Interior lighting guru advice please...

[FA-18C]

On the heels of addressing passenger door lock, at the recommendation of several members I did not connect the Continental radio background lighting to a dash source. I have not notice any need.

However, the car is kind of a black hole at night, which I prefer when driving away from they city. However I do miss some of the soft ambient lighting in the footwells I had in my Mercedes. So it got me thinking.

If I added a 2nd headlight switch in the console, or dash, how would you all recommend wiring it for just a couple warm white or amber pin source lights up under the dash that illuminate the footwells and maybe under the seat when I want to...?

Could this be as easy as tapping into the headlight switch and then wiring through an on/off cutoff switch? I would think LEDs would be OK on that circuit?

Just looking for some ideas here - and note despite an engineering degree and two masters, EE was NOT my favorite course work.

[TeeJayHoward]

Originally Posted by FA-18C

I do miss some of the soft ambient lighting in the footwells I had in my Mercedes.

The bulbs that are supposed to illuminate the HVAC controls are floating loose in my car. They provide excellent footwell illumination, and really... It's 3 levers, pretty easy to work in the dark. Leaving them out initially was an accident, but I love the effect. They're on only when the dash lights are on, which is pretty much the only time you'd notice footwell lighting anyway.

So, if anything, I'd probably tap (*cough*PiggybackSpade*cough*) into that circuit.

[EC900]

My ashtray light socket came undone and dangled about lighting up the under dash/floor for a awhile before I figured out where it belonged. Not sure of your setup or if ashtray light exists but that may be an easy accessible source to tap into, and add an inline switch. Glovebox light is another tappable source, also stock bulbs would be dimmed by headlamp switch. LED’s are available too for color but not dimmable.

[FA-18C]

I like all of these options and use my ashtray for storage, meaning it never opens. Will need to see if that light is on its own circuit, I like the idea of just adding a connector three and making a T for a left and right side.

Now I need to see if I can find a dimmable LED light. They have to exist, my battery operated Christmas lights do all kinds of fancy BS, I might even rob one of those to make a test. Low cost...

[jrwilson]

To make dimmable LEDs you need a special controller. Basically it turns them on and off really fast so it appears dimmer.

https://www.amazon.ca/12V-14V-Dimmer-Switch-Brightness-Controller/dp/B008TNH68E

[spedrcr]

I too feel the interior is too dark at night, especially the footwells. So, I added 1 white LED in each footwell wired to the door contact switch for entry and exit lighting. For nighttime driving I added 1 red LED to each footwell and tapped into the HVAC lighting wires so anytime the headlamp switch is pulled out, I have red lit footwells. I figured LED's draw so little amperage that the existing circuits could handle the extra draw. At the same time, I also removed the dimmer function of the headlight switch and added the 3-amp fuse to the dash lighting circuit for safety purposes. Here's what it looks like installed and operational.

[EC900]

Makes good sense to have some lighting directed at the floor when you need it just in case you drop something, the overhead interior light isn’t much help. I just checked Super Bright Leds website and they have some very low 5 lumen LED bulbs designed as dash instrument replacements in varied colors along with the required socket pigtails.

[ADDvanced]

I put 2 6" amber LED strips in my daily, under the dash. Perfect at night tbh. Should do that on all my cars.

[austria3]

Originally Posted by FA-18C

Just looking for some ideas here

This is what I came up with.

[FA-18C]

From your input, I have McGuyvered a mock up and bench tested. The dimming works perfect, and I am less than $30 into misc. parts. Overkill with spares included. Plan is to figure out the attachment point to the ash tray, disconnect there and tie in the fused dimmer switch and a L and R strip light. If I can access it, the alarm system had a power light next to fog lights, I can but the on/off dimmer switch there and use an old cigarette lighter knob for the rheostat.

[wazzz]

You can also use GU5.3 spot lights like these on amazon. Just an example. One on each side. They are 12V, no polarity, you can connect ground and hot on any pin, they'll work the same. Use the matching socket. They are too bright for your application and are said to be non dimmable, but they are, and you don't need a driver to dim them. I used them for exterior lighting in my garden. I wanted low voltage (12V) for satety reasons and low lumen because they are too powerful anyway. I dimmed them by inserting an 82-ohm resistor in series that drops 4 volts. So 8 volts are left at the bulb, and current drawn is as low as 40 mA. So doing the math, the resistor only has to deal with 0,2W. No need for a power resistor. The one I used was rated for half a watt, but a 1/4 watt would have done the job. No heat, and still plenty of light. You can put a 200 ohm pot in series with a 75 ohm resistor and you'll be able to dim them down to the point were they just cut off. That's for one spot light. So if you use two, current will be doubled, so you need to choose, say, a 47-ohm resistor and a 100-ohm pot.
For $25 you get a pack of 8, so that's plenty to try and test to your liking until you find the sweet spot (pun intended). Then you can either keep the dimming circuit or find the right light intensity, measure what the pot value is at this setting and replace both the 47 ohm resistor and the pot value by a fix resistor of the summed value.

Stupid idea, I know. ;-)