I work 2nd shift, so when I get home each night, turn off my xA, it all goes dark. Can't see a thing.
I was wondering if there is some way to set up a courtesy light (I have some spare LEDs) that turns on when I turn off the car, then shut off after say 10 seconds.
With my keyless entry, it unlocks the car when I turn it off. This would make a great trigger for the lighting. This solution would also work for those wanting to hook up the JLevi puddle lights. Anytime the power unlock is triggered, power on the lights for a short period of time. Fade out would be a bonus.
Is such a thing possible?

 

i am quite sure this is possible.

i haven't done it personally, but i read in the tech about setting up those puddle lights, and they essentially wire them to the fuse that controls the dome light.

so, i'm sure it's not TOO bad to wire up lights the way you want to the same terminal that the dome light uses, and it would give that great fade out.

 

Well with the xA, when you shut of the car, no lights turn on, not even the dome light. Not until you open the door. And the dome light doesn't dim out, BTW. It just turns off.

 

ah, my bad. the xB dims out whenever the light is auto turned on, but yeah, no lights turn on when the car is off. i'm sure if you really wanted to, you could make something work out, but it would be a major electrical project.

 

Ok, after thinking it over, I came up with a much simpler method.
How about I have the LEDs hooked up to the cig. lighter, and add a capacitor that will hold enough charge to light the LEDs for 5-10 seconds after the power is turned off? That will also likely give a fade out as the capacitor drains. The only question is what kind of capacitor would work right?

 

yes, it would give a fade out. as to how you would time it right, i have no idea. as for capacitor size, i have no clue. i'm an electrical/computer engineering student, but i'm not experienced enough with automechanical systems to give you advice on that. i think there have been some threads on capacitors before ... maybe try a search.

 

Searching showed that nearly all posts for capacitors are for amps. No help there. But I did see on the Net some useful info on LEDs here: http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm
The search continues....

 

yeah the link on LED's that you posted is the typical tiny stuff that we work with, but most are not bright enough or substantial enough for automotive use i dont think, especially if you want something to give good courtesy lighting. i would suggest sticking with puddle lights.

 

Have who ever did your keyless entry hook up the dome light supervision wire. When you hit unlock or turn off the ignition, the wire forces the dome lights on for about 30 seconds. That wire is standard on pretty much all DEI systems.

 

Found this site that gives the calculation for capacitor size. http://www.gre.ac.uk/~eduweb/showcas...nics/delay.htm
I think you need a big one for 10 seconds.

I have LEDs tapped into the cig lighter. So actually they're on all the time, but are not too distracting. Just enough light to see what you're doing. When I turn off the car I just leave it on ACC until I'm ready to leave.

 

I did my own install. It's the kit from ScionSpecialties. It doesn't have that wire that I know of. At least it wasn't mentioned in the install instructions.


Hadn't thought of that. I have cold cathodes already installed. I could do that now. Thanks!
I will check out that site, too!

 

Try doing a search on google for ( 12 volt circuits ). I have found all kind of neat and simple circuits this way. You could use "ignition off" to trigger a light circuit to turn on puddle lights or any other light, and a timer circuit to turn it off after a set time.

 

I've found a circuit for the timer, but nothing on the ignition off trigger. That's the tricky part. There are some forums that mention it w/o going into detail, and they talk so far over my head that it may as well be a foreign language. Will keep on searching....

 

I noticed the same thing, and added some lights under the drivers and passangers side footwells. I spliced them off center storage bin. If you notice it is delayed.

 

That light turns on after you open the door. I'm looking for a light so I can see the door to open it. Close, but not quite. The same kind of circuit would be just what I'm looking for but triggered for the power off rather than the door opening.

 

You could use a relay with a set of normally closed contacts, that poweres the coil from the accessory circuit. When the ingition is on, the relay is energized and opens the normally closed contacts. When the ignition is off, the relay turns off and closes the contacts. The contacts would have to be set up so that one side would have power all the time, and the other would feed your timer circuit. You can find one of these relays at Radio Shack for about $5 or less.

 

After working on this for some time now I discovered some things....

Radio Shack people are mainly interested in selling you batteries and cell phones.
They didn't know anything about relays of any kind. They just sell them. You have to know what it is you want by part #.
Capacitors don't work with cold cathodes.
Wouldn't even light up when a capacitor was in the circuit, even with power. No help there.
The dome light cutoff appears to be a switch with a physical disconnect of some type.
I hooked up the LEDs to the center storage bin as mdtjr suggested. I thought I could extend the time by adding a capacitor, but they still shut off when the dome light goes out. If the circuit is open, the capacitor won't work. The red wire is oddly the negative. The blue wire is a constant positive. If you have the negative on a different ground, the LEDs are always on.

So I've got my LEDs installed. They look nice. But not quite how I had hoped. Time to move on to the next project, whatever that will be....