Rocker Switch Help Amp/LEDs 2005 camry

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

Hi,

I'm curious about wiring up some LED lights for my footwells and for my grill. Here is a picture of how I want to wire my LEDS.



Does that look like a safe way to run the LED's? Is there a chance of over powering the fuse for the low beams that only come on at night? Do I need to put fuses in there somewhere? If so, where? Also, these are the rocker switches I will probably put in, anyone have any experiences with these?

http://www.installer.com/item/display_item.php?it=ibrrsb

Do you of a casing unit for this? where I can put 2 or 3 of these switches in 1 casing? or any other kind of Rocker Switch. I want to be able to turn on these lights independently or keep them off for cops or something. Also, in the same spot I want a switch for my amp so I can run without the sub woofer on if I choose to.

Here's how I want to wire the woofer:



Will just disconnecting the 12v remote be safe enough and easy enough to turn off my subwoofer?

Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance.

BTW, obviously this is all a DIY project, that's why I come here, where people actually know everything.

Click to read more...

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Uhh... just run wire straight from the battery to the rocker switches, then to the LED / amp... on both applications. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wow.gif.23d729408e9177caa2a0ed6a2ba6588e.gif

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

Actually, on the amp, it would be better to use the remote. Therefore if your car is off, and you forget to pop the switch, the amp turns off. My B.

 

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

IDSkot, That's exactly what i was worried about. My light sensor actually turns off my low beams and just has my day-light running lamps on, and since you can't really see the incar stuff, or even the grill lights during the day, I figure i'd have them off anyway. And since when you turn off the car, it turns off your lights, I'll be save from running down my battery, or even having to think about the lights when I shut off the car. And I can always manually turn them on by turning on my headlights for testing purposes and what not.

As well as my amp. the 12v remote to my deck only comes on when i have the car on, so when I turn the car off, the amp isn't running, but it will be on when the car and rocker switch is on.

Basically, I just wanted to know for saftey and what not if I had to run fuses for the LED lights, or if a bigger fuse to run both my LEDS, and Headlights through. These are the LEDS that I want for my Grill

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=ACCENTS

The ALM-RB-x3 Accent Light Module

And then some bar light ones for the footwells.

Saftey wise, what do I have to do? Any suggestions, Accent lighting is rather new to me. Thanks.

 

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

So Do I use fuses? Or Not? It's really just a quick question. Do I use somewhere in the line from the Sensor to the fuse box? or the Fuse box to the switch box?

Would it hurt my Sub to use a rocker switch to turn it on/off?

Anyone know of a casing for multiple rocker switches? Or Do I have to custom build one?

Thanks

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

You generally don't need fuses for LED's. They use very little power. But you will want to fuse the power wire you are using in case it shorts to ground so it won't take out your whole electrical. 1a to 5a fuse should do it depending on how many LED's you are using.

Don't use any headlight etc power wires or you could be asking for trouble.

If you really want to run it from your headlight sensor then just pick up an 'automotive relay'. This will allow you to use your sensor to switch the relay but use your regular batt/ign wire to power your LED's. Google the relay if you aren't familiar with them.

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

Anyone know of a casing for multiple rocker switches? Or Do I have to custom build one?

Plexi works well...

 

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

Smoka, Thanks for the help.

I do have some extra plexi, and I think I can build a little box to house 3 rocker switches. I think easily i'll do the remote wire on a rocker switch for my sub, that won't hurt it.

But question about the relay, now that I know what it does, why is it a better solution if all I want to do is use the light sensor like a r

emote turn on switch for an amp? Is that even possible? I guess the question is, can a relay make except a connection from the lights sensor? Like this:

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Do I need a relay for each of the ones I want to control off of the sensor? So I can have 1 set of lights on and 1 off? Is it safe to keep a relay in the engine bay? Or does it need to be inside the car?

Thanks again for all of your help.

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

The relay will 'isolate' the LEDs from the headlight circuit. The relay will use the headlight to switch on, but it will use a normal power wire to power the LEDs. Use a fused power wire such as the batt wire in the back of your HU or the accessory wire (the wire that is used for cig lighter). Both of those already have a fuse, otherwise just add a small fuse.

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

 

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

Perfect! Thanks Smoka! That is exactly what I needed. So basically, when my lights come on, if my LED rocket switches are on, then all LED's will come on too. But I can selectively turn them off. Perfect!

Now, What size wiring should I use for all this? Is 18 ga good enough? and Does it matter where I mount the relay?

Anyways. You've helped me tons man, I appriciate it.

 

[Dan.Wood 10+ year member]

P.S. If anyone Lives in Provo/SLC area and wants to help a noob, I would greatly appreciate you're help. I just talked to 3 different dealers, one of which was car audio innovations, and they all want to charge me 400+ to install a new deck and some speakers.. Fricken ridiculous. Anyways, pm me and we'll talk about what we can do. Thanks!

 

[smoka 10+ year member]

Doesn't really matter about the wire gauge, 18 should work fine since LEDs don't use much power.

Mount the relay where ever you want, just make sure the power wires are secure.

Install the headunit yourself, nowadays the install kits and wire harnesses make the whole process practically bolt-on. If you want an amp and subs, then probably look for a friend or someone local to help out.

 

[SicAudio 5,000+ posts]

too bad we dont live in Utah anymore, I had a shop in Ogden for 12 yrs. you coulda just come down and i would help ya out. we charge 30 per pair and 30 for the deck lolz. and I could help ya install the lights correctly just like Smoka showed you.