Lighting/wiring question for you gurus (1 Viewer)

[daohaus]

I currently have an LED "truck bed light strip" mounted underneath the LX to act like a welcome/puddle light. It's wired into the factory harness that used to connect to the factory running board. I have the Auxbeam 8 gang switch installed and was wonder if I can also wire in an additional + & - lead to the switch panel so I can manually toggle it on/off while still maintaining the auto on when I open a door or unlock the truck. Shouldn't be an issue right?

 

[Dirt J]

You'll either need a relay or on/off/on switch to accomplish this because you'll have two "hot" conditions.

Does the Auxbeam have an on/off/on setting/mode for any of the switches?

 

[daohaus]

You'll either need a relay or on/off/on switch to accomplish this because you'll have two "hot" conditions.

Does the Auxbeam have an on/off/on setting/mode for any of the switches?

No just on/off

 

[badlander]

You may be able to add diodes in each circuit to act as isolation to separate each line.

 

[jerryb]

naw, he needs marshmallows and a stick

 

[Ayune]

A diode would only be necessary if the Auto On circuit could not handle a potential 12V backfeed, i.e. if the lights were powered directly from the ECU. Do the lights fade in & out (ECU controlled) or simply switch on? If the Auto On is coming from a relay (I don’t have the LX wiring diagram, only the LC), then the ECU is energizing the relay coil and unaffected by the relay’s output line. In this case manually connecting the Auxbeam’s switched 12V to the relay’s switched 12V is not an issue, you’re just connecting battery+ to battery+.

So you would need* an additional relay whose coil is controlled by the Auxbeam switch, and 12V output connects directly (spliced into) to the 12V wire to the lights. Don’t connect the Auxbeam switched 12V to the existing relay’s coil, that’s for the ECU only.

*If the current draw of the lights is low enough the Auxbeam switch may be able to handle the load, check the switch’s current rating. But it’s bad practice to switch high loads at the switch for overheating/dash fire reasons. But that was before low-current LED lighting.

If the lights fade on and off, then you’ll need a diode to protect the ECU.

 

[Dirt J]

Pic to go with prior poster who nailed the explanation. I was wondering about the second relay back-feeding the first. Some relays have diodes built-in that might work.

 

[Rebus Knebus]

Go to the resources section of this site and download the EWD (electrical wiring diagram). You’ll see that the fade is handled by the body ECU on the ground side of the lights so the approaches described above won’t work

 

[Dirt J]

Good to know. This should work then:

 

[daohaus]

Thank you everyone for your input. And thanks @dirtj00 for the diagram!