Wiring up Footwell lights

[FarmerPug]

After the close call with my bsi unit i have ripped out the footwell lights, but how would i go about wiring up footwell lights to work when the door puddle lights come on, perhaps relays could be used which is something i have never added in a car, but how can it done without overloading anything (a few mathmatical formulae wouldnt go a miss).

[modified406]

tbh i havent a clue the way ur puddle lights are rigged up as my car doesnt have these but the way i have done it is that i have rigged up a sperate switch using the power feed from my cig lighter and just using the switch to switch them on
do the puddle lights run off exactly 12v in my old focus i had sill lights that wer supposed to light up when teh door was opened but because they need 3.5 v i couldnt do it

[FarmerPug]

you can get a thing to drop your sill lights voltage to 3.5v, something like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Quality-5A-Voltag ... 694wt_1137
only you may need one for 3.5v. But is the ciggy lighter free from all the bsi siht so if its overloaded will a fuse just blow rather than a computer

[modified406]

cig is free from bsi as the bsi controls lights central locking electric windows stuff like that cig lighter is ran from the battery thats y it works without the keys in the ignition just use the power source from the cig light and put an inline fuse for everything u use

[FarmerPug]

but my cig lighter doesnt work with the keys in it, the car needs to be on before it is on, by on i mean turned to the place where the battery light comes on

[modified406]

thats strange mines work without the car on well u can still use that as its not bsi controlled in ur handbook it says what the bsi controls

[FarmerPug]

ive never read anything in the handbook where bsi is mentioned, i have read a warning that any electrical work is to be carried out by your peugeot dealer but then again so is everthing from fixing the airbag light to changing the brakes all just so the dealers can feed them fish that they have sitting in the waiting area. But anyhow the cig lighter turning off in the car is something ive always had in all the cars ive owned and its handy because it means the bluetooth isnt still on when i get out of the car, i would happily wire the stuff to the socket if it didnt affect the bsi, i can get hold of the wire, inline fuses, switches the lot i just need a good power supply

[modified406]

mines defo works with the keys in the ignition as my gf uses tht to charge up her fone whenever we park up somewhere

ave always used the cig light and inline fuses for everything footwell lights, neons for my boost gauge lighting i used the wires for the light that lights up ur cig light when u switch the sidelights on the boost guage lights up

but if ur not sure about it use direct power from the battery ull see a gromit with a thick bundle of cables going through it behind the engine just at the cam cover area push a long screwdriver through itand then feed ur cable through

[mjb]

The fuses for the cigarette lighter and the stereo can be placed in two positions. One is ignition switched, the other is permanent live.

[FarmerPug]

I got the drivers side light sorted, its one out of a 206:

i did some thinking and thought that if i got an independant power supply from the battery then it wouldnt affect the battery but then there is the issue of swithcing the lights on, so i thought of just hooking it up to the door switches, went to have a look and they dont exhist on car must be something integrated into the locks, so then i thought of adding ones to the car but that would be a proper hassle having to drill a hole and install each plunger and they might not even fit in the place right so now im back at the though of using the puddle light, because i still have the two wires sitting there if i reconnect the footwell lights it will make the bsi go bonkers but if i connect a multimeter it doesnt, so is there some device which will know there is power coming from the puddle lights and electronically switch on the footwell lights in effect a relay which doesnt annoy the bsi.

[Welly]

I'm no electrician but you can use a low current to 'pull in' a relay which is fed from a more powerful source (your battery) so you might be able to frigg up a relay switched from the puddle lights but using a tiny current draw.

I have no idea how to though

[FarmerPug]

couldnt i use a relay, i have a collection sitting around from old cars, but perhaps a relay uses too much power from the puddle lights could an inline fuse cure that issue, then i also thought about using an LDR (light dependant resistor mounted in beside the puddle lights which would become less resistive when the puddle light comes on thus turning on the footwell lights but then id need a vairable resistor to set it up so it comes on at the right time.

[waue1978]

I know it's a bit off topic, but bearing in mind the effect that something as simple as footwell lights has had on a BSI, does this mean that wiring up electric seats in a standard 406 is actually quite a risky proposition?

Going by that logic, even using Coupe Adie's adaptor looms (where you just need to find a live) could still get the BSI to throw a hissy fit.

[steve_earwig]

Nah, you're either using existing wiring or providing your own, neither of which should go anywhere near the BSI. The problem is adding stuff that's run by the BSI and overloading it.

couldnt i use a relay, i have a collection sitting around from old cars, but perhaps a relay uses too much power from the puddle lights could an inline fuse cure that issue,

Why not measure the draw on the coil side? Then you'd have an idea what sort of current it'll need and compare that to your BSI-killing set up

[FarmerPug]

how do i measure the draw, and what side is the coil side is that the switching side, or the side being switched