I am adding more lighting accents to the cabin of the Z, and I would like it to be controlled by the dimming circuit (ILLUM) of the Z, but I'm struggling to figure out what the current draw limits are of that circuit, as it is controlled by the BCM, which is about the last thing I want to force excessive current through. Does anyone know?

If I cannot simply tap into wires that supply lighting to the various switches and gauges, the alternative is to find an electronic relay module that accepts the variable low voltage low current inputs that the ILLUM circuit can provide, and control a relay powered by the IGN circuit and outputs voltage equal to the ILLUM input, but without the current limitations of ILLUM circuit itself.

Anyone know what I'm talking about? A module that does this:

 

I added some interior lighting and used a 4 pin relay but I believe I used the ground wire of the OEM interior light circuit from the BCM as the ground for the relay instead of the dimmer circuit as the trigger for the relay. If I remember correctly, the OEM lights are triggered by grounds from the BCM.

if you use my method, you don’t need to worry about the voltage coming off the dimmer circuit. You can just use a “jumper” wire for the power and trigger for those 2 pins on the relay from your 12v source.

 

But would your method result in being able to control your added lighting with the dimmer switch? I can understand the use of a relay, but not for variable voltage inputs that allow the output to be the same voltage, but at higher current.

I tested the current draw of the EL overlay gauges I'm adding, and their max draw is ~1.4a. I'm running it directly off the ILLUM circuit; doesn't seem to be an issue (so far).

thanks