More than once the dome light in my WRX was accidentally left on and almost killed my battery.
Is there a way to modify it so that the dome light turns off after, say, 15 minutes? Or replace the bulb with a LED-based light?
More than once the dome light in my WRX was accidentally left on and almost killed my battery.
Is there a way to modify it so that the dome light turns off after, say, 15 minutes? Or replace the bulb with a LED-based light?
There are LED festoon bulbs for dome light replacement.
I looked at them some months ago but procrastinated and didn't proceed because I wasn't sure about the auto-dimming when the door closed. The question I never got around to answering was, did the present incandescent bulb dim because of reducing voltage or reducing current, and would the LED work the same or be destroyed.
I know just enough about electricity to be dangerous.
If the bulb dims, it means that the voltage across it is reduced, causing the current through it to be reduced If the LED bulb works at full voltage, it will not be damaged when the voltage falls.
(I have no specific knowledge about these bulbs aside from owning a few flashlights using them. But the general principle is valid.)
Uncle Ben
It's fun, isn't it?
Except having a recurring twitch from being zapped too many t-t-times...
The LED based bulb still uses 12V. There is a voltage-drop resistor in there that drops the voltage to 3 or 5V depending on the LED, but to the overall circuit it still looks like 12V. It ain't helping on current, either, because the resistor may actually be drawing more current than the OEM bulb is.
Hi, May I be differ? LED current consumption is way less than a bulb. In the range of miliiamps. Resistors main job is to drop the voltage at that current draw. Overall LED will use way less energy(literally no heat). Refresh your high school physics; Ohm's law. Look at the size of resistor which is typically less than 1/2 Watt size which means?..... I replaced all the illumnation on my patio in the back yard with LEDs. They consume 1W each vs. bulbs which is ~7W and up.
You sure there isn't a timer for the dome light? From some articles, like:
http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:c7o2Y6ryzBQJ:
Some configurations require a resistor in *parallel* to increase the current draw. If you use LEDs for turn signal bulbs, you may have to include a resistor in parallel for the flasher unit to work. Older thermal-based flashers require a minimal current draw to heat their bimetallic element that heats up to make contact and cools after making contact to break the contact. In fact, the age-old problem of hooking up trailer lights was the flasher would blink too fast because more current was drawn through the thermal flasher unit which made it heat up faster. See
If a timer does not rely upon the load to affect the timing then using an LED in place of an incandescent will work (i.e., the circuit is timed even if the bulb is blown). From what I've seen, dome light timers are load dependent. Also to consider is that LEDs put out less light than incandescents. That means you need more LEDs to generate the same lumens as an incandescent. LEDs are directional in their light output so a diffuser lens is needed or multiple LEDs need to point in multiple different directions.
From what I read, the WRX should have a position for the dome light that provides for an auto-delay shutoff. Perhaps the dome switch is in the wrong position.
If the dome light is being left on, that ,means someone turned it to the "allways on" position - so an automatic time-out system would not help. If you can't learn to shut off the domelight when leaving the car what you need is a "battery saver" system that monitors the battery voltage and shuts everything off when it gets below a certain point - which is still enough to start the car..
These units are available from many automotive mass merchandizers, like Canadian Tire in Canada.
Especially by the sparkplug wires !!!
Mine has a 3 position switch. I interpreted the OP to mean the light was inadvertently left on instead of being put back into the center position.
Carl
Correction:
Should've been "independent".
Oh yeah! Find a bad plug wire in no time flat!
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