DIY Footwell lights for $7 bucks...

[Tell-you-ride]

Bought a set of RGB footwell lights off eBay for 7 bucks. I used a "Add-a-circuit" to tap into an empty fuse slot which turns on when accessories turn on (otherwise it's normally off when the car is off).

Pretty happy with the result, the pictures look much brighter than it is in real life (modern phones are damn good at low light photos).

Provides just enough lighting in the footwell at 2% the cost of the Kia factory accessory as well as lighting up the back seats. I also get more light choices than that one

The module is controlled via a remote, but if I set it to a color/brightness I like, the module remembers that every time I turn it on/off again.

 

[BasilFawlty]

That's slicker than snail snot on a brass door knob!

 

[2020Telly]

Bought a set of RGB footwell lights off eBay for 7 bucks. I used a "Add-a-circuit" to tap into an empty fuse slot which turns on when accessories turn on (otherwise it's normally off when the car is off).

Pretty happy with the result, the pictures look much brighter than it is in real life (modern phones are damn good at low light photos).

Provides just enough lighting in the footwell at 2% the cost of the Kia factory accessory as well as lighting up the back seats. I also get more light choices than that one

The module is controlled via a remote, but if I set it to a color/brightness I like, the module remembers that every time I turn it on/off again.

Can you provide more details? What was the actual description/tile on eBay? What was the part number for the tap? Which fuse spot did you plug into? Thanks.

 

[Tell-you-ride]

Can you provide more details? What was the actual description/tile on eBay? What was the part number for the tap? Which fuse spot did you plug into? Thanks.

1. any micro2 tap will do. (I used one with a 5 amp fuse)
2. Glow Full Color LED Interior Car Kit Under Dash Foot Well Seats Inside Lighting | eBay
3. See attached pic for the fuse location I used. I have a SX-P in case the fuse panels are different.

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[BasilFawlty]

1. any micro2 tap will do. (I used one with a 5 amp fuse)
2. Glow Full Color LED Interior Car Kit Under Dash Foot Well Seats Inside Lighting | eBay
3. See attached pic for the fuse location I used. I have a SX-P in case the fuse panels are different.

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[Tell-you-ride]

That lighting kit you linked to is $14 - how did you manage to get it for $7 - were they having a sale?

Seller must have had a "make offer" button and so I offered him 7 bucks.

Honestly, buy the cheapest kit you can find depending on how long you can wait. It took mine a month and a half to get to me. Amazon has similar ones for about the same price which ship from the US.

 

[2020Telly]

If you have an eBay account and add stuff to the wishlist (the little heart icon), often times eBay sellers will drop the price (sometimes by a lot) to make a quick sale. I added those $14 lights to the wishlist and a couple of hours later got a notification that the seller was willing to go down to $8.50. It’s like Amazon lightning deals. As @Tell-you-ride mentioned there is also a make an offer option. I never pay the advertised price on eBay.

 

[Tell-you-ride]

If you have an eBay account and add stuff to the wishlist (the little heart icon), often times eBay sellers will drop the price (sometimes by a lot) to make a quick sale. I added those $14 lights to the wishlist and a couple of hours later got a notification that the seller was willing to go down to $8.50. It’s like Amazon lightning deals. As @Tell-you-ride mentioned there is also a make an offer option. I never pay the advertised price on eBay.

Good to know!

Since it sounds like your gonna take on the install. I forgot to mention I used two small pieces of Velcro (the hook side) to attach the led strips to the rear seat fabric (that's right where your feet would be if they were under the seat). Otherwise the sticky tape on the led strips wouldn't hold well on felt fabric.

I also had to extend the lower cable for the power strip about 2.5 feet so that I could route it under the driver's seat, up the footwell (under a rubber mat) and up to the fuse box.

Here are some more pics of the fuse area.and where I found a good ground location (the yellow wire in the first pic)

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[qwikhit]

Any way to wire this so they come in when the doors open or the overhead light button is pushed?

 

[Tell-you-ride]

Sure you just have to draw a power from a light that comes on at the same time as the doors are open. Others have tapped into the map lights so that would be the most likely location.

Any way to wire this so they come in when the doors open or the overhead light button is pushed?

 

[BabyRide]

1. any micro2 tap will do. (I used one with a 5 amp fuse)
2. Glow Full Color LED Interior Car Kit Under Dash Foot Well Seats Inside Lighting | eBay
3. See attached pic for the fuse location I used. I have a SX-P in case the fuse panels are different.

Good stuff here! How were you able to determine that was a fuse location you could use without issue? Did you happen to measure it with a multi-meter? Did you consider any other fuse's?

 

[Tell-you-ride]

Good stuff here! How were you able to determine that was a fuse location you could use without issue? Did you happen to measure it with a multi-meter? Did you consider any other fuse's?

I posted an image of the wiring above, that should give you a reference for which fuse I used. It's an empty slot. It's been running without issue this whole time. I didn't use a multimeter but since the USBs are low voltage I wasn't too worried about them drawing too much

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[BabyRide]

I posted an image of the wiring above, that should give you a reference for which fuse I used. It's an empty slot. It's been running without issue this whole time. I didn't use a multimeter but since the USBs are low voltage I wasn't too worried about them drawing too much

Yea. I did see the image and see the slot you used. I was just curious as to how you choose that particular slot. The kit I bought does not use USB, it's 12-volt so I need to be a little more careful. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Tell-you-ride]

Yea. I did see the image and see the slot you used. I was just curious as to how you choose that particular slot. The kit I bought does not use USB, it's 12-volt so I need to be a little more careful. Thanks for the feedback!

Oh sorry, my kit was also 12v. What is your concern with the fuse, is it to overload it or improver voltage?

 

[BabyRide]

Oh sorry, my kit was also 12v. What is your concern with the fuse, is it to overload it or improver voltage?

Both I suppose but I believe 12 volts is standard for a car, right?

 

[Tell-you-ride]

Both I suppose but I believe 12 volts is standard for a car, right?

Yes, I'd any modern car is 12v. Older cars like bugs were 6v and semis are 24v but most modern cars are 12v

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[BabyRide]

Finally hooked up an Opt7 Aura kit using the fuse slot indicated in this post. 2 issues though and not sure if they are related to the fuse slot or not. 1. My light strips will not adjust brightness despite having this feature. They just blink when I use the included remote to adjust the brightness up or down. 2. The lights do not retain the last power setting and are supposed to. They power on with the car every time despite being turned off previously.

 

[G-204789]

Finally hooked up an Opt7 Aura kit using the fuse slot indicated in this post. 2 issues though and not sure if they are related to the fuse slot or not. 1. My light strips will not adjust brightness despite having this feature. They just blink when I use the included remote to adjust the brightness up or down. 2. The lights do not retain the last power setting and are supposed to. They power on with the car every time despite being turned off previously.

That might be a feature of the lights. The lights I bought for this setup do retain the on setting each time the car goes on.

 

[BabyRide]

I reached out to the vendor and they believe the remote is bad which is why the lights won't dim. I've asked them to confirm if the system is supposed to retain their last power setting as I've seen mixed information on this. I'm guessing they do not since I hooked them up using the 12 volt cigarette adapter and get the same results which tells me the fuse slot has nothing to do with either issue.