Installing Ikea Dioder lights

Hello.  I was asked via the T5 Forum to share how I wired the IKEA dioder lights into the back of the van.  So here goes.  It was not the easiest thing to do at the time but looking back with the knowledge that I now have it is pretty straightforward.

The instructions I am about to give detail how to remove the original lights and replace with one set of Dioder lights (4) and to have them come on when you activate the remote central locking and/or open the sliding side door.

Step 1

Remove the mains transformer but leave on the splitter box.  It is not required as you will be connecting to a 12V DC supply.  I removed by cutting it off with a wire cutters and then preparing the wires by removing a small about of insulation (should be brown-live and blue-neutral).  At this stage you may wish to fit the lights into the headlining - I replaced the headlining with 5mm ply.  (see images below)

Replacement Headlining piece

Fitting of Dioder lights (just a few holes needed, no drama)

Step 2

The standard wiring in the rear of the van is essentially 2 circuits for the fore and aft areas of the rear of the van both with three position switches that are integral to the original fit lights

I decided to only use one of the circuits to power all 4 lights and as a consequence only insert one toggle switch and to compromise the complexity of the system.  The system I have wired means that only the side door activates the lights or the toggle switch itself.  This suits me as I rarely open the rear barn doors and if I need the lights on I will just flick the switch which I decided to locate just inside the sliding door on the roof (just out of reach for your head...)

So  the wiring is pretty straightforward.  The three wires going into the original light/switch unit above need to be removed and you will need some wire (I used speaker wire from Maplin which was black and white) and also a toggle switch like this.

Connect the brown wire on the IKEA Dioder lights to the wire that previously went to the centre of the original switch/light unit (It was red on mine as shown in the photo above)

You need to wire the blue wire from the lights to the centre contact on your toggle switch

Connect the other 2 wires from the original light unit to the other poles on your toggle switch

Heres a illustration of how simple it should be... (Apologies for the hand sketch which does not comply to any BS standard)

The - + - in the bottom right hand corner refers to the original wires on the light/switch unit fitted as standard (the ones you disconnected from the original light fitting)

Clearly you will need to extend the wires appropriately depending on where you put the lights and the switch.  Make sure you are careful to not short circuit anything and if it does not work check your fuses. Especially the 7.5A one that is unlabelled in the lower fuse box.

If your stuck, drop me a line!