LED Strip with rocker switch wiring

[srmnm]

Hi All,

I installed my awning on my 80 Series a few weeks ago and have decided to put an LED strip along the inner frame of the awning behind where the canopy rolls out. I did a similar job on my old NL Pajero but this time I've decided to do things a bit differently.
I've only recently purchased my 1994 80 Series GXL 4.5 and with very few after market components so i'll be putting some effort into doing a tidy job on the electrics.

Firstly, I've purchased a small fuse box that I'll be powering from my auxiliary battery and fitting underneath my console (running power through firewall as auxiliary battery located in front). Have a 10A fuse in at the moment but I may reduce this when I measure the draw after installed.



I've also invested in a number of rocker switches and switch trays for a tidy job. It's on-off with 2 LED's and and 4 poles for wiring. See diagram:


So, before I go installing the LED strip I wanted to ensure I fully understood the switch wiring and explored ways of minimizing amount of cable required when wiring many switches in the same tray coming from the same power source, but controlling other accessories.
I've used 2x 6V batteries in series for a 12v power source and some single core 10A cable with alligator clips either end to build my DC circuit.

OFF: (You can see one LED on switch is correctly lit, LED strip is NOT lit)


ON: (Both switch LED's correctly lit, LED strip also lit)


ON: (Reverse angle, best for looking at the actual wiring of the circuit.)


One observation i've made is wiring pole 2 and pole 8 together from the power source rather than running individual cables will save a lot of hassle and cabling.
Anyways, proof of concept completed. Waiting for a dimmer and additional components before installing.
FYI I am not an expert and have learned from many sources . Make sure your fuse box/circuit is using adequate cable to handle the load you intend to draw. Do the maths before wiring anything up and do additional research if you're not comfortable.

Hope this helps!
Will

 

[StarCruiser]

Hi Will, looks like you've been having fun there. Mm an electrician so if I can help in any way I will do my best to assist.

A couple of things you may like to consider here. Terminal 7 on all your switches can be linked together (or made 'common' as is the term) these can be connected to earth, either at the battery or more likely at one of the many earth bolts there are around the vehicle. Brown (the automotive colour for ground) 10A wire should be fine for this and can be made up with good quality spade terminals by putting the in and out wire in one close fitting terminal and crimped using a good (preferably ratchet type) crimp tool.

Similarly terminal 8 can also be commoner and would then go to the vehicle dash lighting + which can be sourced from the lamp in the cigar lighter or similar. No need to fuse it as long as you use the same size cable (don't worry too much about colour just choose one for yourself or number/label it.

Something to also note is that the fuse you use only needs to be larger than the load you intend to supply but the cable must be suitably sized so that the fuse blows first. In other words, you can happily run a 2A load on 10A cable protected by a 10A fuse. Longer runs of cable are best done with the next size up for the load.

The most important thing that must be done is to connect your leisure battery with the correct size cable from its terminals. - going to the vehicle chassis/body as vehicle earth/ground while the first thing that comes from your positive + terminal should be a suitably sized fuse. The only time this is not needed and is allowable on a battery circuit is where the cable is big enough (like starter cables) to exhaust the battery before suffering damage to itself (burning). So, depending on the size of cable you have running to your fuse box, fit a fuse within the first couple of inches of the battery terminal. That way in a crash, if that cable gets crushed to the bodywork and short circuits, the fuse will blow. No harm in over rating the cable but never over rate the fuse. In other words 100A cable on a 60A fuse is good, 60A cable on a 100A fuse can be bad (there would need to be calculations to determine if it was ok, but generally to keep it simple, rate the fuse no higher than the cable). As you intend to mount the fuse box remote from the battery, then this is essential.

Going back to the switch, each of your terminal 2s will be fed from a fuse in your fuse box. Some can be commoner if you plan to run more than one load from one fuse which is perfectly acceptable to do.

One tip, leave a little slack in your wires for pulling switches in and out etc and 'loom' the wires together with black tape to make a neat job, branching them off at points along the route to wherever they need to go. Remember to run wiring through existing rubber grommets or if you need to drill holes to fit good rubber grommets or even consider plugs and sockets for external stuff. I'm planning on fitting a socket within the frame around the gas strut of the tailgate to keep things neat and removable for example.

On the LED strip, I have found hot melt glue to be excellent for sealing connections and heat shrink sleeving is always very handy to cover wiring connections, especially the adhesive lined variety.

Best of luck with it.

Richard.

 

[srmnm]

Thanks StarCruiser, great information!! Have spent the last two weeks on other stuff (leaky knuckles and the likes) and have just got back on to this this evening. Have sorted most of the wiring now and done the measurements for the LED strip on the awning. I had enough for 2x 2.5m strips so have split and ready to rejoin with some nice flexible cable in-between. Will do my best to keep water out, but no hot glue im afraid, so going heavy on the shrink sleeving. Also started wiring through the wiring connector plug.
Curious to your advise of 'daisy chaining' the common terminal connectors. Is there any best practice here?