Logo Puddle Lights Weirdness

[dwagent]

Hi folks--

I replaced the puddle lights in all 4 doors with logo puddle lights. They work great EXCEPT in one scenario, and I am hoping someone here can help me figure out what's going on and how to fix it.

As I mentioned, I replaced the puddle lights on all 4 doors. Prior to installing, I tested each light separately, and they each worked fine. I installed them, and opened each door individually and separately, and everything worked fine...I was about to reward myself with a pat on the back and a frosty beverage for 5 minutes of light (ha!) effort, except I happened to open two doors at the same time, and noticed a problem:

When I open the driver's side front door and the driver's side rear door, the puddle light in the driver's front door became super dim.

I tried every other combination of multiple doors opened simultaneously, and they all work fine. I also tried different sequences of opening the doors, and that doesn't matter either. The problem occurs only when the two doors on the driver's side are open at the same time.

Attached are photos to show you what I'm talking about...1) With only the front door open, 2) With only the rear door open, 3) with both the front and rear doors open.

Has anyone else done this, or seen this issue? Does anyone know how to fix this, or have suggestions for troubleshooting?

 

[MP3Mike]

It is probably just a matter of your logo puddle lights drawing more power than the wiring was designed to handle on that side.

 

[dwagent]

Thanks--but why would the power available / drawn vary from side to side...? The passengers side door / lights work perfectly fine.

Also, it's always front drivers door, no matter which door is opened first...why isn't it the second door opened that has the problem?

I don't know anything about car wiring, so I appreciate any info you can provide. Thanks!

 

[strykeroz]

Can you swap them around, and if so does the dim light follow the module you've moved?

 

[whatthe2]

Hi folks--

I replaced the puddle lights in all 4 doors with logo puddle lights. They work great EXCEPT in one scenario, and I am hoping someone here can help me figure out what's going on and how to fix it.

As I mentioned, I replaced the puddle lights on all 4 doors. Prior to installing, I tested each light separately, and they each worked fine. I installed them, and opened each door individually and separately, and everything worked fine...I was about to reward myself with a pat on the back and a frosty beverage for 5 minutes of light (ha!) effort, except I happened to open two doors at the same time, and noticed a problem:

When I open the driver's side front door and the driver's side rear door, the puddle light in the driver's front door became super dim.

I tried every other combination of multiple doors opened simultaneously, and they all work fine. I also tried different sequences of opening the doors, and that doesn't matter either. The problem occurs only when the two doors on the driver's side are open at the same time.

Attached are photos to show you what I'm talking about...1) With only the front door open, 2) With only the rear door open, 3) with both the front and rear doors open.

Has anyone else done this, or seen this issue? Does anyone know how to fix this, or have suggestions for troubleshooting?
View attachment 364753 View attachment 364754 View attachment 364757

Interesting. Just tried this. I have the AO T in the front and the 3 in the back. When I open the back door the front dims a bit, but not terribly. Definitely noticeable, but not a big difference.

 

[dwagent]

Interesting. Just tried this. I have the AO T in the front and the 3 in the back. When I open the back door the front dims a bit, but not terribly. Definitely noticeable, but not a big difference.

Thanks for the feedback, that is interesting. Does this happen only on your driver's side, too? Do you mind checking if any other doors cause this dimming?

Have you ever tried swapping the lights around, as strykeroz suggested? I'm going to try that tomorrow.

 

[whatthe2]

Thanks for the feedback, that is interesting. Does this happen only on your driver's side, too? Do you mind checking if any other doors cause this dimming?

Have you ever tried swapping the lights around, as strykeroz suggested? I'm going to try that tomorrow.

Just tried this. It happens on all the doors. I haven’t tried swapping the lights, but I don’t see how it would change anything. To me, it just seems like when you have multiple doors open the power to the lights drops a bit.

 

[dwagent]

Just tried this. It happens on all the doors. I haven’t tried swapping the lights, but I don’t see how it would change anything. To me, it just seems like when you have multiple doors open the power to the lights drops a bit.

So I finally got around to swapping my lights around (I agree it didn't sound like it would make a difference, but I've got 5 minutes and nothing to lose, I figured), and it turned out to make a difference after all.

It didn't completely eliminate the problem, but it reduced it dramatically. After I swapped the lights, the front door stays at about 95% of its brightness when the rear door is opened. And at that point, I agree it's noticeable but not a deal breaker.

Here's a photo of how it was working originally, and then after I swapped the lights.



Definitely a big improvement after the swap, but I have no idea why, because I checked each light individually before I installed them, and I didn't replace any of them, just moved two of them around.

Anyway, the lesson learned here is: try swapping your lights around, if this happens.

Thanks to all for input and suggestions.

 

[whatthe2]

So I finally got around to swapping my lights around (I agree it didn't sound like it would make a difference, but I've got 5 minutes and nothing to lose, I figured), and it turned out to make a difference after all.

It didn't completely eliminate the problem, but it reduced it dramatically. After I swapped the lights, the front door stays at about 95% of its brightness when the rear door is opened. And at that point, I agree it's noticeable but not a deal breaker.

Here's a photo of how it was working originally, and then after I swapped the lights.

View attachment 366260 View attachment 366261

Definitely a big improvement after the swap, but I have no idea why, because I checked each light individually before I installed them, and I didn't replace any of them, just moved two of them around.

Anyway, the lesson learned here is: try swapping your lights around, if this happens.

Thanks to all for input and suggestions.

Oh wow, you had a big difference before the swap. Mine are like yours are now, so I’ll just leave them. Glad you got it fixed. Thanks for the follow up.

 

[MarsOrBust]

Similar problem now with mine.
I got the puddle lights from RPM Tesla in blue and my front ones look just like the OP but my rear puddle lights projects a smaller and brighter image. As soon as the rear door opens the from puddle light goes off completely.

 

[DaveG_NJ]

I bought mine from Amazon, not AO, and I notice the same thing. They dim slightly, if more than one door is open. Not enough that anyone would notice and it's one of the things people always comment on when first getting into the car (along with the white seats and the purple footwell lights).

 

[tstolze]

Believe the Abstract Ocean website states somewhere that due to power limitations when 2 doors are open on the same side of the car dimming might occur.

 

[Grae Chivalier]

I just tested the puddle lights I got from teslapuddlelights.com. My T logo doesn't dim at all when I open the driver passenger side door. I also switched out the passenger side doors with their Chill Blue lights- not sure if that makes a difference in an even power draw.

 

[MarsOrBust]

I also have the rear floor lighting along with the four blue puddle Tesl logos light. They might be putting the extra draw on power.