Timmy; do you have the wiring diagram to using a 7 pin Carling switch along with the relay to be able to switch back and forth from key fob to "Standard" step operation
Thank you in Advance
Timmy; do you have the wiring diagram to using a 7 pin Carling switch along with the relay to be able to switch back and forth from key fob to "Standard" step operation
Thank you in Advance
Sorry, I don't, but it would be cake to do. Basically put a switch in place that switches between using the dom light for the signal (via the relay I described earlier) or using the door open signal that AMP has you tap in to. You could accomplish this with a very simply three pin switch. Center goes to the AMP control head, top lead to dom relay, bottom lead to door. If you wanted to get fancy, you could put in a three position rocker switch that has an on/off/neutral setting so that when it's in neutral it is not connected to anything so that the steps would not lower at all (say if you were off-roading and jammed against a rock and didn't want the steps to retract at all if you opened the door.)Quote:
Originally Posted by MrWayneD
At first I thought I would want to move my signaling back to the doors and off the dome light when I put the doors back on. I've learned, I don't care. Dome light comes on when I open any door, steps retract, which is all I care about. The difference for me is that both steps retract versus just the step on the side the door opened. No big deal for me, it doesn't bother me, so I just left my wiring in place.
Hope that helps.
Thanks Tim, I did call AMP and though he really couldn't help with a diagram, he stated that I would have to use diodes ( Ok above my pay grade) as the steps uses a negative ground to operate and taking it off the dome would require positive activation and that you would have to prevent back feed. Suggestion also was made to use the door locks as power. I just wish there was a clear diagram as to wire this and I agree with a SPDT lighted switch
Diodes? That's crazy.. Just follow my original instructions for linking your AMP steps to your dome light using a $15 relay from the store. Once you have done that, you are basically there. Then you have my instructions for dome light, their instructions for using the door signaling. Last step, toss a switch between the two options to chose which signaling you want to use, they both do the same thing just at different times.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrWayneD
Also, linking to your door lock won't work because door lock is momentary. You need something that provides constant negative grounding. The dome light provides constant 12v positive, that's why we use a relay switch. It receives that 12v positive signal and charges an internal magnet that in turn close the gate leading to a ground signal thereby providing constant negative grounding the entire time the gate is closed (aka the entire time the dome light is on.) One REALLY fun thing with this solution (for when the doors are off) is that magnet goes bonkers when the dome lights "dim" down, so it gives this little buzzing sound that warns you that the steps are about to retract. Once it's done buzzing, you have 2 seconds to either hop in or press the unlock button on your key fob to give yourself "bonus time."
Here, I whipped up a pretty Visio diagram to explain it better. You could get fancy and go with a three position switch instead of the two position switch I described here. Then you could set it so position 1 leads to the door solution, position 2 goes to nothing and position 3 goes to the dome light solution. By doing that, you'll get a way to deactivate the AMP steps from retracting entirely by putting it into position 2 (basically neutral because you never connect a grounding wire to one of position two's leads.)
Attachment 1647
Thank you for all the help and info and sorry for the delay in my reply. I was away from the computer for a few days I guess now I need to put together the "Door Signaling, Dome light solution combined with the AMP Control unit with the switch diagram and try and make it work! Right?
Thanks
Wayne
Yep! I really think it will be easier than you think. Feel free to ask any questions if you get into it though and something's not working out. You JUST might inspire me to put this solution in my vehicle. I happen to have an extra switch that is waiting to be put into my dash somewhere.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrWayneD
thanks for the last diagram.. I am thinking of pulling the trigger on some steps soon and wanted a solution for doorless activation.
Hi Timmy, I have a 2013 Rubicon and had a shop do my install today per your write up, which was very clearly written- thank you. However here is the problem. The dome light coming on does send my steps down, as well as just using the door to drop them. However, the steps will not go back up again unless I manually turn the dome light switch off. Otherwise they stay down and I get a message on my cluster that says "doors ajar" and "vehicle not in park". Once I manually turn the dome light off (which actually stays on unless I do so) everything goes back to normal. When I exit the vehicle the dome light comes on, steps drop, and if I leave for a while the dome light goes off and the steps are still down. Any ideas?
Thank you I advance!
Kevin
Hmmm, very interesting. In my particular situation, I did not wire my the steps to the door and the dome light at the same time. I only offered a solution that you could do this in conjunction with a manual switch to chose which you'd like to use for your signalling, either the door OR the dome lights, but not both at the same time.Quote:
Originally Posted by BigKevSeattle
Without seeing your setup firsthand... My gut reaction would be to tell you that you need to disconnect whatever wiring you have hooked up to the door wiring entirely. ONLY hook up to the dome lights. Once you have the system working with JUST the dome lights, then you can come back and try to get fancy by putting in a switch to toggle between the door or the dome for signaling (or neutral "off".)
Nothing about this procedure should cause the dome lights to stay on. The only way the dome lights are being used is to pull a tiny little draw off the hot wire of the dome lights to power the relay switch, which in turn grounds the signaling wire on the opposite poles for the Amp steps.
If you'd like, first disconnect your door wiring from the setup entirely and if still doesn't work as desire. If not snap a pic of your relay and get it over to me which will help me better understand your wiring.
FWIW... I have two relays, one for each step. I did this because I basically was replicating the existing setup where each step was grabbing it's signaling from each door independently. If I was to do it all again, I'd go with just a single relay switch that is then connected up to wiring for both steps at the same time. That way both steps are receiving the exact same grounding signal at the exact same time. Right now, one relay switch is just a HAIR faster than the other, so my steps deploy and retract at slightly different times. Now mind you, when I say a HAIR faster, I am literally talking maybe a 1/4 second at best. It's enough to bug me, but not enough to cause me to go re-wire it using a single relay (which honestly, would take, ohh, um... 10 minutes to toss a wire from say the drivers side to the passenger side?)
Also, another FWIW... I run my system off my dome lights exclusively. I originally thought I would switch back to using the door signaling when I put the doors on but I don't because it's not worth it. The OEM Amp solution allows the steps to deploy/retract independently of each other, and they don't retract when you open up the rear tail gate. In my solution, both steps retract all the time, no matter what door is open, and even if I unlock the vehicle while walking up to it. Big whoop, that tiny difference in how they operate was just not worth alternating between the two different signals based on when I have the doors on and off.
Thanks man. Yeah they probably do have it wired to both the dome light and the door switch. I thought that may be the problem. I did verify he wired it like you mentioned to both relays. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for the quick reply.
Kevin