Model S gets lighted vanity mirrors

[berkeley_ecar]

What was your final solution for the power connection? Custom harness or splicing wires? Thanks!

There was no "final solution" to the wiring, as I was busy, and I was so pleased to have the visor extensibility feature (which was my main motivation for purchasing the visors) that I have not yet completed the electrical wiring. I do hope to complete this task, and this is the path I've followed thus far:

1) I tracked down the manufacturer of the power connector used by the new illuminated visors, and had a number of cable pairs made using the appropriate connector (I have extras and am willing to sell them to other DIYers for $12 a set, PM me if interested). They plug into the connectors on the visors (no cutting or modification of the visor is required), and are long enough to run to the overhead central microphone housing, with length to spare.

2) I installed one visor myself (without wiring), and then decided I did not want (at that moment) to mess with the headliner to run the electrical wiring to the microphone housing.

3) I took the visors to my local Tesla Service Center, and they installed them (no charge). The installation applied only to the mechanical installation of the visor itself-- no electrical connections were to be made, as there was no wiring harness pre-installed in the headliner for the visors (see further comments about that below). According to our agreement prior to installation, they were going to run my custom-made wire pairs from the visors through the headliner to the microphone housing, for me to deal with later. I have not yet verified that this is in fact what they did.

4) A local Tesla expert used access to Tesla Service Manuals to kindly advise me as to the location of 12V "accessory" power (power that is not always on) for my March 2017 Model S. The wiring that supports the electrochromic darkening feature of the rear view mirror runs into the mirror enclosure from the headliner near the microphone housing, and includes a red/blue striped wire that supplies +12V on the accessory rail. Any ground wire (black, or black with white stripe) can serve as ground. My expert did not seem to think the addition of connections for the LEDs of the vanity mirrors was going to pose a problem in terms of excessive current draw on the existing circuit.

5) I have no idea as to whether the wires running to the visors care about which of them attaches to 12V or ground (put differently, I don't know whether the wiring to the visors is polarized). Perhaps someone else can chime in on that issue.

6) Presumably, I will use some sort of tap to provide a connection for my visor wiring, as I would not want to cut or solder any of the factory installed accessory power wiring.

You snip off the tesla connector and just so[l]der directly to the stubs it's fairly easy just 2 wires 12v and ground. Leave yourself enough wire to reach all the way to the central speaker grill in the headliner. Works like a charm.

I believe these instructions apply only to the subset of Model S vehicles for which a wiring connector was installed at the point of connection of the visors, with a future illuminated vanity mirror in mind. This was not the case for my March 2017 version, which had no pre-installed wiring for the visors. This will be the case for many other runs of the Model S. Even for those lucky few who have a pre-installed wiring harness waiting for them under the headliner where the visors attach, it would be cleaner to use my custom-made cables, soldering those to the pre-installed wires, and then cleanly plugging the connector into the visor's matching connector.

 

[TheFro]

Glad I came across this thread. My passenger side vanity mirror cover broke and I was wondering what my options are for replacing it. If I have to buy a new visor, might as well retrofit a newer one and try to get it lighted. I know my wife would appreciate it.

 

[BigD0g]

I believe these instructions apply only to the subset of Model S vehicles for which a wiring connector was installed at the point of connection of the visors, with a future illuminated vanity mirror in mind. This was not the case for my March 2017 version, which had no pre-installed wiring for the visors. This will be the case for many other runs of the Model S. Even for those lucky few who have a pre-installed wiring harness waiting for them under the headliner where the visors attach, it would be cleaner to use my custom-made cables, soldering those to the pre-installed wires, and then cleanly plugging the connector into the visor's matching connector.

Yes, correct!

 

[berkeley_ecar]

1) I tracked down the manufacturer of the power connector used by the new illuminated visors, and had a number of cable pairs made using the appropriate connector (I have extras and am willing to sell them to other DIYers for $12 a set, PM me if interested). They plug into the connectors on the visors (no cutting or modification of the visor is required), and are long enough to run to the overhead central microphone housing, with length to spare.

I've had several inquiries about my connector sets for the new illuminated visors, indicating the need for some photographic images, so here they are:

1) The connector that comes with the new illuminated visors, as it appears emerging from the bracket that attaches the visor to the ceiling of the Model S passenger compartment.

2) A closeup of the opening in the connector on the visor. Note the two metal connector pins inside the white plastic housing.

3) A closeup of two of the connectors I have; the white plastic part mates with the connector on a visor. From the other side of the white plastic part emerges 40 inches of 22 gauge insulated wire, which can be connected to an appropriate power source (presumably by using a tap). The pair of connector sets shown here (two connectors, each with two wires) is what is needed to supply power to the two visors of one Model S.

I hope this addresses some of the confusion.

 

[Rockwell]

I've had several inquiries about my connector sets for the new illuminated visors, indicating the need for some photographic images, so here they are:
View attachment 445624
1) The connector that comes with the new illuminated visors, as it appears emerging from the bracket that attaches the visor to the ceiling of the Model S passenger compartment.
View attachment 445625
2) A closeup of the opening in the connector on the visor. Note the two metal connector pins inside the white plastic housing.
View attachment 445626
3) A closeup of two of the connectors I have; the white plastic part mates with the connector on a visor. From the other side of the white plastic part emerges 40 inches of 22 gauge insulated wire, which can be connected to an appropriate power source (presumably by using a tap). The pair of connector sets shown here (two connectors, each with two wires) is what is needed to supply power to the two visors of one Model S.

I hope this addresses some of the confusion.

It is worth buying it from him instead of making your own. I tried making my own and spent 20 dollars with shipping and failed. It was too hard crimping the wires to the pins.

 

[mrtwo]

I just installed the new sun visors and tapped the power to the constant 12V cable inside of the mic grill. The problem is the F100 5A fuse keep burning. Anyone encountered the same problem and how to address it? Thank you!

 

[berkeley_ecar]

I just installed the new sun visors and tapped the power to the constant 12V cable inside of the mic grill. The problem is the F100 5A fuse keep burning. Anyone encountered the same problem and how to address it? Thank you!

Do you have anything else on the circuit (e.g. dashcams)? Have you considered using power from the "accessory rail" instead? I outlined that approach in principle in my lengthy earlier posting, but have not yet had time to try it out. That would in any case be the right way to do this. You don't want the LEDs of the mirrors to be able to draw power when the vehicle is off. Did you find any evidence that the wiring for the visors is polarized (that is, that one lead is positive and the other negative) or may one connect either lead to either power connection? Good luck!

 

[mrtwo]

Do you have anything else on the circuit (e.g. dashcams)? Have you considered using power from the "accessory rail" instead? I outlined that approach in principle in my lengthy earlier posting, but have not yet had time to try it out. That would in any case be the right way to do this. You don't want the LEDs of the mirrors to be able to draw power when the vehicle is off. Did you find any evidence that the wiring for the visors is polarized (that is, that one lead is positive and the other negative) or may one connect either lead to either power connection? Good luck!

Hi, I do not have any things else on the circuit, just the sun visors. BTW, where is the accessory rail? Please kindly advise. Thank you!

 

[mrtwo]

I fixed it

Hi, I do not have any things else on the circuit, just the sun visors. BTW, where is the accessory rail? Please kindly advise. Thank you!

 

[mrtwo]

I fixed it

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Congrats! I'm certain the rest of us could benefit from a summary of what
you did. As for summarizing the accessory power, it's all in my earlier posting in this thread.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

A final update. In my earlier posting (#141 above) I provided information about how I planned to install Tesla's new illuminated/extensible visors in my Mar 2017 Model S. As explained there, I obtained appropriate wiring harnesses for the visors (I still have spare sets that can be purchased following instructions found in posting #144 above), I attached the harnesses to the connectors of my visors, and protected the small-gauge wires with some small vinyl tubing. My local Tesla Service Center installed the visors for me gratis. As I had requested, they left the ends of the wiring harnesses near the central microphone cavity. Calibred Customs was dropping by for some work on my Blackvue dashcams and front-view camera kit, so I had Johnny use some small power taps to connect the visor wiring to the "accessory rail" power running into the rear-view mirror housing, which turned out to be exactly as described in my earlier posting (#141 above). So now my vanity mirror lights work, but only when the car power is on, just as they should.

 

[paul.scott]

What was the problem? Mine has been working for weeks and just stopped working today. I am trying to figure out how to troubleshoot it.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Just a quick posting to announce that I have sold all of my spare wiring harness kits for the D-I-Y Model S illuminated visor upgrade.

 

[Smokerek]

I've had several inquiries about my connector sets for the new illuminated visors, indicating the need for some photographic images, so here they are:
View attachment 445624
1) The connector that comes with the new illuminated visors, as it appears emerging from the bracket that attaches the visor to the ceiling of the Model S passenger compartment.
View attachment 445625
2) A closeup of the opening in the connector on the visor. Note the two metal connector pins inside the white plastic housing.
View attachment 445626
3) A closeup of two of the connectors I have; the white plastic part mates with the connector on a visor. From the other side of the white plastic part emerges 40 inches of 22 gauge insulated wire, which can be connected to an appropriate power source (presumably by using a tap). The pair of connector sets shown here (two connectors, each with two wires) is what is needed to supply power to the two visors of one Model S.

I hope this addresses some of the confusion.

Any way you could give us the manufacturer information so we could get the harnesses from them directly, since you don't have any more?

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Any way you could give us the manufacturer information so we could get the harnesses from them directly, since you don't have any more?

Of course. Hope my notes are correct, but I believe the parts you need are from JST Connectors (who was the OEM for the parts used by Tesla):
1) Socket housing: part no. PNIRP-02V-S (the white plastic connector that mates with the one on the visor).
2) Contact: part no. SPND-001T-C0.5 (the metal part which is clamped to wire, reside in the housing, and makes the actual electrical connection).

These are the part numbers, but you also need to get wire and have the wiring sets made up. Others on the forum who tried to do so manually at home ended up frustrated, as the contacts are tiny and really require specialized tools.
Furthermore, you are going to find that they make these connector sets up in minimum batches, which is why I had to order a lot of them and sell what I did not need to others in the forum to recover costs. You will almost certainly need to organize a group purchase here. Best of luck!

 

[Smokerek]

I've had several inquiries about my connector sets for the new illuminated visors, indicating the need for some photographic images, so here they are:
View attachment 445624
1) The connector that comes with the new illuminated visors, as it appears emerging from the bracket that attaches the visor to the ceiling of the Model S passenger compartment.
View attachment 445625
2) A closeup of the opening in the connector on the visor. Note the two metal connector pins inside the white plastic housing.
View attachment 445626
3) A closeup of two of the connectors I have; the white plastic part mates with the connector on a visor. From the other side of the white plastic part emerges 40 inches of 22 gauge insulated wire, which can be connected to an appropriate power source (presumably by using a tap). The pair of connector sets shown here (two connectors, each with two wires) is what is needed to supply power to the two visors of one Model S.

I hope this addresses some of the confusion.

Any way you could give us the manufacturer information so we could get the harnesses from them directly, since you don't have any more?

Of course. Hope my notes are correct, but I believe the parts you need are from JST Connectors (who was the OEM for the parts used by Tesla):
1) Socket housing: part no. PNIRP-02V-S (the white plastic connector that mates with the one on the visor).
2) Contact: part no. SPND-001T-C0.5 (the metal part which is clamped to wire, reside in the housing, and makes the actual electrical connection).

These are the part numbers, but you also need to get wire and have the wiring sets made up. Others on the forum who tried to do so manually at home ended up frustrated, as the contacts are tiny and really require specialized tools.
Furthermore, you are going to find that they make these connector sets up in minimum batches, which is why I had to order a lot of them and sell what I did not need to others in the forum to recover costs. You will almost certainly need to organize a group purchase here. Best of luck!

Ok, thank you for the information!

 

[Reyswan]

Just to report back on this - my early 2017 Model S doesn't have the wiring either and the technician also checked with Tesla who said that if if didn't come with factory wiring harness then there won't be one so you need to custom create it as others have said... Tesla also don't have a specific wiring harness for it so feels a bit weird since if you actually damage it, there's no way to replace it other than to fix it.

These are the sun visors for the black headliner for UK:

ASY, SUN VISOR LEFT HAND, ULS BLK, NO LABEL (1143824-46- C)
ASY, SUN VISOR RH, ULS BLK, NO LABEL (1143825-46-B)

Anybody else would like to a buy a DIY kit?

Thanks

 

[acarlos1000]

Anybody else would like to a buy a DIY kit?

Thanks

I would.

 

[Reyswan]

Of course. Hope my notes are correct, but I believe the parts you need are from JST Connectors (who was the OEM for the parts used by Tesla):
1) Socket housing: part no. PNIRP-02V-S (the white plastic connector that mates with the one on the visor).
2) Contact: part no. SPND-001T-C0.5 (the metal part which is clamped to wire, reside in the housing, and makes the actual electrical connection).

These are the part numbers, but you also need to get wire and have the wiring sets made up. Others on the forum who tried to do so manually at home ended up frustrated, as the contacts are tiny and really require specialized tools.
Furthermore, you are going to find that they make these connector sets up in minimum batches, which is why I had to order a lot of them and sell what I did not need to others in the forum to recover costs. You will almost certainly need to organize a group purchase here. Best of luck!

Hi there,

Given how difficult it is to actually organise a big enough batch to order directly from manufacturer... would it be possible to actually get the wire harness from an existing car that has it and move it over to ours? Say, try to get something from vehicle sold for pieces.

Thanks