He has a 2021 refresh (plaid/LR)
Alrighty here we go.
I have a 2021 Refresh S LR
I got my lights on Saturday and tried to install them then. As soon as I plugged everything in, the passenger side did not work. Both the outer taillight and trunk light were completely non functional. I went through the standard process of checking connections etc. No success. In addition to them not working initially, I spent about 6 hours trying to figure out different ways that the wires may go to connect to each other and where the additional power wire may draw power from.
After going through the connections, I found that the red splitter cord attaches to the third brake light and then runs to the inner tail lights to provide them with a brake signal and possibly power as well. Then, the black wires run from the inner lights via the liftgate to the outer lights. After I completed the wiring, I tested the lights again with no success.
Each time I connected the lights, the E-fuse would trip and I would need to cycle the cars power via the LV/HV disconnects.
Today I went through some different ways of connecting the lights and got all four of them to work including signals and brake lights. By connecting the inner trunk lights first while the OEM outer lights were still on, I was able to avoid tripping the circuit. Then, I attached the Alpharex outer passenger and finally the outer driver light. Now, all lights were running. However, once the car went to sleep or the lights turned off, the right side would not come back on.
This leads me to the conclusion that there is a surge of power happening when the lights initially turn on, most likely due to the extra functions that were added, which trips the E-fuse.
I messaged with Alpharex and they are saying they are aware of this and have a solution on the way. I’m gonna try to figure this out with them together as the fix could be as simple as adding resistors to deal with the initial power surge during start up.
If you have a 21 Refresh S, save yourself the 12+ hours I spent on this trying to make them work and just wait. I have a feeling this will be solved but it will take some time. As if we all haven’t waited enough already right?
I’ll keep yall updated on this adventure.