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Home > In Car Electronics > Wiring an LED strip in place of the courtesy light?? (PUMA)
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CY88



Member Since: 05 Jan 2016
Location: Offshore
Posts: 255

1986 Defender 90 V8 Petrol ST Keswick Green
Wiring an LED strip in place of the courtesy light?? (PUMA)
Hi there!

Now that winter is approaching fast, I'm starting to miss the interior lights that I did away with when i converted my Puma to a soft top. It's a commercial spec, no central locking or alarm fitted.

When doing the conversion I simply left the wiring that was up the A pillar behind the dash, and am left with this socket:


Click image to enlarge


previously this attached to a little piece of wiring fixed into the front of the hardtop which comprised the black, the violent/brown and the violet/white wires:


Click image to enlarge


These branched into two further sockets which then plugged into the courtesy light, which I understand was earthed into the body once screwed in place.


Click image to enlarge


I've been looking at these flexible strip lights:

https://www.ledautolamps-uk.com/interior-l...uct_id=675


The interior light was working off the door switches prior to me removing the roof. I went to test the wiring today and connected a bulb in circuit to the violet/brown and black wires. I had assumed that the bulb would only illuminate once the door was opened, but in fact it stayed illuminated the whole time (with the ignition off) whether the door was open or not.

I'm guessing that this may be something to do with the fact the original courtesy light was earthed? I wasn't expecting the LED strip light to be earthed?

Has anyone tried similar, and can you offer advice on the best way to wire up the strip light so that it turns on using the door switches?

Many thanks!







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FFRR Supercharged - Series One - Defender 90 V8
Post #861153 12th Oct 2020 2:16pm
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Martin
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Member Since: 02 Apr 2007
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 6605

United Kingdom 2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Montalcino Red
The purple/brown is a permanent 12V supply, used when the original lamp switch is in the "ON" position. Connect to positive of your strip.

The purple/white is the door switched ground, so this is the one you should be using as your ground Smile

The black is ground for the manual "ON" position as you've found - the courtesy lamps aren't grounded through the fixings.  1988 90 Td5 NAS soft top
2015 D90 XS SW


Last edited by Martin on 29th Oct 2020 10:38am. Edited 1 time in total
Post #861165 12th Oct 2020 3:03pm
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CY88



Member Since: 05 Jan 2016
Location: Offshore
Posts: 255

1986 Defender 90 V8 Petrol ST Keswick Green
Excellent! Thanks Martin. I'll give this a try 👍🏼 
FFRR Supercharged - Series One - Defender 90 V8
Post #861168 12th Oct 2020 3:37pm
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Balvaig



Member Since: 19 Feb 2016
Location: Fife
Posts: 730

Scotland 2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 Landmark LE Corris Grey
Just a comment, but I find automobile electrical terminology really confusing.
We refer to earth or ground, but it it isn’t really.
All we have is a DC circuit with a positive and negative.
There is no earth as such in a DC circuit.
I think most people think of the earth as it is in an AC circuit.

The terminology I think must be lost in the mists of time. Rolling Eyes
Post #861173 12th Oct 2020 4:06pm
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macfrank



Member Since: 05 Nov 2015
Location: somewhere in the north
Posts: 1076

Germany 2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Keswick Green
Quote:
Just a comment, but I find automobile electrical terminology really confusing.
We refer to earth or ground, but it it isn’t really.
All we have is a DC circuit with a positive and negative.
There is no earth as such in a DC circuit.
I think most people think of the earth as it is in an AC circuit.

The terminology I think must be lost in the mists of time. Rolling Eyes


Yes, indeed Smile While earth and ground have the same historical background (sticking a metal bar in the mud and using it as return channel for telegraph signals), in electrical/electronics engineering we usually use earth only when talking about AC.
ground is used with DC to refer to the common point all voltages in a circuit are measured against - it's considered zero. But isn't there a difference between using "earthed" and "grounded" in British and American English? Confused
The German term for ground is "Masse" (mass), by the way. It's easier to mentally connect this term to the metal "mass" of a chassis, for example. Also its symbol is a thick horizontal bar, while earth has three thin bars (thinking of soft soil).
Why don't we say "negative"? Maybe because in electronics the zero-Volt reference doesn't need to be at the negative pole of a voltage source. By definition it can be anywhere in a circuit, resulting in negative voltages relative to that zero (still with me? Smile)
Post #861194 12th Oct 2020 6:05pm
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Balvaig



Member Since: 19 Feb 2016
Location: Fife
Posts: 730

Scotland 2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 Landmark LE Corris Grey
Perhaps badly put by me but I was sympathising.
CY88 in the original post said “ I wasn’t expecting the led strip light to be earthed”
There have been several electrical posts where a similar misunderstanding has occurred.
Martin had solved the wiring problem in his post.
If an led light is used it also needs to be remembered that it is polarity sensitive.
Post #861231 12th Oct 2020 8:22pm
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CY88



Member Since: 05 Jan 2016
Location: Offshore
Posts: 255

1986 Defender 90 V8 Petrol ST Keswick Green
Just a quick update: Managed to get these working at last. There's no manual switch so they only come on with the door switches.

The Positive wire on the light (red) needs to be connected to purple brown, while the negative / earth wire (black) need to be connected to purple / white.

Thanks for the help. Thumbs Up 
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Post #863644 26th Oct 2020 3:41pm
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Martin
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Member Since: 02 Apr 2007
Location: Hook Norton
Posts: 6605

United Kingdom 2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Montalcino Red
I've corrected my post above as I had it backwards with regards to how the lamp operates. Brain fade, apologies.  1988 90 Td5 NAS soft top
2015 D90 XS SW
Post #864206 29th Oct 2020 10:38am
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