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mccalldt Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2008 Posts: 18 Location: Kansas City
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:52 pm Post subject: Ground wire at dome light |
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The wireworks kit I am installing on my 72 Beetle has been great, except...
the diagram references the dome light ground (solid brown), but does not reference where it attaches. The light was MIA when I purchased/started restoring the car, so I can't use my standard approach of put it back the way I found it. I know this should be simple, so someone please place the little light bulb over my head and flip the switch too. Thanks for the help.
_________________ Dave
72 Type 1 in Rehab
05 Jetta 2.5 (wife swiped that one) |
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eric_fri Samba Member
Joined: March 21, 2006 Posts: 56
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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I don't have that year of car, and mine doesn't have the extra ground wire, but from what I can reason out of this is this: one wire is constant power, one of the others is ground to the door switches, and the last, should connect to the same spot as the clip that holds the light to the body of the car. in the older cars it just uses the clip, but the newer ones had additional ground wires to ensure things worked better.
i would tell you where to put it, but from what i can see there is nowhere to put it. i'm thinking the light is from an earlier car |
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mccalldt Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2008 Posts: 18 Location: Kansas City
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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I was wondering if I had an incorrect light, but the local parts store assured me I had the right light. I checked wolfsburg and jbugs, and they have a similar light. _________________ Dave
72 Type 1 in Rehab
05 Jetta 2.5 (wife swiped that one) |
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webbl19 Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2011 Posts: 172 Location: Kansas City
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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Dunno if this will help, but here is how mine is on my 75.
From your picture though, i dont see another lead you can connect to on yours. |
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60ragtop Bonneville Belt Bitch
Joined: March 13, 2006 Posts: 7800 Location: Big Wonderful WYO 82401
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 8:32 pm Post subject: |
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looks like the wrong light. It should have 2 small connectors,
The brown wire with white tracer comes up from the door switches to turn on the light with door open The solid brown is direct ground. |
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vw_hank Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2001 Posts: 5371 Location: Everett WA
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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I'm about 50% share that the metal clip replaces the chase ground(solid brown wire) _________________ 1302s sunroof..
1600cc motor. Glenn ring 010. full toplineparts.com suspension. factory front disk brakes. Tram type-3 rear brakes. Hurst shifter. empi-8's. low-back's. tons of mods! |
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vw_hank Samba Member
Joined: February 07, 2001 Posts: 5371 Location: Everett WA
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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and pleas put some heat shrink or tape on that hot wire _________________ 1302s sunroof..
1600cc motor. Glenn ring 010. full toplineparts.com suspension. factory front disk brakes. Tram type-3 rear brakes. Hurst shifter. empi-8's. low-back's. tons of mods! |
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ach60 Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2001 Posts: 4139 Location: Santa Maria
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:41 pm Post subject: Re: Ground wire at dome light |
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60ragtop wrote: |
looks like the wrong light. It should have 2 small connectors,
The brown wire with white tracer comes up from the door switches to turn on the light with door open The solid brown is direct ground. |
You are good!, took me awhile to see that.
The light should have a switch in it, so you can turn the light on if you wish, when the door is shut, as well as the extra terminal.
http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=111947111e _________________ Good Luck
Al |
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'69Custom Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2008 Posts: 2497 Location: Ventura, California
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Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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There are two types of dome lights for late model Bugs. One grounds to the body, the other has a terminal to connect to your lonely ground wire. Most aftermarket suppliers offer only the former. If I'm not mistaken, WW sells both, but be prepared to pay for it. Wouldn't surprise me if WCM had it as well.
When I bought my '69, it had a busted lamp that accepted the ground wire. I bought a replacement from Airhead Parts before I knew any better, and it was the one you got. They told me it was the proper replacement. Considering there is a ground wire, obviously that isn't the case. I stowed the ground wire and used the lamp until I get around to buying the right one. _________________ -Tim
1969 Frankenbug
1965 Ford Mustang
:2gunfire: F-U-M-P!
~"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." ~The Boss
Please excuse any typos as my iPhone doesn't speak English very well.
tham64 wrote: |
Why tune a big round again and again????? For me.... 1 hour will solve the case |
www.endlesscustomz.com |
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mccalldt Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2008 Posts: 18 Location: Kansas City
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:37 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for all the input. I knew it had to be something simple. Looks like I get to buy some more stuff from WW and not locally. I will wrap the terminal too. Good advice. _________________ Dave
72 Type 1 in Rehab
05 Jetta 2.5 (wife swiped that one) |
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'69Custom Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2008 Posts: 2497 Location: Ventura, California
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:45 am Post subject: |
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As a follow up, I still haven't found a three terminal dome light. I've found some Mexican Hellas that appeared to be, but they actually only have one standard terminal and four mini terminals. I had hoped that taking two of of the four in pairs would accept a standard hook up because of the close proximity, but it is marginally too wide. It seems the only way to really pull it off using all three wires is to grind down just a little on each of the four minis.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1247029
If it doesn't work...make it.
On a side note, wishing now that I had kept my OG broken light, I'm fairly certain I could've just taken the terminals off it and installed them on the new five terminal. _________________ -Tim
1969 Frankenbug
1965 Ford Mustang
:2gunfire: F-U-M-P!
~"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." ~The Boss
Please excuse any typos as my iPhone doesn't speak English very well.
tham64 wrote: |
Why tune a big round again and again????? For me.... 1 hour will solve the case |
www.endlesscustomz.com
Last edited by '69Custom on Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:35 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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fred69vert Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2007 Posts: 2200 Location: Home of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, VA
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 10:53 am Post subject: |
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I'm not familiar with the sedan's dome light, just the useless one in the convertibles, but here goes......
There are three wires. As with a lot of the electrical circuits in the VW, the switch supplies ground, not 12 volts. So.......
The two ground lugs on your dome light, one should always connect the the bulb contact (unswitched) and the other only when the switch on the light is on (switched). Check them with an ohmmeter.
The unswitched one goes to your door switches, which provide ground when the door(s) is open, and
The unswitched one straight to chassis ground. 12 volts goes to the other side of the bulb.
Trouble getting the right one for your sedan? Try getting a good one for a 'vert. To make contact, they use springs inside a plastic block. the springs get hot, melt the plastic, and no longer spring, losing contact.
I gave up, mounted an LED puck light to the bracket I fashioned above the reaview mirror that also has my Sirius satellite antenna on it. _________________ I'm not losing my hair, it's just retired and relocating further south.
1969 VW convertible, "Heidi" |
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'69Custom Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2008 Posts: 2497 Location: Ventura, California
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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fred69vert wrote: |
I'm not familiar with the sedan's dome light, just the useless one in the convertibles, but here goes......
There are three wires. As with a lot of the electrical circuits in the VW, the switch supplies ground, not 12 volts. So.......
The two ground lugs on your dome light, one should always connect the the bulb contact (unswitched) and the other only when the switch on the light is on (switched). Check them with an ohmmeter.
The unswitched one goes to your door switches, which provide ground when the door(s) is open, and
The unswitched one straight to chassis ground. 12 volts goes to the other side of the bulb.
Trouble getting the right one for your sedan? Try getting a good one for a 'vert. To make contact, they use springs inside a plastic block. the springs get hot, melt the plastic, and no longer spring, losing contact.
I gave up, mounted an LED puck light to the bracket I fashioned above the reaview mirror that also has my Sirius satellite antenna on it. |
It's a good thing I've never been a fan of convertibles then...unless its a woman. Sounds similar to the set up on the light I originally had. The bulb was mounted on springs as well. _________________ -Tim
1969 Frankenbug
1965 Ford Mustang
:2gunfire: F-U-M-P!
~"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." ~The Boss
Please excuse any typos as my iPhone doesn't speak English very well.
tham64 wrote: |
Why tune a big round again and again????? For me.... 1 hour will solve the case |
www.endlesscustomz.com |
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runchman Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2012 Posts: 254 Location: Algonquin, Illinois
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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fred69vert wrote: |
The unswitched one straight to chassis ground. |
Just to clarify to the OP how this works - this straight-to-ground wire completes the circuit when the little switch on the light is flipped to 'on'.
You've got 12volts always to the light and 2 grounds in parallel - 1 to the door switch, and one to the switch on the light itself.
If the light doesn't have a switch on it, wire up the door switch ground only and not the direct-to-chassis ground. |
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'69Custom Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2008 Posts: 2497 Location: Ventura, California
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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You guys do realize this a two year old thread and the OP probably resolved his issue by now? _________________ -Tim
1969 Frankenbug
1965 Ford Mustang
:2gunfire: F-U-M-P!
~"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." ~The Boss
Please excuse any typos as my iPhone doesn't speak English very well.
tham64 wrote: |
Why tune a big round again and again????? For me.... 1 hour will solve the case |
www.endlesscustomz.com |
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runchman Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2012 Posts: 254 Location: Algonquin, Illinois
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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'69Custom wrote: |
You guys do realize this a two year old thread and the OP probably resolved his issue by now? |
Nope, didn't realize, lol. Duh! |
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runchman Samba Member
Joined: October 03, 2012 Posts: 254 Location: Algonquin, Illinois
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 1:33 pm Post subject: |
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'69Custom wrote: |
You guys do realize this a two year old thread and the OP probably resolved his issue by now? |
Nope, didn't realize, lol. Duh! |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32584 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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'69Custom Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2008 Posts: 2497 Location: Ventura, California
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:42 pm Post subject: |
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That was me, Dave. I dredged it up out of the archives to follow up in an old post I made here. I didn't consider it would get everyone to answer the original questions from the OP after all these years. _________________ -Tim
1969 Frankenbug
1965 Ford Mustang
:2gunfire: F-U-M-P!
~"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken." ~The Boss
Please excuse any typos as my iPhone doesn't speak English very well.
tham64 wrote: |
Why tune a big round again and again????? For me.... 1 hour will solve the case |
www.endlesscustomz.com |
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mccalldt Samba Member
Joined: September 09, 2008 Posts: 18 Location: Kansas City
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Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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I didn't expect a notice that a new post had been made 2 yeats later either. I probably ought to turn that watch option off. I do get the correct light and got it wired correctly, I think. Been so long ago I forgot what I did. Isn't that encouraging!? _________________ Dave
72 Type 1 in Rehab
05 Jetta 2.5 (wife swiped that one) |
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