I recently added a LED light bar and some LED flood lights to my XJ. They work fine but the switches I got for them are ungodly bright, and I mean so bright they blind you once the sun goes down. Even in day light they are some what of a distraction if you turn them on, not that you would need auxiliary lighting during the day.

Would I be able to reduce the light output of the switches by adding a resistor to the power side of the switch and still be able to activate the relays for the auxiliary lights? Also what size resistor would you suggest?

 

A rheostat is an adjustable resistor but I don't know for sure what wattage you would need. Just guessing but this is 12v with _____Amp fuse? If it is a 20a fuse in circuit it would need to be 240w but if it can be found it would allow for the lights to be on a dimmer effect. The higher the wattage on the switch the better the heat dissipation. I would also put it in series with feed to the lights not the relay. If you lower the power going to the relay it may not be enough to energize the coil and they won't pick.

 

I don't want to lower the output of the auxiliary lights, I want to lower the output of the little LED in the switch. That little blue LED is super bright on both switches. to give an idea of how bright they are yo can see the glow of the LED built into the switch in my light bar test video at 0:22.


That is just the glow from it, the switch is never actually in frame.

 

black permanent marker

 

Different switch.

I have some of those blue LED toggles in my jeep, the PO installed them for what I'm going to guess was aux lighting...I re-used them, and you're right. They are ungodly bright. So much so, that I disconnected them. Blue might be a good spectrum for indirect light, but not for shining in your face.

I would get a different switch.

 

Agreed.

And by the way, blue is the worst possible color for retaining night vision. Look up "visual purple" to learn why.

Red is best.

 

use finger nail polish over it

 

Yes a resistor could help knock those down in brightness too, one of the other suggestions would probably be easier though.

 

I paid too much just to scrap the switches and replace them with something else. I tried dulling them down with a sharpie and the lens on the switch is too smooth so the ink just rolled off. I don't have any nail polish that is semi transparent. Yes I have some black nail polish, but I don't use it on myself. I use it when I etch my makers mark on the knives I make with pattern welded steel. Unfortunately it has been a long time since I made a damascus steel knife so the black nail polish has dried out.

I do how ever have the old transmission computer from my Stealth and am able to source 4 680 ohm and 4 1k ohm resistors out of it and the power leads to the switches are accessible by just pulling the center pod out of the dash. I can just snip the wire and add in resistors till I get the switches dulled down enough to be acceptable and still trigger the relays.

If that fails I will break out the needle files, they are packed away for tomorrows move, and file down the lens on the switches, but that means I will have to disconnect them so I can get to the lenses without any obstructions from the dash and steering wheel.

 

Most automotive relays only need about a quarter amp to trigger, so you may have success with that route.

Do these switches have just two terminals?

 

Three terminals, they are the Grote 82-2136 LED rocker switches, like this, but with a blue LED and clear lens



The blend into the dash nicely except when they are on, then the LED is super bright. I will go out and take a picture of them lit up and you will see the glare problem I have with them.

 

Switches off, picture with flash.



On with no flash

 

Try putting the resistor on the ground to the switch . the ground is for the LED light in the switch only and if you add a relay you can change the brightness of the switch so it can be dimmer when the headlights or on .

 

Yep what I was thinking too .. just use a 10 ohm ruffly to the ground going to switch that is used to ground the led.. should be simple enough.. find some old junk electronic thing like vcr or old tv anything .. cut a few out and keep trying till ya hit the right one..

 

In day light testing I could not tell if the resistors I have on hand 680 and 1K are doing much, but I did stumble onto a simpler solution, just disconnect the grounds and go without the indicator lights Mind you I like the idea of having something to let me know if I accidentally turn on the lights during the day.

I am going to go though the old TCM for the Stealth and see if there are any other resistors that may be more suitable for the job.