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Old 09-10-2015, 08:31 PM   #21
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Okay, so I somewhat took matters into my own hands. I decided to just eliminate the mirror lights, by removing the bulbs (from the mirror). They were not very useful anyway.

So, that leaves me with the dome light, which looks a lot like Woodbees. However, I would prefer to wire mine like Jage did, which is to use the two dome light buttons and re-purpose them. So one button over-rides the lights-with-a-mind-of their-own, and the other one turns both lights on/off.

However, because the switches each have three wires going them, I'm slightly confused. It does look like Woodbees, if that helps.

Jage, can you comment as to how you arranged the wires?

Thanks,
Viva

Edited to add a photo of the dome light and wiring. Please pardon the crude image editing - I was trying t remove shadows that looked like additional black wires.


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Old 09-10-2015, 08:33 PM   #22
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Hello Viva,

When I did mine I was after only one thing. That was to be able to have a switch that could disable the lights completely when we are parked out in the boonies. I also hated having the dome light come on at night when you open a door and then take about 20 minutes to go off, anyway it seemed that long.
We have the switch off most of the time, mostly because we don't travel in the dark very often. But when driving in the dark and we need one of the map lights on we just flip the switch and we can have one two or all on.
It works great for us.

Woody
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Old 09-10-2015, 08:58 PM   #23
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Hi Woody,

That's my same desire. I detest having the inside of the van light up like a carnival any time I open the door at night. And there is nothing you can switch off to change the behavior in stock format (headlight bezel and dome light buttons don't do it). The only way to get it to shut off is to put the key in the ignition and turn it, but by then it's too late.

I like your solution and basically want the same function, but I though the idea of using the "other" dome light button was kind of nice. However, I'm not sure how to go about it.

I almost never use the dome light anyway, because if I really want to see something I use a headlamp. OTOH, why not be able to turn the dome light on manually when desired.

So I see what you did and like it, and I think it would serve my purpose as well (night sky camping/shady neighborhood why advertise the inside of my vehicle, etc.). I just thought using the second dome light button would be a cool variation.

Viva

PS: Oh, the other thing is that I can't just have the doors open during the day, because the dome lights stay on forever, putting a draw on the start battery.
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Old 09-10-2015, 09:35 PM   #24
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

You know, as I think about it, I do have an un-used switch in the overhead right next to the dome light. I should have remembered this. So I think i can re-purpose it. I take it you also had the illuminated entry "feature"? So I think in my photo above, white is ground, then apparently black is hot, and red is....?
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Old 09-11-2015, 07:54 AM   #25
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Viva,

It took me two shots at it to make it work the way I wanted. I am sure there is a way to make it work through on of the existing dome light switches. Trial and error, not hard to splice the wires back together. I did use a multi-tester.
For entering the van at night and I need a light, I have a reading light just above the side doors that I can turn on if needed.

Woody
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Old 09-11-2015, 08:38 AM   #26
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Thanks Woody,

I was just somewhat selfishly hoping to not have to experiment. I've decided to just do it your way and use a nearby un-used switch I have on the overhead, so now just to figure out the wires. So what you show is your "final" way? i.e. if I want to do it just like you did, I would cut into the larger black source wire that splits into two of the small black wires on the light? Edited to add: I do see one difference between mine and yours, noted below in bold.

In case anyone else wants to to play:

I basically have four wires coming in from the overhead

1) Black: divides into two small black wires, one to each switch.
2) Two Red that come in together: divide into two more small black wires, one to each switch.
3) White: divides into two white wires that go to bulbs.

4) Then there is a red wire coming out of each switch, which connects to a black wire that goes to the bulbs.

Or to put it another way:

Bulbs have two wires: one white wire each from overhead, and one black wire each from the respective side switch.
Switches have three wires: one black from black overhead supply, one black from the two red overhead supplies, and one red which connects to the black going into the bulb (one per side's respective switch).

Switches tend to confuse me (no idea why), and these having THREE wires going into them isn't helping matters! Not to mention that I'm used to red being positive and yellow (or sometimes black) being negative.

Edited to add: So to copy you, I can see two options (since our source wires are not the same color or number):

1) Cut into single large black wire that later divides into small black wires (what you did).
2) Cut into one or both of the pair of red wires, that later divide into small black wires (here you have a single green coming in though...).

So to summarize, I'm not sure how to copy you, because you had one green wire leading to two black wires, then then one black wire (which you cut) leading to two black wires. I have TWO red wires in place of your one green wire leading in though...
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Old 09-11-2015, 10:07 AM   #27
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

I've got a 2008 E250 that has the "smart" dome light. It does have one nice feature - If we open one door and leave it open, the dome light will eventually go out. Anyhow, here is my take on the wiring (assuming you have a 2008+ model)

- There are two hot wires coming from the chassis wiring. One of them is hot all the time, even when the ignition is off. The other one is the "smart" one and it comes from the main chassis computer.
- The chassis wiring is some different colors than what we see in the picture. Is it possible the dome light was added, and new wires used to hook it up?


Now I'm starting to guess, but this could be confirmed with a meter or by disconnecting wires one at a time.
- The black and red wires hanging from the roof are probably the two hot wires from the chassis wiring. A reasonable guess is the black one is hot all the time and the red one is controlled by the chassis computer.
- The switch is probably a three way switch, since it has three wires. The red wire from the switch will be connected to one or the other black switch wires, depending on which way the switch is positioned.

So my guess is to run the red wire from the chassis through the new switch, before it goes to the dome light assembly.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Viva
Thanks Woody,

I was just somewhat selfishly hoping to not have to experiment. I've decided to just do it your way and use a nearby un-used switch I have on the overhead, so now just to figure out the wires. So what you show is your "final" way? i.e. if I want to do it just like you did, I would cut into the larger black source wire that splits into two of the small black wires on the light?

In case anyone else wants to to play:

I basically have three wires coming in from the overhead

1) Black: divides into two small black wires, one to each switch.
2) Red: divides into two more small black wires, one to each switch.
3) White: divides into two white wires that go to bulbs.

4) Then there is a red wire coming out of each switch, which connects to a black wire that goes to the bulbs.

Or to put it another way:

Bulbs have two wires: one white wire each from overhead, and one black wire each from the respective side switch.
Switches have three wires: one black from black overhead supply, one black from red overhead supply, and one red which connects to the black going into the bulb (one per side's respective switch).

Switches tend to confuse me (no idea why), and these having THREE wires going into them isn't helping matters! Not to mention that I'm used to red being positive and yellow (or sometimes black) being negative.
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Old 09-11-2015, 01:23 PM   #28
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Thanks for thinking about this and giving me your thoughts.

This is a '98 E-350 cutaway chassis. It has the (irritating) illuminated entry feature.

I have some parts off and hence can peer into the overhead liner from the rear. The wires are the same color as far as I can see them. They go across the top of the headliner toward the driver's side A-pillar and then disappear, all together as a group of four (one white, one black, two red).

I agree with your thoughts, re: black is constant hot, and red is the "smart" hot. Only thing is, there are TWO red wires. They come in as a pair, and are connected as a pair.

Give me some big DC wires and a coach system and I'm fine. But these little Ford wires... gaaaah.
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Old 09-11-2015, 05:52 PM   #29
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Viva,

Good luck.
It was a little confusing even using the multi-meter. It was trial and error for me.
We are very happy with it.

Woody
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Old 09-16-2015, 12:18 PM   #30
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Re: "Dome Light" add a switch

Okay, success! I am SO happy to be able to control whether or not the dome lights come on when I open the doors (or want to have the doors remain open for some reason). Yessss!

As it turned out, the nearby switch I was going to re-purpose was a momentary on (duh, how did I not remember that). Of course I could have replaced it with a regular switch, but I really didn't need/want that feature anyway - I was just doing it because it seemed easier to figure out. So I decided to forge ahead and try to figure out Jage's way.

So, what I ended up with is this:

1) No new switches, now the driver's side "button" on the stock dome light turns both lights on and off manually, and the passenger side "button" engages or dis-engages the "comes on when the door opens" part. I don't think I'll use that too often, but I wanted it there just in case.

2) Both lights now come on and go off together, but that's fine with me, especially since they can be "aimed," so they could both be aimed to passenger side if desired.

If someone else wants to try it, I can say how mine was set up, which seems to basically agree with Woodbee's. There is also the option to just eliminate the door feature and maintain individual light control (easiest), or go with Woodbee's setup (adds a switch, but retains both door option and individual light control).

There were essentially three wires coming in on mine.

1) White wire (ground)

2) Black wire (this is the "door control" wire).

3) Pair of red wires (electrically together) which control the manual switch buttons on the lights. This was one green wire on Woodbee's rig, but otherwise ours were the same. I think mine might have been a pair because there was also an illuminated rear-view mirror, but in any case, they were like one wire as they came into the dome light.

a) So, by simply cutting the black incoming wire, the "door control" is taken away (ha, take that!). If you simply leave it at that, I believe you will have two manual dome lights, each controlled by their own button switch - but no option to have doors activate lights.

b) By cutting that same black wire and then taking the cut ends to a separate (new) switch, you get Woodbee's setup. That's each light still controlled by its own button, and the new switch activates or de-activates the door control.

c) What I did....

1) Take the two larger black wires that come off the back of the bulbs and go to the small red wires on each switch, and instead join both of them to the small red wire on the driver's side switch (and no longer to the small red wire on the passenger side switch).

2) Cut the small black wire that went from red main incoming wire (from the ceiling) to the passenger side switch. Both ends will be taped off (or however you want to close them off) and not used.

3) Cut the thin black wire that goes from the black incoming ceiling wire to the driver's side switch. The ceiling incoming black wire gets reconnected (or stays connected) to the thin black wire on the passenger side switch (we reconnected just for tidiness of joints). The thin black wire part that is still on the driver's side switch gets connected to the red wire on the passenger side switch.

Notes:

i) The orange wires are new pieces added for length convenience. I used it because it was 18 gauge and that was best for the crimps when bridging between the various sizes.

ii) In case it helps to clarify the photo, the clearish butt connectors that look a bit like wire nuts were original connections, and the pink/blue heat shrink butts are the new ones.

iii) I did not become a wizard overnight; a friend and I figured it out together.

iv) Of course I can't know how anyone else's wiring is set up - this seems to work for my dome light.

Viva

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