What are you utilizing your fog light switch for other than fog lights

catahoula

catahoula

Caught the Bug
There are some bumpers out there that do not have an option for fog lights. Are any of you using that fog light switch for add on fog lights or other type of lights?

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jeepsterchris

jeepsterchris

Member
catahoula said:
There are some bumpers out there that do not have an option for fog lights. Are any of you using that fog light switch for add on fog lights or other type of lights?

Sent from my XT1080 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

I had tried to wire some LED lights up to the factory switch once...but they did that blinky-blinky strobe thing when I shut off the Jeep. Apparently it has something to do with power strength / wattage detection self-checks by the on board computer.

Sorry for the all the non-technical jargon...my brain is not working today. I hope that made sense.
 
Hilop

Hilop

Caught the Bug
catahoula said:
There are some bumpers out there that do not have an option for fog lights. Are any of you using that fog light switch for add on fog lights or other type of lights?

Sent from my XT1080 using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

I added some LED's to the top of my front bumper which work great but interfere with my radio. I'm probably going to take them off and cap the ends.
 
WiscoHR

WiscoHR

Member
I tried to run my Rigid fog lights off the factory fog light wiring but had the flashing and blinking from them when they were turned off so I moved them to their own dedicated switch.


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catahoula

catahoula

Caught the Bug
jeepsterchris said:
I had tried to wire some LED lights up to the factory switch once...but they did that blinky-blinky strobe thing when I shut off the Jeep. Apparently it has something to do with power strength / wattage detection self-checks by the on board computer.

Sorry for the all the non-technical jargon...my brain is not working today. I hope that made sense.
Click to expand...

Hilop said:
I added some LED's to the top of my front bumper which work great but interfere with my radio. I'm probably going to take them off and cap the ends.
Click to expand...

WiscoHR said:
I tried to run my Rigid fog lights off the factory fog light wiring but had the flashing and blinking from them when they were turned off so I moved them to their own dedicated switch.


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Click to expand...

DWiggles said:
the lines are on the CAN buss. you need PWM harnesses to cure the "blinks" :thumb:
Click to expand...

So what you are saying using an anti-flicker harness might solve the problem? Or, just use a non-LED lights would probably work.
 
JKbrick

JKbrick

Active Member
catahoula said:
So what you are saying using an anti-flicker harness might solve the problem? Or, just use a non-LED lights would probably work.
Click to expand...

I tried rigid cubes also and all they did was blink, was told to put in relays but I'm not the least bit electrical able to do anything so I took them off


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DWiggles

DWiggles

Caught the Bug
catahoula said:
So what you are saying using an anti-flicker harness might solve the problem? Or, just use a non-LED lights would probably work.
Click to expand...

correct. PWM = Pulse Width Modulation; through electrical witchcraft, blinky signals turn into solid signals :thinking: :yup: ;)

Standard "non LED" lights may work without blinking due to the frequency of the CAN bus, because the light comes from the heat of the electrons creating "friction" through the tungsten filament, it gets hot and glows... because of that, a high frequency pulse isn't likely going to be noticed.
 
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catahoula

catahoula

Caught the Bug
DWiggles said:
correct. PWM = Pulse Width Modulation; through electrical witchcraft, blinky signals turn into solid signals :thinking: :yup: ;)

Standard "non LED" lights may work without blinking due to the frequency of the CAN bus, because the light comes from the heat of the electrons creating "friction" through the tungsten filament, it gets hot and glows... because of that, a high frequency pulse isn't likely going to be noticed.
Click to expand...
You had me at correct!

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hinrichs

hinrichs

Caught the Bug
On my 12 2 door I ran a light bar which was with a relay setup being triggered from the fog switch...worked perfectly

Moved that over to the 15...yeah all the relay did was buzz and it wouldnt work properly. Asked the light vendor and they said its hit or miss with the canbus system so I now have nothing powered by the stock fog switch.
 
Frydaddy

Frydaddy

New member
To be clear, The CAN bus is not causing the flicker. The TIPM is what produces the PWM to power the lights. The CAN bus is communication only.

A simple capacitor in parallel (220pF 35V) can help smooth that signal for LEDs to handle it. But the fun doesnt end there.The square wave signal comes out to about 8 volts rms, so aftermarket LEDs may be underdriven as well.

It seems the easiest way to avoid troubles, is to put a local relay on the fog light harness, maybe a capacitor across the lines to extend its life. Then your aftermarket LEDs will have the full 12V (15V) and no PWM.



Edit:
Hilop said:
I added some LED's to the top of my front bumper which work great but interfere with my radio. I'm probably going to take them off and cap the ends.
Click to expand...

A properly sized capacitor can also help you with the radio interference. Some LED modules have buck converters that can kick back dirty digital noise on the power lines. The proper fix is a low-pass filter (capacitor and inductor) same as what is in those "anti-flicker" harnesses. But just a cheap capacitor will get you pretty close.
 
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