88 Westy. Alternative dome light wiring question.

[OTTO88]

I have an '88 Westy and am replacing the sagging headliner with the Gowesty ABS one. While I do this I am going to put a dimmable led bar with on-off switch down the middle of the new headliner. I'd like to have it always come on when the door opens and I can turn it off if I want via the switch on the led light. Question is...can I wire it to the existing wiring that went to the o.e. dome light to make this happen? If not, the other option I was thinking of is putting a little rocker switch in where the old domelight was so when I open the door I can easily turn on that switch then turn it off when in the car but also have the ability to turn it back on when I want. Input is appreciated!

P.S. If I can wire it somehow when the door opens(without the extra switch)...I would turn it off via the switch on the LED but wouldn't be able to turn it back on(as it would be wired to turn on just when the door is open)...so is there anyway to wire it to come on when the door is open but still be able to turn it on when I want via the switch on the LED lightbar? Maybe the little toggle is an easy solution wired directly to constant power?

[dhaavers]

——-EDITED FOR CORRECTION & CLARITY——-

OK…I’ll try, if I understand correctly…

The feature you describe is built into the OG dome light switch. If there’s a dedicated switch in your
new LED’s you could just leave that on & use the original switch above the door to trigger the LED.

PLEASE: DISCONNECT BATTERY GROUND BEFORE STARTING ANY ELECTRICAL WORK!

———-(snip)———

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Sodo]

The door switch is a 'grounding switch.
The switch on the OEM courtesy light simply chooses "between TWO grounds".
(with an OFF position in the middle)

One ground is direct; 'always on'.
Switched to this ground, you can turn that ONE light on, with doors closed, anytime.

The other ground is the "door switch ground circuit".
Switched to THAT ground, any ONE of the 4 door switches completes the ground circuit
and "turns on" ALL of the courtesy lights.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[dhaavers]

Ya, oops…got it backwards. Shoulda had another coffee before posting…

With the door ground switch “downstream” of the OG light, my suggestion above won’t help.

I’ll sit on my hands & think quietly…

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[Sodo]

[DuncanS]

My ha'penny's worth. There may be times you want the light on when the door is closed. Thus, the only way to achieve your door open goal and still have ability to use it at night when inside is to have the three position switch with center off. Where you ground it is immaterial, but if you already have two wires going to the center light, why not add the third right from the OG light?

Duncan