Bed light strip problems
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Cross-Country
Joined: Oct 2005
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Bed light strip problems
I am trying to add some LED light strips to my bed just to add more light. My thought was just to tap onto the wiring connector for the OEM bed light (on the drivers side) so the new strips would come on at the same time. I wanted to do a test before I installed everything so I disconnected one of the cargo light plugs and just pushed the wires for the strip light into it. Hit the switch and they all illuminated (OEM lights and strip lights) for a minute (Actually about 5 seconds) and then the bed lights went off and wouldn't turn back on until I started the truck no matter how many times I pushed the switch even with the strip lights disconnected. Repeated to process to make sure I didn't mess something up and the same thing happened. Any thoughts on why this would happen and why I can't tap power from there?
2018 F350 6.7 Platty
2018 F350 6.7 Platty
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 810
Likes: 494
I am trying to add some LED light strips to my bed just to add more light. My thought was just to tap onto the wiring connector for the OEM bed light (on the drivers side) so the new strips would come on at the same time. I wanted to do a test before I installed everything so I disconnected one of the cargo light plugs and just pushed the wires for the strip light into it. Hit the switch and they all illuminated (OEM lights and strip lights) for a minute (Actually about 5 seconds) and then the bed lights went off and wouldn't turn back on until I started the truck no matter how many times I pushed the switch even with the strip lights disconnected. Repeated to process to make sure I didn't mess something up and the same thing happened. Any thoughts on why this would happen and why I can't tap power from there?
2018 F350 6.7 Platty
2018 F350 6.7 Platty
You could always run 12v from the battery to a relay and use the factory bed lights as the “signal” to fire the relay. Would result in what you want - factory lights and led strips coming On/Off by the factory bed light switch.
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Cross-Country
Joined: Oct 2005
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Thanks for the heads up. That is exactly what it acts like. An overcurrent. Just not used to seeing that with LED strips and was really confused when I couldn't find a fuse. I was thinking of doing the relay route. Just not sure if I really wanna put that much effort into it
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2011
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 1,070
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Thanks for the heads up. That is exactly what it acts like. An overcurrent. Just not used to seeing that with LED strips and was really confused when I couldn't find a fuse. I was thinking of doing the relay route. Just not sure if I really wanna put that much effort into it
I went through the same thing, figured just adding a relay would fix the "problem". However as you have probably noticed when the lights turn off they dim slowly rather than just turn off. As the voltage fades when dimming this will "flutter" the relay(pulses on and off ~50 times a second) and will kill the relay in short order.
You need to wire up a "relay filter" with a diode and capacitor to fix this issue. I will attach a wiring diagram,
This is a easy fix with cheap and the parts are easy to find.
I can't take credit for this, someone smarter than me figured this out for me. I noticed both sides of the relay wiring on the right of the diagram say "to load" so I'm guessing that was a typo and one should be your source 12V.
I wired it up about a year ago and it has worked without issue, there is a couple second delay after pressing the switch to turn them off until the added lights turn off.
Hope this helps.
Thread Starter
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Cross-Country
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 84
Likes: 9
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it will require even more effort than just the relay.
I went through the same thing, figured just adding a relay would fix the "problem". However as you have probably noticed when the lights turn off they dim slowly rather than just turn off. As the voltage fades when dimming this will "flutter" the relay(pulses on and off ~50 times a second) and will kill the relay in short order.
You need to wire up a "relay filter" with a diode and capacitor to fix this issue. I will attach a wiring diagram,
This is a easy fix with cheap and the parts are easy to find.
I can't take credit for this, someone smarter than me figured this out for me. I noticed both sides of the relay wiring on the right of the diagram say "to load" so I'm guessing that was a typo and one should be your source 12V.
I wired it up about a year ago and it has worked without issue, there is a couple second delay after pressing the switch to turn them off until the added lights turn off.
Hope this helps.
I went through the same thing, figured just adding a relay would fix the "problem". However as you have probably noticed when the lights turn off they dim slowly rather than just turn off. As the voltage fades when dimming this will "flutter" the relay(pulses on and off ~50 times a second) and will kill the relay in short order.
You need to wire up a "relay filter" with a diode and capacitor to fix this issue. I will attach a wiring diagram,
This is a easy fix with cheap and the parts are easy to find.
I can't take credit for this, someone smarter than me figured this out for me. I noticed both sides of the relay wiring on the right of the diagram say "to load" so I'm guessing that was a typo and one should be your source 12V.
I wired it up about a year ago and it has worked without issue, there is a couple second delay after pressing the switch to turn them off until the added lights turn off.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info. I will source source the parts. Just out of curiosity, how did you mount/protect the relay/capacitor and diode?
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jul 2020
Posts: 1,070
Likes: 283
Soldered all the connections, coated them in dielectric grease and then heat shrinked. Tucked it up away from road spray as good as I could.
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More Turbo
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 588
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From: Boston
interesting.....I have upgraded lights for the oem spots and also bed strips from F150 led. So far I have one side done and it works just fine. But I may run into an issue after installing the other side but only turning them on when the truck is running, headlights on, and the door open? I feel like that will be a rare occurrence.
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