I'm looking to set up some interior lighting in my 6n2 polo;

I've got a switch in the rear driver side door panel that looks like this -

Now I'd like to know if i can wire in a cheap set of interior lights from the rear 12v lighter socket somehow.

Does anyone know how I'd be able to link this switch into the circuit to manually turn the lights on/off from that switch? Is there an easy way to wire into that switch or do i need an adapter of some sort?

If anyone could shed some light (unintentional pun) on this I'd be hugely grateful.

Thanks in advance,

IOWChris

Edited 20 February, 201412 yr by IOWChris

Does the switch stay in when you push it, if not then you cannot use it without some custom circuitry, i would recommend using led strip as its extremely flexible, has tape on the back and bright, plus you can cut it to custom lengths.

It would be fairly easy,

Positive at lighter socket ----> switch ----> Led strip ----> ground or negative at the lighter socket

If the switch is not usable then there may be a similar switch you can install or a blanking plate you can install a switch into.

If you post back about the switch and if it is a toggle switch can you post a picture of the back (sorry i don't have a 6n2 or newer to know about the switch) because it should be easy to get it working with the light on the switch as-well.

the switch inst a latching switch, so they will only come on when you hold it down.

can i ask why you font just wire them into the dash lights?

this blurry pic is of my 6n, with 3leds in each foot well. and glue to the bottom of the front seats facing back.

i connected them to the dash illumination feed on the window switches, but on the 6n2 you could use the cigarette lighter, ashtray light, heater light, or there is a loose connection taped up behind the glove box that has both power and ground and inst used (afaik)

the best part of using this is they are on with the sidelights(so on when you need them) and they also dim with the rest of the dash.

i did originally have four LED strips but i lost three when i took out the interior so i cut up one which had 12 LEDs in and made four, this makes the right amount of light for me as i want it to just about show up in pitch darkness, and not be overly bright.

so perhaps something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-30CM-15-SMD-3528-LED-DECORATION-RED-LIGHT-CAR-DAYTIME-LED-STRIPS-12V-UK-STOCK-/191074015522?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Night_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item2c7ce61922

Yeah i have done very similar but have full strips as i only use mine in the dark when not driving, either way you could do that or tap into door switches and so on.

Like this:

They are just switched, nothing fancy.
But only cost just over £2 to do that, above my clocks, complete parcelshelf shape and full length above both back windows (all because VW didn't seem to like interior lights in the early 90's)

I was under the impression that the switch clicks on and off rather than having to be held in but I'll double check that tomorrow

Like betterelectric, I'll only be looking to have them on when not driving and have the switch spare so I figured why not just use the spare switch to have a cheeky way of turning them on/off. The strips of lights that dixy suggested here do look pretty simple and cool though, I may even look at wiring in two sets so the rears can be switched off separately.

To be honest I'm still in the planning stages and I'm really just looking for a use for the rear switch if I can (rather than just having a pointless space-filler switch) but I do like the idea of the whole interior lighting.

pretty cool betterelectric6, definably light up the inside now. i do like the rear headlining lights, and i may well be doing something similar for the boot light, as that thing is useless. they are needed were i live as there rent any lights anywhere so looking for something youve droped is not an easy task.

iowchris, i may well be wrong about the switch, but usually the interior monitoring switch is a momentary one. if it is an on off jobbie then it will be a pretty cool stealth switch. if it inst then maybe something similar shaped from another car?

Yeah taken it out to look at it today and it does appear to be a momentary switch rather than an on/off switch. It's got some weird 4-prong connection

Looks like it may be a bit more effort than I'd be happy with so I may just hunt for another similarly sized switch to use.

as its a momentary switch its probably 2 pins for the light on the switch and 2 for the actual switch.
if anybody wants some crude be effective wiring diagrams just say, i made one for "mazraclou" to wire some boot lights on a door switch and some glovebox lights, they are switched on the ground because door switches are grounded to the body so only single pin.

There are 4 connetions as 1 pair are for the interior lights,the other is for the door open warning buzzer, both pairs are "momentary" contacts

So if I wire them into the dash lights... I can dim them like the clocks etc?

Yes but... i don't have experience with it, but depending on the ammount of strip you could potentially draw way to much current, if you wanted to do it that way i would recommend a relay, but then it would not be dim able. dixy should know about what current the circuit can handle.

5m of led strip is normally 2 - 4A depending on type.

Well I have a 6n2 gti, I'm looking into the footwell LED's thinking of blue to match the clocks... I was thinking of a switch on the panel as I have a few spare ones... but if I can have it wired to the lights that would be better I think, but as you said I was not too sure cos of the current etc,

The set iv found just wire up to the power with a fuse that comes with it and a button...

Complete nub to this tho as you can tell lol

Hahaha, well if you have any soldering skills, save money and buy a 5m reel, that way you can cut it where you want (every 3 leds) and customize the wiring

Electronic engineering first dip :P done a year of that hehe

I think i've got a cheeky 5m roll of it lying about but it was designed for mains use so I'm not sure how to go about wiring it into the cigarette socket or something like that?

It has this in the pack along with a transformer thing - my electrical knowledge is minimal so any help would be useful

Find out the required voltage from wherever you got it from. Theres a thread on putting strip lights under your car, http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=323623#entry2571422.

Basically, get the required voltage, 12v i believe, find an earth. Then your pretty much there.

The led strip with that set will be more than likely 12v and the transformer will step it down, but it looks like its an rgb set? correct? if so then its best to go and get a 12v rgb controller so you can properly use it, unless you had the knowledge to modify the controller and bypass the transformer.

wazdaspaz you should know abit then... actually, electrical engineering... hmmm well if its anything compared to the electrical side in a general engineering course then you won't know how to wire a plug, :)

If its not then you should be good to go and experiment and maybe make a dimmable circuit controlled by the dash lighting.

Just put a 1 amp fuse inline before you try anything, on the positive ofc.

Yeah, probably only use 0.5A at max, you could do that and use a on/off/on rotary switch, 1 position for dashboard lights and the other for permanent supply, or just wire it to the dash lights, add a override and maybe add a switch to the dash light feed in case you don't want it on.

I ran four led strips (one I. Each footeell and it coped perfectly fine. These sre similr to the ones I linked above so weren't high powered ones.

Yes if you piggy back off somthing on the dash that dims with the switch they will also dim. Remeber most of the dssh lights are also leds.

The controller of that rgb setup above should be 12v anyway, have a lookk on the trranformer it should say the output voltage. If its 12v then just chop the wire and connect it to the dash lighting. I don't think they would dim though, so maybe you turn them down low the would flicker.

Yeah, some of the rgb strips have built in dimmers, don't know how the controller will handle the reduced voltage and what the cut off would be for the led strips as they are wired 3 in series and then each bank of 3 in parallel, the 3 is series take 12v with the built in resistors.

If not buy some cheap and cheerful single colour ones atleast that will eliminate any issues with the controller.