Switchbox rear illumination question.

May 21, 2010
1,256
Minnesota
Installing a switch box and wondering where the best place is to get the illumination feed from. On older vehicles I would typically grab it from the stereo if it didnt have a dimmer. I am concerned that the feed to the current radio runs through the BCM or similar and I dont want to stress those systems.

What do you have for suggestions to safely get illumination to the switch box or other info?
 

CHIEFOPS

Member
Jan 24, 2011
1,532
NYC
if it's a nextgen police vehicle-2011 forward, there should be a dimmer wire included in it's police interface harness, check the manufacturer's modifier guide.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
Since you will already have a suitable power feed coming in to the switchbox, you could install a small relay inside of the switchbox. That way, the only draw on the illumination wire would be from the relay's coil.
 

shues

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
10,276
NW Indiana
The LED illumination on most switch boxes is about 0.1 A or less. Nothing to worry about.

This is a good point!

In older switchboxes that use incandescent lamps for backlighting, the draw will be higher. For instance, the Federal Signal SW300 uses three small lamps, which draw 5 watts each. The total backlighting current requirement for an SW300 is just over one amp.
 

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