[Michael Quinlan]

Today I installed some LED light strips in the cargo area of my 2017 2500, wired to the dome light near the side door so they come on and turn off with the dome lights. I saw a video that briefly indicated that, after the lights timeout, you can press the side door closure switch to simulate closing and opening the door, restarting the timer for another 3 minutes. The lights also come on when opening the rear doors, but I can't seem to find a switch similar to that on the side door. Is there a similar switch (that can be triggered manually) at the rear doors?

Here are some stock-dome-lights-only pictures and some LED-only pictures.

 

[GapRunr]

And here they are without hurting your neck.

Michael - Cell phone pictures are often off by 90 degrees. Save the files to your computer, open them up in any one of the free graphic programs available today, make sure they are oriented properly, then save them. Even if they are right side up on your screen, you still need to save them.

They look great by the way. Amazing amount of light and I bet there are very few shadows when working on something in there.

 

[proeddie]

MQ,

How about adding a switch to select "van control" - center off - "12v always on"? That wouldn't be too hard to do.

It looks like you eliminated the factory lights... if so you could replace the switch built into the factory light with a similar switch located where convenient. I may be able to find a diagram... I think I posted it on the forum recently.

Found it! http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=482538&postcount=4

How did you connect the LED strips... to which wires, what colors?

 

[Michael Quinlan]

And here they are without hurting your neck.

Thanks. The pictures are oriented correctly on my computer and phone. The only place they appear sideways is after I uploaded them here. I tried attaching them again to this reply and the same thing happened. They're somehow being rotated after uploading. Resizing the pictures (before uploading) to be within the limits shown in the (forum's) attachment manager seems to avoid the problem.

 

[GapRunr]

Resizing the pictures (before uploading) to be within the limits shown in the (forum's) attachment manager seems to avoid the problem.

Correct. They need to be re-saved while on the computer. Some programs don't actually do a save when you ask, if the original hasn't changed. Making any change at all to the original is required, then save.

 

[keeponvaning]

GapRunr is correct - you must save them on your computer after you orientate them correctly and then post them.

 

[Michael Quinlan]

GapRunr is correct - you must save them on your computer after you orientate them correctly and then post them.

The orientation has been correct from the time the photos were taken. They appear correctly on my phone and on my computer. Uploading the original photos with a resolution of 4096x3072 (actually 3072x4096 because they're in a portrait orientation) causes the forum software to reduce their size to the maximum allowed (1600x1200). It appears that during the resizing of the photos by the forum software, the orientation is changed to a landscape orientation. If I upload the photos at a resolution within the allowed size, no resizing or orientation change occurs. That's how it appears from my end anyway.

Regardless, I don't want to start my time here disagreeing over something like this. I'll try to remember in the future that it's possible to correct the problem if it occurs again.

 

[keeponvaning]

I would recommend you find a free photo hosting site and not use the one provided by the site. You are limited to a very small number of images (10/5MB) unless you upgrade toPremium or Lifetime status which allows 100 images.

 

[proeddie]

Is this the "photo right side up" thread (6 posts), or the "LED cargo lights" (2 posts) thread?

 

[Michael Quinlan]

MQ,

How about adding a switch to select "van control" - center off - "12v always on"? That wouldn't be too hard to do.

It looks like you eliminated the factory lights... if so you could replace the switch built into the factory light with a similar switch located where convenient. I may be able to find a diagram... I think I posted it on the forum recently.

Found it! http://www.promasterforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=482538&postcount=4

How did you connect the LED strips... to which wires, what colors?

Back to our regularly scheduled program...

The LEDs are wired positive to red/yellow and negative to white/green. I didn't eliminate the factory lights, I tapped into the wiring for the light near the slider and then put the light back in place. This seemed easier than keeping track of where I put the (removed) factory lights for many years, and I saw no reason not to put it back in place. I do have both factory lights set to the OFF position though.

 

[proeddie]

The factory cargo lights (side and rear) have the SPDT center off switch I referred to, built into them.

In the center position, the light is always off... to one side, the light goes on when the door is opened (light connected to the white wire)... in the other position, the light is grounded (light connected to the black wire) which turns it on.

Instead of putting the factory lights in the OFF position,

If you were to remove the light bulbs from the factory cargo lights, and connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected, the switch in the factory lights would make the LED light behave the same way as the factory bulbs do...

When I say, "connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected" I mean that you should actually solder the wires from the LEDs to the tabs that clip the factory bulbs in place.

Or, get a SPDT center off switch and connect it as in my diagram (then you could leave the factory lights in the "lights off" position.)

Hope that helps?

 

[Michael Quinlan]

The factory cargo lights (side and rear) have the SPDT center off switch I referred to, built into them.

In the center position, the light is always off... to one side, the light goes on when the door is opened (light connected to the white wire)... in the other position, the light is grounded (light connected to the black wire) which turns it on.

Instead of putting the factory lights in the OFF position,

If you were to remove the light bulbs from the factory cargo lights, and connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected, the switch in the factory lights would make the LED light behave the same way as the factory bulbs do...

When I say, "connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected" I mean that you should actually solder the wires from the LEDs to the tabs that clip the factory bulbs in place.

Or, get a SPDT center off switch and connect it as in my diagram (then you could leave the factory lights in the "lights off" position.)

Hope that helps?

I'm finding the light behavior to be different from what I expect based on the diagram. If I connect the LED ground to white, the lights come on with the doors opening and go off after 3 minutes , or when the doors close, whichever comes first. If I connect the LED ground to black, the lights come on with the doors opening, and stay on for 15 minutes even of the doors close.

Is this what should be happening?

Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk

 

[proeddie]

The LEDs grounded to black should turn the LEDS on regardless of the door open or closed. then 15 minute timeout and they go off. (on mine).

Back to your original question....

"Is there a similar switch (that can be triggered manually) at the rear doors?"

The switch for the back doors is integrated into the rear door lock system. When the door is opened, it sends a "door open" to the computer that turns on the lights. Lots of details for a simple process!

 

[Michael Quinlan]

The LEDs grounded to black should turn the LEDS on regardless of the door open or closed. then 15 minute timeout and they go off. (on mine).

Back to your original question....

"Is there a similar switch (that can be triggered manually) at the rear doors?"

The switch for the back doors is integrated into the rear door lock system. When the door is opened, it sends a "door open" to the computer that turns on the lights. Lots of details for a simple process!

I changed my LED ground to black and re-discovered why I had them on white:

- they come on even when unlocking the cab only
- they stay on dimly or flicker even after the 15 minutes expires (with the stock lights still connected and in the always-off position).

Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk

 

[jcpenryn]

Any chance of showing the power connection at the side door? I don't have a dome light there and would like to add some LED Strip lights

THanks
John

 

[Solan]

Michael, Will you please post where you purchased those LED cargo lights? Also, how much did you pay? I'd love to pick some up.

Thanks,

Solan

 

[Michael Quinlan]

Here's a link to the lights I bought:

And the wiring clips that I used:

 

[andyichawks]

The factory cargo lights (side and rear) have the SPDT center off switch I referred to, built into them.

In the center position, the light is always off... to one side, the light goes on when the door is opened (light connected to the white wire)... in the other position, the light is grounded (light connected to the black wire) which turns it on.

Instead of putting the factory lights in the OFF position,

If you were to remove the light bulbs from the factory cargo lights, and connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected, the switch in the factory lights would make the LED light behave the same way as the factory bulbs do...

When I say, "connect the wires from the LED strips to the contacts where the lights are connected" I mean that you should actually solder the wires from the LEDs to the tabs that clip the factory bulbs in place.

Or, get a SPDT center off switch and connect it as in my diagram (then you could leave the factory lights in the "lights off" position.)

Hope that helps?

wheres the diagram? i am trying to tap into this back dome light with the 3 wires i no longer need that shitty dome light and just want to hook up to a switch and LEDs so i need a center off switch?

 

[ThomD]

wheres the diagram? i am trying to tap into this back dome light with the 3 wires i no longer need that shitty dome light and just want to hook up to a switch and LEDs so i need a center off switch?

Here is the best thread on this.

Outside Back-of-Van Nightlight

Prompted by another thread, I just remembered to list one of my latest projects: I added a very small amber LED the the license plate trim that shines downward. It is turned on by a switch in the rear corner column, and is designed to provide a bug-free way to shed light in the area behind the...

www.promasterforum.com