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which one is fuse for dashlight??

6K views 9 replies 2 participants last post by  Rickl 
#1 ·
Hi, I have Rav4 2012.
I am trying to tap LED footwell light wires to the fuse that controls the dashboard lights. Basically I want these LED footwell lights to turn on only at night whenever I turn on the dashboard lights.

I have been using the user manual as reference

I'm looking at it and I thought "TAIL" fuse controls the lights on the dashboard. So, i took out the "TAIL" fuse, tapped the LED lights and put it back in but LED didn't turn on.

Then I tried turning on the dashboard light while the fuse was taken out and the lights did go on. So, I'm guessing that is not the right fuse. Any ideas on which fuse I should be pulling out to tap the LED wires??

Thank you for the help in advance
 
#3 ·
Basically I want these LED footwell lights to turn on only at night whenever I turn on the dashboard lights..
A somewhat confusing post......

First of all the dashboard is always illuminated, (at least the instrument panel is) so I assume you mean when the back-lighting to the various switches is turned on.

Since the back-lighting turns on whenever the taillights are turned on, connecting to the TAIL fuse is an obvious place to start. First thing to clarify is if your RAV already has LED foot well lights that you want to reconfigure to be on anytime the taillights are on, or are you adding new foot well lights? If you are rewiring existing LED's, where in the circuit did you disconnect them and then reconnect them to the TAIL fuse?

I'm looking at it and I thought "TAIL" fuse controls the lights on the dashboard. So, i took out the "TAIL" fuse, tapped the LED lights and put it back in but LED didn't turn on.
The TAIL fuse should only be hot when the ECM is requesting the taillights to turn on. If your LED's didn't turn on when connected to the TAIL fuse you may have wired them with reverse polarity.

Then I tried turning on the dashboard light while the fuse was taken out and the lights did go on.
If the LED's worked with the TAIL fuse removed, then you probably connected to the "supply" side of the fuse and not the "load" side of the fuse, but if this was the case they should have worked with both the fuse plugged in or the fuse removed.

A simpler technique would be to connect you LEDs to the illumination wire at the rear of one of the back-lit switches. I think these circuits are already running at a reduced voltage so a dropping resistor would not be required.

BTW I couldn't get you link to display any wiring diagrams even when following your instructions.
 
#4 ·
A somewhat confusing post......

First of all the dashboard is always illuminated, (at least the instrument panel is) so I assume you mean when the back-lighting to the various switches is turned on.

Since the back-lighting turns on whenever the taillights are turned on, connecting to the TAIL fuse is an obvious place to start. First thing to clarify is if your RAV already has LED foot well lights that you want to reconfigure to be on anytime the taillights are on, or are you adding new foot well lights? If you are rewiring existing LED's, where in the circuit did you disconnect them and then reconnect them to the TAIL fuse?



The TAIL fuse should only be hot when the ECM is requesting the taillights to turn on. If your LED's didn't turn on when connected to the TAIL fuse you may have wired them with reverse polarity.



If the LED's worked with the TAIL fuse removed, then you probably connected to the "supply" side of the fuse and not the "load" side of the fuse, but if this was the case they should have worked with both the fuse plugged in or the fuse removed.

A simpler technique would be to connect you LEDs to the illumination wire at the rear of one of the back-lit switches. I think these circuits are already running at a reduced voltage so a dropping resistor would not be required.

BTW I couldn't get you link to display any wiring diagrams even when following your instructions.

Firstly, I really appreciate you for taking your time to reply
As you can tell, I am a complete newbie at this.

1. I guess I should have said I want LED footwells to light up only when I turn on the taillights at night
2. I am adding NEW footwell lights
3. I meant to say my taillights (not LEDs) turned on while the "TAIL" fuse was pulled-out. Is this normal???????? I didn't think it was normal and I thought maybe I pulled-out wrong fuse.


I am planning on trying again tomorrow to "TAIL" fuse. If it does not work, I guess i'll try "GAUGE" fuse or "PANEL" fuse to see if I can accomplish my original goal.
 
#10 ·
Just thought of another reason to consider when choosing the value of your add-on fuse, and how/where to connect it.

If you did wire your fuse according to OPTION #2 then .....
If the taillights use 7.5A (just a guess based on the 10A value of the fuse and allowing a safety factor) then if your foot-well lighting uses over 2.5A during a malfunction, then your 10A fuse will blow and kill your taillights.

Driving without taillights is a high risk to pay for the luxury of foot-well lights. You run the same risk of losing your headlights in order to have grill-lights.

You may be better off connecting your add-on fuse to the supply side of the original fuse (OPTION #1), and choosing a very small value for the add-on fuse so that the combined currents will not damage the wiring.
 
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