Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Ford Owners Club - Ford Forums

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.



Join the Independent Ford Owners' Club

Our community has been built by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and proudly run by Ford owners' for over 18 years. As an independent, non-official club, everything you’ll find here, advice, support, and opinions, comes directly from members with genuine Ford ownership experience.

Join our friendly community... it's Free!

 

Guide To Fitting Additional Boot Light In Ford Focus Mk2 And Mk2.5

Featured Replies

With them would you have to wire the inverter to the original wiring or is the inverter only neccesary for pc.



  • Replies 91
  • Views 45.9k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Most Popular Posts

  • Night Shots I switched the flash off on the camera, it was almost pitch black around the car except for a small glow from a near street light, which can be seen on the rear bumper and side of th

  • I’ve updated the first Post of this Guide the Guide to Include a Download PDF File of the Guide. Figured this would be useful to others being able to print out the Guide and refer to it during the M

  • Lenny, think he's wondering why you used the tape ;)

Posted Images

  • Author

With them would you have to wire the inverter to the original wiring or is the inverter only neccesary for pc.

Inverter would be needed mate for the tubes run on 2 or 3volts but you can stick it somewhere with double sided pads they are around 1inch square,

the invertor box has the cables coming out of it Poistive and negative to connect to the power supply,

then on the other side of the invertor box is 2 sockets one for each tube,

the tubes then have around 12-14 inches of cable on them then the plug on the end to insert in to the invertor,

im telling you all of the above because if you want to fit one both sides of the boot you will need to buy 2 invertors or two kits,

beacuse its easier to extend the power to the invertor than it is to extend the power from the invertor to the tube,

as the cables from the invertor dont indicate which is positive or negative they are both completly white cables.

What if I was to mark each side so that when I cut them I knew which side hade to go whaere

  • Author

What if I was to mark each side so that when I cut them I knew which side hade to go whaere

Yes that would work mate

Just had a look at the specs and it says - Low current draw of:~300mA input to the inverter at 12V DC

~5.0mA output at 680v per tube

So if it's 680V pertube I won't be able to lengthen it with 12v cable like the one you showed earlier, but to me it seems abit high 680v per tube. Do you think that it may be a typo. Sorry for so clogging your post

  • Author

Just had a look at the specs and it says - Low current draw of:~300mA input to the inverter at 12V DC

~5.0mA output at 680v per tube

So if it's 680V pertube I won't be able to lengthen it with 12v cable like the one you showed earlier, but to me it seems abit high 680v per tube. Do you think that it may be a typo. Sorry for so clogging your post

That’s definitely a typo mate, maybe 6.80volts per tube, or even 0.68 of 1 volt

Theirs no chance its 680V unless there’s uranium in the tubes generating thatmuch power lol an electrical socket in your house runs on 240volts mate, even 3phase in electrical Pylons is only 500V

the only difference now would be that you wouldnt need too heavy of a cable Click Here that one would be perfect mate and 5metres you could do the job twice but at £2.50 its a steal of a price, and its good to have a spare bit of cable for the car, :)

E-mailed the seller about the description and this is the reply "

Hi there,

All the specifications are from the manufacturers. These are cold cathode tubes rather than incandescent lights, thus they use a high voltage to cause the gas in the tubes to begin emitting light. The inverter converts the 12V input to the 680V output used by the tubes.

Best regards,

Richmil

- richmil_ltd"

  • Author

E-mailed the seller about the description and this is the reply "

Ok mate,

:) he's a seller.... he will tell you the sky is pink if it makes him money...censored.gif

if you want to buy lights for your car or computer, or anything else then a seller is the person to talk to for that,

on the other hand

if you want to fit a 12volt light or lights in the boot of your car this Guide works and i can help you,

to an extent, which we have now reached and gone slightly off topic with,

as what the seller says about a perticular brand of bulb or light unit,

doesnt interest me or help you or anyone or nessaceraly mean that it is true.

personal opinion on the bulbs running 640volts

i might buy a set and plug them in to some sausages and see if they cook in under 30 seconds,

if the Sausages do cook in under 30 seconds

then the seller is correct on the theroy that they are 640 volts,

i will then eat my hat and the sausages :lol:

then i would present the technoligy to Toyota and Honda makers of Hybrid cars and ask why their cars carry such large batterys in them to power the electric mothers in the Hybrid engines,

when they could simply buy this little blue box the size of a match box that will accept 12vplts and spit out a 640volt charge,

wouldnt fitting one of those to your hybrid cars save space and also reduice the weight of the car by around 500-700kg

its now down to you the buyer with the money to make the decision as to what you want to spend your money on as a consumer,

your car runs on 12volts and the bootlight in your car supplys 12volts so you can buy and fit any 12volt lights you like mate and fit them to that supply,

if you ever reach a point where you have purchased a light

and your holding it in your hand, you have run in to trouble when fitting it,

contact me then and ill do my best to help you out mate,

this conversation has gone way too deep in to an individual product rather than a general fitting of a 12volt light to a 12volt cable :blink:

all this talk of sausages has made me hungry lol

more to the point i have added my second boot light woohooo... i used the same route as pree for the cable, saving me a fair bit of time... i havnt yet got the bulb lens but thought i would get the wiring out of the way.

DSC_0230.jpg

i thought id wire up a white led strip light temporarily, but found it to be so much brighter that im tempted to put them on both sides...

let me know what you think...

DSC_0234.jpg

DSC_0235.jpg

DSC_0237.jpg

DSC_0238.jpg

cheers guys

  • Author

all this talk of sausages has made me hungry lol

more to the point i have added my second boot light woohooo... i used the same route as pree for the cable, saving me a fair bit of time... i havnt yet got the bulb lens but thought i would get the wiring out of the way.

i thought id wire up a white led strip light temporarily, but found it to be so much brighter that im tempted to put them on both sides...

let me know what you think...

cheers guys

That Looks Excellent mate,

and saved yourself around an hour in total as you didnt need to cut out the hole for the ford light unit, and you run the cables around the top rather than under the panel which is just as good.

the led strips look to be just as bright as the cluster bulbs, ill stick both types in a post side by side to better display the difference if any..

apart from the boot space :lol: ive got a full spare and you have a space saver.

Quality Modification mate B)

  • Author

DSC_0237.jpg

Image1033.jpg

lol cheers ... yea but a full spare at 17" will take up some room... and i need as much as i can for my fishing gear haha

  • Author

lol cheers ... yea but a full spare at 17" will take up some room... and i need as much as i can for my fishing gear haha

:lol: isint Whale fishing illegal in the UK ??

the boot is huge mate :D

  • 5 weeks later...
  • Author

I’ve updated the first Post of this Guide the Guide to Include a Download PDF File of the Guide.

Figured this would be useful to others being able to print out the Guide and refer to it during the Modification Process.B)

thinking of doing this as I have rescue gear in the boot which I need to be able to see what I'm grabbing in the dark!

few quick questions.

1. Could I wire 4 lights in using the existing wiring? I wouldn't really have a great idea how to do it if it was possible!

2. those LED strips look a bit brighter than the standard fitting, What was involved in physically putting the unit in place and have you got a link to the unit?

3. Was the wiring for the strips any different?

thanks folks

  • Author

thinking of doing this as I have rescue gear in the boot which I need to be able to see what I'm grabbing in the dark!

few quick questions.

1. Could I wire 4 lights in using the existing wiring? I wouldn't really have a great idea how to do it if it was possible!

2. those LED strips look a bit brighter than the standard fitting, What was involved in physically putting the unit in place and have you got a link to the unit?

3. Was the wiring for the strips any different?

thanks folks

Hi Mate,

this Guide is available to download as a PDF please see the top of this page, you can then print it for reference if required.

and the LED strips would be brighter too and the led type dont need a power supply box the connect directly to the cable,

these led strips come with cables joined to the ends of them and sticky back pads already fixed to the rear,

the easiest way for you to wire them up would be to keep the existing boot light in place but remove the bulb if desired then purchase 4 metres of cable Click Here

some fabric loom tape to wrap the cables Click Here also the led strips Click Here

the cable on the led strips is very fine, this type of cable doesnt splice very well with the splicing connectors, so i wouldnt use them when connecting these lights.

instead i would trace back along the loom of the existing boot light around 3-4 inches back from the light unit,

then using a stanley blade gently pare a section around 15mm long on both cables

then strip the ends of the new 15 amp cable and wrap the copper of the red line to the stripped copper on the black/blue cable on the boot light

and wrap the copper of the black cable with the bare copper on the blue/orange cable,

also wrap the red and black of the first led strip on to the same connection and tape both cables up seperatly, do not let them touch or the fuse will blow.

then the easiest way to route the cable to the opposite side of the car is to lift the rubber seal along the top of the boot and drop the cable inside as seen in Pree's post above,

but before you put the cable inside, i would recommend wrapping the cable in the fabric loom tape to better protect the insulation and also water proof the complete loom.

then if you look under the panels that you wish to stck the led strips to, you will see their are large square holes their already so you wont need to drill any holes allow the cable of the strips go through.

stick your second led strip on the passenger side panel then route the cable behind the panel connect it to the end of the black and red loom and tape it up, Job done B)

if you did ever decide to fit a second ford boot light instead of the led strips, you can use the cable you have run for the strips and just cut the slot for the ford boot light and wire to the loom you had fitted previously.

and you said you will be carrying rescue equipment mate, so you may be stopping on the side of the road from time to time?

it may be usful for you to fit a red led strip to the bottom of the plastic boot panel (the black panel attached to the boot door)

fit a red led strip between the 2 handles and connect it to the boot light, then when you open the boot of the car

the red led strip will go up as part of the boot panel and face the traffic coming behind you, better illuminating your vehicle when the boot panel is open because the flap part of the panel faces straight behind you when the boot is open :) Click Here

irl-06lx

hi mate when i installed the strips, i done what lenny said. I sent the cable under the rubber seal to the opposite side but used your standard cable connetors click here to attach the strips as this makes it easier if you wish to change in the future.

i have recently changed the strips to the standard ford light as i found the strip light gave off a very slight blue tint, which i thought looked a bit boy racer like lol

if any knows of a bright White led bulb i could use it would make me a happy man lol

Hi Lenny,

Why have you wrapped the cable in fabric tape?

I plan to do this to my car, I've just replaced the standard bulb with an LED one and looks so much better so made me want to put one in the other side.

I also tried the LED bulbs in the number plate light and it looks so much nicer but I'm not 100% sure if its legal or not. It looks the same as the new Audi and BMW number plate lights (white) so I'm thinking it must be legal. anyone know for sure?

  • Author

Hi Lenny,

Why have you wrapped the cable in fabric tape?

I plan to do this to my car, I've just replaced the standard bulb with an LED one and looks so much better so made me want to put one in the other side.

I also tried the LED bulbs in the number plate light and it looks so much nicer but I'm not 100% sure if its legal or not. It looks the same as the new Audi and BMW number plate lights (white) so I'm thinking it must be legal. anyone know for sure?

Hi mate,

welcome to the forum, i used fabric tape Click Here

and the reg led's are 100% legal mate the mk3 focus has them fitted as standard, and another nice match to the white led is a cree reverse bulb see my guide Click Here

and please intorduce yourself in the newbie section when you get a momment. ;)

see my list of guide below this post, most have PDF file of the guide attached so you can download it and print.

Lenny, think he's wondering why you used the tape ;)

  • Author

Lenny, think he's wondering why you used the tape ;)

ow thanks :D

i used the tape for extra protection of the cable, since i was running the new cable behind panels i wasnt sure if ther would be imperfections in the under side of the panels that through time may cut away at the cable due to the cars vibrations and blow a fuse.

others have installed and not used the tape so i suppose its personal preference really, and see pree's post too as he has run the cable up around the top of the boot and it seems to be a quicker route to the other side of the car.

My route was a lazy direction haha

  • Author

My route was a lazy direction haha

same end results though mate, and cosmeticly identical,

if i was doing mine again id go across the top, its quicker and you dont need to remove as many panels.

is it safe to run it along the top? I thought be more chance of water getting to the cable.. is it easy to remove & reinsert the seal?

I'm tempted to run it along the bottom as you did Lenny but without removing the panels and being lazy just pushing the cable up and under the side panels and feeding it up the side panel. I've not fully looked into it but I'm sure can just push the cable around rather than pulling out so many panels.

removing and reinserting the seal is extremely easy and the seal is designed to be water tight any way so it is perfectly safe

Latest Deals

Ford UK Shop for genuine Ford parts & accessories

Disclaimer: As the club is an eBay Partner, The club may be compensated if you make a purchase via the club

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

The "Digestive"






Background Picker
Customize Layout

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.