HOW TO GET SWITCHED 12V POWER TO ENABLE FOOTWELL LIGHTS ON TESLA MODEL 3 SR+ OR OTHER 12V ACCESSORY
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- The Tesla Model 3 has no easy way of receiving 12v power that is only on while the vehicle is occupied. This makes it difficult to power accessories such as external amps or radar detectors. I found a way to bypass this and create switched power in the car to power all your accessories. We can also use this power to enable the footwell lighting on the Standard Range Plus model that comes software disabled from the factory.
I recommend using the linked relay as it has been reported that others may be hit or miss with working on the Tesla
Product Links:
Relay: amzn.to/3FpxDEj
Wire T-Tap Kit: amzn.to/3DxObZh
18ga wire: amzn.to/3AdrY0t
16ga wire: amzn.to/3058Zc0
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*Although generally safe, I am not responsible for any damage that may be caused to your vehicle as a result of tampering with the wiring or anything else. Complete at your own risk.
Nice video. Good to see how to disassemble the center console area. Can be useful for many projects! Thank you!
Really nice video. Answered a lot of my questions. I'm still at a loss at where the brown wire is. Do you need to remove the plastic cover under the air vents (the obd connector location) to access the brown wire?
Great video. Thank you for posting and going through all the steps. I am looking for switched power in a MY for LED lighting. The MY already has ambient footwell lighting wired up. I was thinking of using the 12v source as you described, but taking the signal from the existing footwell light - that way, the LED lights will turn on whenever ambient lighting is on, which is the desired effect.
I'm wondering if taking the signal from the existing footwell lights could cause issues with tripping an error, etc.
As ghetto as this installation is, there is very useful information in this video that I haven’t seen available elsewhere. Be aware that the power source used in this video is around 15.4V with a max load of 12A after 2022. Use DC-DC converters to protect your installations.
Since this is tapping off the cigarette lighter (typically 12v power) wouldn't the car already be downstepping the voltage? I believe you would only need the converter if you pull the power directly from the battery, right?
@@TheHardwareJunkies it is 15v as tested today. i have a stepdown for that purpose
Well done!!! Thank you so much!!
Okay, have all the parts that you recommend from the Amazon links, using 18 gauge wiring, which has two polarities. So my question is when tapping into either that brown or yellow wire for the signal, you show using one red tap, meaning you tap both the red and black wire into that brown or yellow wire? That's not done on the blue and yellow wire where you show two taps, one for the ground (black) to the yellow and one for the positive (red) to the blue wire. Same question for tapping into the red and gray wires for the lights: are you just tapping one wire (red) into those light wires? So coming off the relay for the power, you are splicing one wire (red) to go to the two footwell lights wires, red and gray, correct?
*Note, In the cup holder area the brown wire is ground and the blue wire is +12v. In the back of the car behind the rear air vents you will find a brown wire going into a connector which is the signal wire
I tapped the wires using the yellow t-taps on the 12v power source and the red t-tap on the brown signal wire. Use appropriate male crimp connectors for your wire size to plug into the t-taps
You may also want to use some electrical or felt tape to secure the wires to prevent them from rattling in the future.
Where did you get that “splicing into the 12v circuit” from? Can you provide link please?
Hey Mike, are you referring to the snipping from the Tesla service manual I showed? I found that snip in a forum post online but I believe it comes from the service manuals you can buy from Tesla
@@TheHardwareJunkies Correct. I have the service manual myself that can be used anytime. However I cannot find that section anywhere
@@Mike-ke7co hm let me see if I can get more info on it. I only found the snipping in a forum post so I didn't directly find it from the service manual
Here is the forum post I found it on. Scroll down in the page and you can see the whole printout. teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/12v-switched.147325/page-6
Which brown wire is the correct one in the back?? I have 2 thin brown wires and one thick in the blue plug??
Behind your air vent, you should see a harness connector, on one side you'll see a thin blue wire as well as a thin brown wire going into the connector. On the other side of the connector you will find a yellow wire as well as a black wire. For my installation I tapped into the brown wire. I have also heard that for an easier installation, the yellow wire is a continuation of the brown wire and that you can tap that as well but I have not personally verified that.
so you're going to go ahead and go ahead and go ahead....
I have a question sorry if it’s a stupid one.. when I splice into the footwell lights (the red and grey wires) do I splice into the wire and make it a three way connection or just cut the original power wire and just splice it with the new power wire?
Also can I just use posi taps for the splicing?
if you could find the headlight signal feed in the cabin, could you tap into that signal and have the lights turn on whenever the headlights are on? I feel like that would be more effective and make more sense since the footwell lights would turn on during dark along with the headlights. But i’m not sure if there’s an accessible signal wire for the headlights in the cabin to tap and i’m not sure if the headlights run off the 12v
nvm just read that tesla uses zero fuses and all circuits are controlled and monitored thru the MCU via BMS which will throw an error if tripped. Looks like i’m gonna stick with this idea.
Hi, I want to install extra led light inside but want to use the footwell light as a trigger wire to power the led on/off, could you please help me with the diagram for the relay? I will be tapping the 12v from the back of the cig outlet as well for power.
Is that signal wire there on a 2019 SR+? I assume this will turn on the lights when the head light turns on?
It should be, it turns on as soon as occupancy is detected in the vehicle (i.e. whenever the doors open and the touchscreen is turned on)
Great video, thanks.
How do you connect the new wires to the existing Cigarette lighter?
I just used wire tap tees
Cool video, considering doing this. I understand the brown signal wire is linked to the console light - which is always on unless in sleep. I'm wondering how adding the relay changes this behaviour, as per you comment, that it will only be activated if the car is occupied - i.e. the lights won't be on in Sentry.
The brown wire does not provide enough power to power the footwell lights. Instesd it uses the 12v center console outlet for power and uses the brown wire as a signal wire to turn the footwell lights on and off. The center console light is only powered when vehicle is occupied, it is not based on sleep. The 12v center console plug is always on except while in sleep. We use these two things in conjunction with each other to get the wanted results out of it
@@TheHardwareJunkies Ah got it thanks I understand how you are using the relay now. Does that mean the footwell lights are on whilst driving?
Exactly. They are always on as long as the vehicle is occupied. That's why I added the switch under the passenger area. Thought it may be good to have, but honestly I have never used it yet
Man dude, I really want footwell lights but it’s an awful big bummer that you have to go through all of this work just to get them enabled. Wish there were a workaround…
It honestly wasn't that bad to do, just takes some time to do it
Be nice if the self proclaimed manufacturer known as Tesla would just include this shit. My $30k sonata has ambient lighting why doesn't this "super car"?
@@guttagutta420 ended up getting a $500 dollar module that activates the ambient lighting and a bunch of other things. Pretty cool.
I've seen that. Was a little weary of the fact that a future Tesla software update could essentially block this device and brick it. No clue if that would actually happen but definitely not impossible
@@TheHardwareJunkies they claim that they will release a free module for people to install which will fix any bricking by tesla via OTA updates.
I dont see a Brown signal cable? I have a harness in the back with black, yellow, blue and gray
Behind your air vent, you should see a harness connector, on one side you'll see a thin blue wire as well as a thin brown wire going into the connector. On the other side of the connector you will find a yellow wire as well as a black wire. For my installation I tapped into the brown wire. I have also heard that for an easier installation, the yellow wire is a continuation of the brown wire and that you can tap that as well but I have not personally verified that.
@@TheHardwareJunkies can verify the yellow wire is easier to get to and works just the same 😄
@@Delarocky Is the yellow wire that's a continuation of the brown wire the one that is behind the rear air vent? I see four colored wires: black, grey, blue and yellow.
Can I just tap into the cigarette lighter to power dashcam and put switch on it?
Why are you running so many cables..?
the additional cables are to use occupancy sensing. Without the signal wire, the dashcam would stay powered on except when the vehicle is sleeping. If sentry is on, the vehicle never sleeps. So depending on your use case, you you can just tap the power directly if you don't need occupancy sensing.
By chance have you figured out how to get them to dim when you are in drive? Then go to full brightness when you are in park?
Maybe see if you can find the wire that controls the overhead lights that turn on when in park/opening the door and wire that into the footwell lights, then with the center console output past the relay, you can limit the current so that it's not outputting as much and will make the footwell dimmer, and when opening the door or putting in park, it'll shine brighter!
For a radar detector would you just wire the ground from the detector to the relay as well?
Yeah you can just tie all your grounds together
Completely lost us right after you took out the cup holder.
I wanna do this but I have no experience. I am currently installing a diy led kit for the whole car but am trying to hide all the wires as best as possible and this method seems to be great considering it will turn the lights on and off along with the footwell lights. Do I need to use the ground wire if I'm only doing LEDs? I should only be uusing the 18ga because I don't plan on adding any other accessories until I can find someone who can install an aftermarket amp and sub I pulled out of my old car.. and to my understanding from reading the forum, I would need to install another 12v battery just to power the amp? Another question I have is if the led kit I have already has a power switch (plugs into 12v cigarette lighter) if I run this setup with a relay, and the lights go on and off with the footwells, can the lights be still turned on and off via the switch and/or the app? If I turn off the lights via the app would it turn the footwell lights off too.
Might have too little experience and too many questions to try this myself but I really want a clean install and don't want wires hanging out of the armrest.
I would say your best bet would be to purchase a 12v female cigarette lighter outlet and wire it up to the relay. Then just plug your lights into that and they will auto turn on and off with the car
@@TheHardwareJunkies I couldn't just t-tap directly into the 12v cigarette lighter wires?
The 12 v cigarette lighter will not turn off until the vehicle goes into sleep mode (which does not occur ever if sentry mode is on) and so your lights would stay on after you exit the vehicle
@@TheHardwareJunkies that's fine because I rarely use sentry mode and the led kit has an app which it can be turned on and off remotely.
This is a good job but no one is going to do this. I would never risk it on my tesla
already did it, works like a charm ;)