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Hey guys...a couple months back I installed interior illumination on my 04 lx em2. Got the flexible leds from oznium which working amazing and an illuminated touch screen switch. I only installed the interior illumination under the driver's and passenger side footwells. The way I wired the lights and the switch were the lights/ switch to the battery and also the switch wrapped around the accessory/ cig. lighter fuse so that when the car/ cig. lighter turns off so do the switch considering the switch would be lighted all the time. It works amazing, but now I wanna get more lights...some more under the seats...in the trunk because I'm getting 2 subs and 2 amps...and some in the back seats. My question is there a different way to install all this or can I continue to run it wrapped around the accessory/ cig. lighter fuse. I had to do it that way because the light switch would've never turned off....Sorry the post is a little long, but I don't wanna overrun this fuse. Are there any other options?

Always appreciate it guys.

 
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generally leds are very low power and you should be safe running a bunch together. check and see if they have any rated amp draw for the strips you have. usually given in mA (milliamps, where 1000 mA = 1 amp). your 12v cig lighter fuse i think is at least 10 amps, which is quite a bit of power.

 
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Just looked it up and the oznium 9.5 flexible led strips' current is 160 mA so I still have plenty of power behind that cig. lighter fuse still. That's awesome...thanks gear...do you have any other alternatives or better ideas on how to hook this all up or am I good running it all to this tiny fuse under the wheel?...

 
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i think the way you have it set up now using the cigarette lighter is good if you have only a few like you currently do, but to add in the rest of them is just too cluttered. using a small fuse isnt a good long term job. you should be running the positive wire through your firewall, and connecting it to a bigger fuse in the fusebox under the hood. since you are only dealing with a positive and negative wire, this is very very easy.

the best way to do it is to install the lights everywhere you want all at once, connect all the negative wires together (either by soldering or crimping or whatever way you choose) and ground that master negative wire anywhere. done.

then take the positive wires, connect them all as well. take that master positive wire and connect it to a switch, take the other wire coming out of the switch, run it through the firewall, and connect it into the fusebox under the hood. you should also put an inline fuse on that line, right near where it connects to the fusebox.

this is definitely the best way to do it, and its long term. you will also have the ability to turn them all on/off anytime you like with the flick of the switch. my switch is mounted right next to my cigarette lighter on that little tab.

 
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My suggestion would be: remove the source wire "wrapped around the acc fuse" and tap into the center lead wire at the socket (the wrap will work loose over time)

Even if you add a bunch of units the total current draw is still very small.

 
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yeah thats what i did, hard wire directly to the socket cig plug wires.

 
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That sounds awesome untuned, but will the fuse under the hood automatically turn off my light switch. The reason I ask is because my light switch is a lighted one. That's why I had it hooked up to the cig. lighter because the cig. lighter/ cig. lighter fuse turns off when the car does...

Appreciate all the input...

 
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yea it should work like any other fuse inside the vehicle will, you might just have to take a look at which fuses you can use. its a very nice and clean setup and its very easy access if you ever have a problem.

i hate those lightup switches because they stand out. those lightup switches have 3 prongs dont they? power, ground, and accent? thats what i gathered from your first post. you can just leave that accent positive wire connected to the cig lighter fuse and you can do the power/ground like the diagram.

heres a quick little sketch of what i was getting at. this is how i have all my lighting set up too

 
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Oh ok...that makes sense...so leave the accessory prong hooked up to the cig. lighter so at least that turns off but run all the positives run to the fuse through the firewall under the hood and then all the negatives to a strong ground...Think I got it...

Oh and here is the picture of the light switch I have now.

 
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yea thats exactly what i mean. if you want i can snap a picture of my switch, and how i have it connected into the fusebox just so you have an idea of how i did that.

the nice benefit to doing that way is your light for the switch will turn on and off with the vehicle which is what you want, but you can also just flick the switch to turn on all your interior lighting even if your car is off because it will be connected directly to positive power. the switch itself makes or breaks the connection. like if you want to show somebody but not have to put your keys in and give the car power or turn the car on. it will still light up. i can flick my lighting on anytime without using the keys.

 
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Hmm...That's pretty cool...If you could show me your whole light set-up that'd be amazing because I want to install them under both seats and behind both seats so it covers the whole front and the back...plus I'm installing them in the trunk with my subs and amps...Do you have them under your seats because if so I'm a little confused on how to make them look clean especially without wires getting caught under the seat or being visible...

 
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well i will take a picture of how i have the wiring done - but note that none of this is for my interior lighting. this whole system setup is for my exterior lighting (side, front, rear, grill, and radiator glow) but it will work just as well for an interior system. you just have to be able to hide the wires under or along the edging of the carpet, under the seats, etc etc. if i was installing underneath the seats, you could just find a way to mount it up into the bottom of the seat, and run the wires towards the center console where your e-brake is and inside of it. youd never see anything. theyd go from under the seats to the inside of that console and up to the switch. then from there out the front of the passenger side where youd never see it.

for my interior lighting i have a blue dome light that has about 10 blue leds on it so it lights up the whole front interior, and i have a dome bulb with a small led panel on it that lights up the whole rear interior. i put up a thread a few months ago showing my interior pictures, so theres no wiring or anything for my interior lighting. for my map lights i have the same multi led bulbs but in white (since you only turn those on when you actually need to see).

 
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Only thing that worries me about putting it under the seats in how to compensate the wiring, because if the passenger seat is constantly going to be moving when i have leds under on the front and the back of the seat, the wiring may pull or become exposed...and I've also been thinking about putting led lighting in my grille...oznium shows it off great...

 
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yea with the seats sliding back and forth, you risk ripping it out and its just annoying. thats the risk you run by putting them under your seats. thats why i never bothered with doing under the seats or in the leg area. i did my front and rear dome lights in blue with very bright leds. it lights up my car very very bright when i have it on. no work involved either, just switching the lights out.

it was very difficult to figure out a way to light the grill area up. i fabricated a custom bar thats sort of this shape: \_________/ i have the led bar mounted on the bottom so it faces down and lights up the grill inside and the radiator.

 
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yeah that's what worries me about putting leds under the seats...and untuned you should check out oznium.com and check out their flexible led bars...Could've made that custom shape in your grille by just bending it...

 
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i have those streetglow led pods with 6 leds under the seats, with the wires run under the carpet so no chance of anything getting ripped.the pods are so small i doubt anything will happen even if someone kicks it. and its plenty bright.

 
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i didnt want to do it that way. youd have to see the way i have it done. i dont have it mounted on the grill at all. if you look from a top view, the flat bar runs straight across, in front of the radiator, and behind the grill so it lights both of them up equally. the light is right below it so it lights both up. i had to take exact measurements and everything to weld it up so it lit everything up exactly how i wanted. ill see if i can find a picture of it somewhere.

 
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anyway here are the few pictures you asked for. as i was saying, all the negative wires are soldered together into one master ground wire. it runs up and is grounded to a bolt holding the fuse box (circled in orange).

the positive wires are also all soldered together into one master. the master runs to the switch, then from the switch it runs through the firewall and has an inline fuse on it (circled in yellow, you can kind of see it under the other wires) right before it connects to the fusebox (circled in green).

also thats a picture of the switch i use.

 
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Nice...I just got my lights in today...I'll try and get to it today...Thanks...

 
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did this help? did you get it done?

 
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I haven't been able to get to it because one of the leds were out and oznium is sending me another set. When I get it all in I'll definitely be posting pics...Let me know if you guys have any input or any other ideas for the 'vic.