I had kind of re-thought the "door controlled option" a little yesterday and came up with some ideas on a little better option if someone were really serious about converting the "Swiss" map lights to function more like the dome lights (i.e. have the map lights come on and off with the doors and also have the option of turning on the maplights when the doors were closed).
The thoughts I came up with would require an additional tap (as shown in one of the previous posts and below) and would require changing the switches to 3-position switches. This would take quite a bit of conversion to accomplish, but there may be some folks wanting to consider it.
However, a word of warning: I selected the switches I use for several reasons, but the foremost were the overall size and the right angle terminals. They have the lowest profile I could find, plus they have a very long life expectancy. The type of switch I mention in the following is larger in diameter, protrudes into the housing further and the terminals face outwards instead of at a 90 degree angle. The following are just ideas and should work just fine, but I did not build a unit and test it. Also, the terminal size on my switches are .110" wide, most rocker switches are .187" wide.
Ok, here we go ..
To be able to have a multi-function light (i.e. have it come on and off with the doors and be able to turn it on while driving), basically requires a 3-position switch (like the dome light) .. doors/off/on. The bottom diagram below has just that .. a SPDT (single pole/double throw .. on-off-on) switch.
You also need (2) sources of ground .. door ground for "door mode" and auxiliary ground for when you want to turn the map lights on when the door is closed. The one thing you need to understand is the "door ground/power". The "3-wire ribbon" tap (center wire) functions differently during the (2) modes. It acts as a positive (12v) line when the door is closed and it acts as a negative (0v) line when the door is open. What the diagram below does, is this .. when the doors are closed, the leds grab power from a standard 12v source and use a separate ground to make the leds work when the switch is in the "#1 position". When the doors are open and you wish to have the leds come on with the doors, the switches must be in the "#2 position". When in the #2 position and the door is open, the center lead of the 3-wire ribbon acts as a negative and the leds are on. The last thing I mention is this ... some of you may wonder, "when the switches are in the #2 position and the door is closed, the center lead tap in the 3-wire ribbon is 12v (positive) feeding into the light and there is a second power going into the light (the 12v fused power). Would this "blow up" the light bulb? The answer is pretty basic and I have said this before, think of it in this fashion .. hook a garden hose to a faucet; hook a second garden hose to another faucet; connect the (2) hoses to each other; and turn on both faucets. Basically they cancel each other out and no water flows (i.e. the leds are off).
To do this type of a conversion you would need:
(2) SPDT switches (on-off-on) (similar to Del City # 7900071)
(6) .187" female terminals
(1) tap slice
(5-6 feet) of #18 wire
You would also need to modify the housing for the new switches, make various lead wire connection changes, and make a tap into the overhead dome light 3-wire ribbon (the most convenient location would be in the driver's side a-pillar).
Here is the "old" (top) and the "new" (bottom) basic diagrams.
If the question arises .. I don't think I would offer this as an option.
Linear Mode
