ftpiercecracker1 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 This shouldnt be to hard, I am pretty good with minor electrical stuff like this, but i just couldnt see a way around my current problem. A few weeks ago i picked up a nice little rearview mirror with map lights from the junkyard, today i tried wiring it in but ran into a minor problem. The mirror has 3 wires, black, white, and orange. With only one ground (black) how can i make the lights come on when the door is opened and after it has been closed? The mirror itself actually has two settings, one is where the two lights are brightest and can be turned individually, The other is where both lights come on together and are much dimmer. Because of this i assume the mirror originally operated exactly as i want it to now in my truck. EDIT: I just had a thought, since i don't have 2 grounds but i do have 2 hots. How can i make the hot the operates the door lights variable like the ground is on the door jam?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 ... i have edited this post serveral times... I can't remember 100% how the interior lights are wired but i am positive that there are 3 wires... If you have a volt meter remove one of the interior lights on the b-pillar and check for voltage. make sure that the door is closed when you test for voltage. then mimic the wiring for the new lights. have you bench tested the new light to test what wire does what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 i am positive that there are 3 wires... Yup and thats what has me confused :hmm: have you bench tested the new light to test what wire does what? Yup as well, the white wire operates the dimmer/door open lights, Orange wire for the bright reading lights. The more i think about this the more i realize I have to have a setup that has a variable hot lead. I will check on the current interior lighting and see whats up, but i have no idea where my multimeter is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 mine has 2 grounds, one which allows both lights to come on (like when the door is opened) the other to allow independent operation of the lights. One hot, 2 ground. I am not sure about yours but that is how mine is. If yours has one ground and switched hot(s) then you could use a relay set up to switch with a ground to allow the door jamb switches (which are ground switches) to operate the lights when the doors are opened. Either way you will need to make sure yours operates one way or the other. GL :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Dude Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Since the mirror is electrically isolated from the rest of the truck being stuck on the glass, it doesn't matter which way the current flows (unless they are LED bulbs) and it doesn't flow to ground through the mount. So your two hots and one ground can easily be two grounds and one hot. So 1 ground is supplied by opening the door and the other is supplied by turning on the map light switch and the power is applied to the common terminal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 if the lights are incandescent they should power on no matter what way the current runs right? so in theory your two hots can be used as ground and vice versa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountain Dude Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 HEY OP! Where in TN are you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted October 31, 2012 Author Share Posted October 31, 2012 Wow, thanks guys i really appreciate all the input. As you can tell i am still highly uneducated in the ways of electrical, or at least its basic properties. :oops: It never occured to me that i could switch the two hots and one ground for two grounds and one hot :doh: . I will definately see what i can do with this, thanks again. rely120, middle Tennessee, about 70 miles south east of Nastyville. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
relyt120 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I also live east of Nashville, not that far though, in lavergne :waving: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Ok back again, still can't figure this booger out. :fs1: this is a picture of the actuall wires them selves. With the orange wire on the '+' terminal and the black wire on the ' - ' terminal the switches control the bright map reading lights. With both switches as the are now both lights are OFF. They can be turned on individually, since there are two switches. However. . . . . Image Not Found Continued. . . However, if both white and orange wires are on the '+' terminal and black on the ' - ' terminal the ONLY light that will come on will be the bright map reading lights. IF the orange wire is removed from the '+' leaving only the white and black wire connected the dim/door open lights will still not come on. The ONLY way to get the dim/door open lights to come on is to have a single switch thrown as in the picture below AND the orange wire disconnected. Image Not Found But with this setup as soon as the Orange wire is reconnected the dim lights turn off and which ever switch was thrown turns on that map light. Sooooo, if you didnt understand by gibberish I will try and post a video of exactly what is going on, thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 This wouldnt be a problem if the dim/door open lights werent dependent upon a switch being thrown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Does this help? http://comancheclub.com/topic/15463-rearview-mirror-and-interior-lighting-upgrade/page__hl__mirror Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow . :oops: Thats, my exact mirror, and i new about that thread this whole time i just thought it was for a different setup. Guess i should have checked it out first :fool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Well i'll be a monkey's uncle :shake: , wouldnt you know, it works like a charm. Ya know i deserve a real good knock in the head right about now :thwak: Either way i am glad we could figure it out, thanks fellas, particular you Fiatslug87 :cheers: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 10, 2012 Author Share Posted November 10, 2012 Alright, I had to go three pages back to find this cause i didnt want to start the same thread over again. So after getting everything setup and installed I can't get the stupid mirror to shut off. here is my wiring set up. . . White = intermittent/switched ground Black = constant ground Orange = constant power As you can see i have the black wire ran directly to the truck cab to be grounded Orange is ran to the vanity mirror lights power source, both vanity mirrors work. And the white wire is connected to two black wires, one for each door jamb button. This is a shot of the door jamb button pulled out with the wires visible. I figured that ALL of these wires act as an intermittent ground for one device or another, so i spliced in my white wire to one of the three wires seen here. It is the same on the other side as well. Now, with the setup as discribed the only way to get the light to turn off is by either A. unplugging the mirror. or B. unplugging the socket that connects the door jamb button to the inside of the truck. I had a brainstorm, and had the idea to check the already existing floor board lights. There are two wires running to each light, pretty simple, One hot One ground, or so i thought. I unplugged the light from the socket and used my test light to do my test. One of the two wires (pink) is hot all the time door open or closed. The other is dead, but not a ground with the door closed but hot when the door is open. Meaning both wires are hot with the door open. :hmm: If you can make heads or tails of this i could sure use your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted November 10, 2012 Share Posted November 10, 2012 If I read MFPDMs write up correctly, Sounds like you should extend the white wire over and tap into the b pillar light for switched ground. That makes sense since you want the mirror lights to function like the b pillar lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ftpiercecracker1 Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Ya i had the same thought, except to tap into the Floor board lights instead of the B-Pillar. But either way i ended up figuring it out, tapped into the floor board light harness. Now that i know what to do its really easy, tomorrow i will take a few extra pictures and do another writeup. This go round I will make sure to write it so retards like my self can follow along without getting lost. Now that everything is working properly, my B pillar lights, Floor boards lights and mirror lights all come on when i open the door. When the door is closed i can still turn on the map lights individually, both vanity mirror lights and if i turn the knob on the headlight switch all the way over to the left all interior lights come on again. So I think I am pretty well set. :D Someday i will get those B pillar lights they have for sale on ebay, super nice and fairly cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted November 11, 2012 Share Posted November 11, 2012 Glad u got it figured out. Write up would be nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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