testing I clipped the new leads to the rear light and left it alone, after closing the doors for 10, 20, & 30 minutes. Didn't turn back on by itself.

 

Fully installed it works like it should now. Automatically on with the doors and fade off or manually on or just off, like the dome light!

 

 

Edited April 9, 2021 by BSJBSJ

[Fifty150]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:38 AM, BSJBSJ said:

to just make some splitter wires to power my added second OEM cargo area light

 

You could have used a circuit tester to determine which wires were power and ground, then tapped into the wires.

 

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:38 AM, BSJBSJ said:

Guess I'm left with two cargo area lights sharing the some source.

 

 

Replace the OEM light bulb with a LED.  It should not be a problem to operate LED lamps on the same circuit, since the LED load is significantly less.  But to be safe, check  your owners manual to see what size fuse is on that circuit, and figure out what your load is so that you don't have a fire.  

[Fifty150]

On 3/31/2021 at 4:38 AM, BSJBSJ said:

I've changed the incandescent bulbs to Red LEDs.

 

 

I did the same thing.  Then changed them to white LED.  I  then stayed with white LED.  While the red LED set the mood for hotboxing and backseat loving, I found that I could just see better with white.

[jrm223]

2 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

 

You could have used a circuit tester to determine which wires were power and ground, then tapped into the wires.

 

That won't work, others here have already tried. The light is controlled by the BCM via CANBUS and doesn't have "traditional" hot & ground wires.

[Don Ridley]

I said this before: the interior lights will have +12v on both terminals when they are OFF. One terminal is pulled to GND by the BCM to turn the lights on. The dimming effect happens when GND slowly increases to +12v.

 

Some LEDs will dim, others will reach a threshold voltage and flicker then turn off. It depends on the LED driver circuit.

Edited April 4, 2021 by Don Ridley

[BSJBSJ]

9 hours ago, Don Ridley said:

I said this before: the interior lights will have +12v on both terminals when they are OFF. One terminal is pulled to GND by the BCM to turn the lights on. The dimming effect happens when GND slowly increases to +12v.

 

Some LEDs will dim, others will reach a threshold voltage and flicker then turn off. It depends on the LED driver circuit.

 

These are the LEDs that worked for me.  They do dim as they are going off...

Dome (DO NOT USE blocks fob signal!) AmazonSmile: Phinlion 194 LED Red Super Bright Wedge 168 2825 175 T10 15-SMD 4014 Chipsets LED Replacement Bulbs for Car Side Marker Dome Map Reading Courtesy Tail License Plate Lights: Automotive

 

Cargo area. AmazonSmile: Alla Lighting CANBUS 211-2 578 LED Bulbs Super Bright 41mm 42mm Festoon 3030 SMD 212-2 569 6413 LED Lights Bulb for Interior Map, Dome, Trunk, Step Courtesy, License Plate Lights, Pure Red: Automotive

 

I added a, used off Ebay, second OEM incandescent fixture to the drive's side that is powered from the dome light.

 

I use red lights to save my night vision when I'm doing Astronomy. The above LEDs are almost too bright! I put tape on the end of the dome light so that the side lights are the only ones illuminated. I may need to turn the rear lights around backwards to lessen their brightness as well. I also like being able to just have one illuminate if I override the dome and second rear light with the three-way switch.

 

Now to tackle the approach lights via forscan... Fingers crossed!

Edited April 4, 2021 by BSJBSJ
Add warning

[BSJBSJ]

Another bummer. I was having intermittent troubles with the fob locking and unlocking the doors.

 

Turns out that the LED bulb in the Dome light completely blocks the fob!

 

I thought maybe the locks were on a timer or something for "safety". I only had the van for a couple days before adding the LEDs so I didn't realize the light being off had anything to do with the non-functioning locks. D'oh!

[Fifty150]

5 hours ago, BSJBSJ said:

Another bummer. I was having intermittent troubles with the fob locking and unlocking the doors.

 

Turns out that the LED bulb in the Dome light completely blocks the fob!

 

I thought maybe the locks were on a timer or something for "safety". I only had the van for a couple days before adding the LEDs so I didn't realize the light being off had anything to do with the non-functioning locks. D'oh!

 

 

Interesting.  All of my lights, every light on the van, interior and exterior, is LED.  No problem with my key fob.

[BSJBSJ]

Somebody on Amazon said the light was interfering with their car's fob and I wondered if it might be the root of my problems too. Yep.

 

Must be pumping out the radio power, or the van's receiver is close to the light. 

[Don Ridley]

That is very interesting. The LED driver may be oscillating at a frequency that interferes with the fob. Lots of DC converters are actually operating at high frequencies. Evey 120v cell phone charger is actually a high frequency oscillator.

[BSJBSJ]

Found a red LED that works in the Dome light. 194 CAN Bus LED Bulb - 5 SMD LED Tower - Miniature Wedge Base | Super Bright LEDs

 

The previous rear light I posted is pretty bright. Probably even too bright for protecting full dark adaptation while doing Astronomy...

 

I had these in my previous car and they are dim enough for Astronomy. 578 LED Bulb - 9 LED Festoon - 44mm | Super Bright LEDs Sadly discontinued, but maybe available elsewhere.

Edited April 9, 2021 by BSJBSJ

[Fifty150]

Over the years, I've bought 194 size lamps from different companies.  Some were cheap, and worked fine.  Others weren't so great.  Years ago, LED could last forever, or fail, without any consistency.  If they began to flicker and burn out, you just replaced them.  Today, with better technology and build quality, I now expect the LED lamp to actually last.  Flickering and burning out is not acceptable.  

 

I'm not sure what could be too bright, or not bright enough.  You have to decide that for yourself.  For my Transit Connect, these are the lamps I have installed.  I like them.  No flickering.  None have burned out.  I have tinted windows, and I can see very well.  

 

 

 

I used these.  They were good.  No issues.  I tried red and white, and finally decided to stay with white.