Extreme Farkling - Circuits and controls

[Beemerphile]

The next farkle for today is the luggage compartment light. I think it turned out well. I took the skin off of the luggage compartment lid and mounted a clear LED license plate light in the inside center of the lid. There is not much room between the inside frame and the outside cover, but there is enough to squeeze in a couple of wires and the heads of two screws to hold the light in place. There was not enough room to put the nuts on the back side.



I drilled through the injection molding gate vestige of the inside frame for the wires to pass into the interior space between the frame and cover. I also drilled for two #6 machine screws to hold the light in place.



I chose a mercury switch to operate it because I did not want a visible switch in the sealing area of the lid. I could only find two places where the switch would both fit and where it could be mounted at the appropriate angle to operate as I wanted to. This place and the same little cubby on the other side.



Close-up of the mounted switch...



Here is the finished product. Total cost, about five Yankee bucks. It turns on and off at a 45 degree lid angle. I wired it to always on power for the best utility. Since it is only a 40 milliamp light, it would take many hours to run the battery down.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I like the mercury switch idea, very reliable set up. What LED did you use?
Thanks!

 

[L.B.S.]

Ingenius!

 

[Bamo]

Awesome light. I will be doing this. When I get home from work it is dark out. I want to get some kind of glow in the dark key hole indicator and a light in my luggage box like this. Another helpful post by Beemer, that is why he is number 1.

 

[duk2n]

Another very well done job

I'm sorry for the maybe stupid question but, how does that mercury switch works? Does it have some kind of "accelerometer" to detect the angle, or what?

PD: everytime I see in your posts the features of that PDM60 I'm tempted to buy one!

 

[JDE]

Mercury switch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Google is your friend!

 

[duk2n]

Many thanks, JDE. I was thinking "mercury" was a trade mark, not a "kind of" switch. But you're right, google is our friend, sometimes I forget it

Now I understand how it works, nice stuff

 

[Beemerphile]

The light that I used is showing "no longer available" but there are several similar two bolt LED license plate lights like this one...

Clear LED Tag License Boat RV Trailer Truck Car Light : Amazon.com : Automotive

Mine was about half that price. This one may even be better, though mine illuminates fine. Don't use the word "motorcycle" in your search because the prices double and triple. This is a CAR BOAT RV license plate light. I am using another one just like it to illuminate the license plate on my "touring tail tidy".

This is the mercury switch that I used...

Amazon.com: Mercury Tilt Switch: Car Electronics

What I like about this set-up is that there are no wires or switches to be seen. Heck, sitting on the bike, you don't even see the light, just the magically illuminated box.

My solution for keyhole lights is simplistic...

Inova Microlight

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Thanks yet again beemer! I haven't removed any of my plastic yet, for fear of destroying them. It seems when I remove those delicate plastic panels,
it always cost me a lot of money for replacement panels.

 

[Beemerphile]

Thanks yet again beemer! I haven't removed any of my plastic yet, for fear of destroying them. It seems when I remove those delicate plastic panels,
it always cost me a lot of money for replacement panels.

I would hate to have to try it without the manual. The only times that I have broken tabs on plastic parts is when I did not know where the fasteners were and how they worked. When the manual says "here are the screws, here are the tabs, and push in this direction or pry under this to remove" then the chances of damage are minimal. Now, I have had some bad manuals that were worse than no manual, but on this topic the Honda manual has been very good. Pictures in the manual are important to understanding as well.

There is nothing difficult in any of my modifications. Well, except the HID headlight. That was a bitch.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Being that it is such a PITA, I will wait for your HID review, and settle for some LED floods and or spots.

 

[Beemerphile]

Being that it is such a PITA, I will wait for your HID review, and settle for some LED floods and or spots.

If you are going to do LED spots (I would not do floods or fogs) then I can't recommend the Clearwater IQ-170 highly enough. With it and a single pole light switch you can have the lights at three different brilliance levels and they will go to full bright with your high beam. Its use makes less sense with fogs that are generally on with the low beams and off with the high beams.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

Thanks! My reasoning for the floods is for lighting up the sides of the road and ditches when I'm riding in wooded areas.
I would kill the lights anytime traffic is visible.
I got an 8 point buck a couple of years ago in my car. When the bucks go into rut I get very cautious.
I want too light up everything in front of me at night, when I'm the only one out there.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[Beemerphile]

Thanks! My reasoning for the floods is for lighting up the sides of the road and ditches when I'm riding in wooded areas.
I would kill the lights anytime traffic is visible.
I got an 8 point buck a couple of years ago in my car. When the bucks go into rut I get very cautious.
I want too light up everything in front of me at night, when I'm the only one out there.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Floods plus spots is better than either alone. If I only had one set though, I would go with the spots. Some of the better LED lights have a mixture of both spot and flood beam patterns by lens design. My point with reference to the IQ-170 is that it doesn't make much sense with floods.

 

[turbodieseli4i6]

I put the IQ-170 on the to-do list. Thanks

 

[jakeisbill]

That is the best looking wiring job I have ever seen. Well done Sir.

 

[Beemerphile]

FYI: I needed a PDM60 for a project I am working on with my Silverado pick-up truck, so I backtracked on the PDM60 power distribution module in the NC and replaced it with the Fuzeblock unit. I had seen it at a BMW rally recently and when I read the post by saru2011 I decided that simpler and cheaper was better. I have not had any trouble with the PDM60 and have used one on the BMW for years. I just decided this was a simpler solution and cheaper than buying a second PDM60. I did not need the off-delay circuits on the bike.

 

[bamamate]

What forum are you post the Silverado project on?

 

[duk2n]

I backtracked on the PDM60 power distribution module in the NC and replaced it with the Fuzeblock unit

Does the new unit have a SAE connector for the battery charger as well?

 

[Beemerphile]

Does the new unit have a SAE connector for the battery charger as well?

No it does not, but one can be wired to any unswitched fuse position. I have an external Powerlet that is wired unswitched for heated clothing use that does double duty as the charger connection. It is unswitched because it is not an item that I am going to accidentally leave "on".