Dashboard Button / Interior Switches Issues

[captain_bboy]

Hello! I've been working on installing custom ambient lighting in my car, and one of the first things I did was install a toggleable custom dashboard button (like https://www.ebay.com/itm/204149155743). At first I just linked it to the fuse box and had the 12V run through like normal. I ignored the back-light section because I don't want to splice into my car's wiring harness. However, I came back to this project because I really do want the button to be backlit. I added my own spacer connector between the VSA button and the car's wiring to splice into, but when I connected the two, it exposed a problem. Honda inverts the voltage based on dimmability. Meaning they provide 12V through the dimming line when they want no backlighting and 0V when they want full backlighting (12 - provided voltage = light's voltage). Has anyone found a work around for this? I really want my switch to be dimmable, but it being inverted right now obviously was not the goal.

Thank you! (It's a 25 Civic SI)

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[captain_bboy]

If anyone was awaiting an update on this, I tried using a lm358p operational amplifier to try to do 12V - the backlighting voltage, but I probably bought cheap parts because the first time it didn't work and the second time it was off by a large factor (12V - 5V was 3V). This is definitely possible with higher quality components, but for now I have just wired it to 12V for full backlighting.

 

[Sporky McGeuschky]

Hi, sounds interesting. I know absolutely jack squat about cars... and even less about electronics. Wish I could help.

Have you checked with any of the DFW shops on this forum, like maybe
@ctechauto ?
If Ctech can't help, maybe someone there can at least point you in the right direction.

 

[ctechauto]

Hi, sounds interesting. I know absolutely jack squat about cars... and even less about electronics. Wish I could help.

Have you checked with any of the DFW shops on this forum, like maybe
@ctechauto ?
If Ctech can't help, maybe someone there can at least point you in the right direction.

Thanks for the tag, but we try not to touch custom electronic stuff like that. We do have a few recommendations for other shops that specialize in custom electronic mods, including mood/ambient lighting and fiber optic headliners (starry headliners, etc) as they specialize and do that all day long. Feel free to PM me for the recommendations and referrals.

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