Gauging interest... Altima Coupe Illuminated Kick Plates

[spockrock]

ya about that, i didnt test them, lol. just figured it was plug and play. at any rate, ive had some time to take a look at these and i think i found the cause. first off, the drivers side has begun to flicker faintly. meaning that its the same brightness as usual, but if you watch very closely, you can detect a slight flicker at times, but only sometimes. the passenger side, on the other hand, is almost always flickering. and i believe the cause may be that the top of the plate, the plexi portion, has begun to separate. at one point, one of my friends leaned down and applied a small amount of pressure to the portion (leading edge) of the plate that has started to separate, and the flickering stopped momentarily. so i think that the separation may be causing it.

now i see no need to send these back to you, especially at a cost to you seeing as how you've already done so much for us. i believe that with a little information from you i can fix these myself. how exactly does the glow tape work? does the whole pressure=no flashing make any sense to you? it looks like its separated right above where the power leads come into the kick plate. thanks for any advice or input.

I tested mine with a 12 volt battery, the driver side did filcker at first, its stopped the only thing I can think is the transformer needs a burn in period, mine have stopped flickering or the other problem maybe depending on our you splice and reconnected the wires you may not have proper contact and causing the flickering.

[spockrock]

hey spockrock...was it hard to get the kickplates installed? can you put pics up of it finished?

just installed it stupid easy the hardest part is routing through the door, rjdmmfl1 and I just talked he suggested using something other than a zip tie, like a coat hanger....I should of tried this since I have used it a million times before. I think I am gonna try it tomorrow, I do however have easier although undesirable way to do it.

[sonicbliss]

I tested mine with a 12 volt battery, the driver side did filcker at first, its stopped the only thing I can think is the transformer needs a burn in period, mine have stopped flickering or the other problem maybe depending on our you splice and reconnected the wires you may not have proper contact and causing the flickering.

i did give consideration to the "burn in period" theory, as well as the poor connection theory. i plan on re-accomplishing the installation and seeing if that helps, but i really do think that the separation may have something to do with it, seeing as how the passenger is the one peeling AND flickering, too. i don't really believe in coincidence. i most likely will not have time to get to fix this until wednesday, but in the meantime i am all open to suggestions. thanks for your advice spockrock

[spockrock]

i did give consideration to the "burn in period" theory, as well as the poor connection theory. i plan on re-accomplishing the installation and seeing if that helps, but i really do think that the separation may have something to do with it, seeing as how the passenger is the one peeling AND flickering, too. i don't really believe in coincidence. i most likely will not have time to get to fix this until wednesday, but in the meantime i am all open to suggestions. thanks for your advice spockrock

np try the 12v battery, however pressure on the EL tape could have an effect on it.

[sonicbliss]

np try the 12v battery, however pressure on the EL tape could have an effect on it.

i just went out to burn one, and figured i would fart around with it a bit. now try as i might, any kind of pressure wont stop it. as far as the battery idea, i will give it a shot, but i gotta go pick one up sometime, first. the drivers side is starting to do it again as well, maybe there is just some kind of problem with the wiring? the wiring that came in my kit was actually 2 pieces of wire that were spliced together. maybe that has something do with it. im not too worried about it, i like this kind of stuff, troubleshooting and working on my car and whatnot.

[spockrock]

i just went out to burn one, and figured i would fart around with it a bit. now try as i might, any kind of pressure wont stop it. as far as the battery idea, i will give it a shot, but i gotta go pick one up sometime, first. the drivers side is starting to do it again as well, maybe there is just some kind of problem with the wiring? the wiring that came in my kit was actually 2 pieces of wire that were spliced together. maybe that has something do with it. im not too worried about it, i like this kind of stuff, troubleshooting and working on my car and whatnot.

Well when I did the wiring with mine, I was going to solder and heat shrink the wires, but I thought if I needed to check anything then this method would make things difficult. Grab your self a pack of wire connectors, the ones you twist on to the wires that make a nice and secure connection. Thats what I used and seem to have no issues. Now when you ran the wires through the doors how did you get it from inside the car to the door, I had a hell of a time, Rob suggested I use a coat hanger, gonna try that tomorrow and see if that works.

edit also did you have any issues getting the momo pedals on or are they pretty much universal?

[sonicbliss]

Well when I did the wiring with mine, I was going to solder and heat shrink the wires, but I thought if I needed to check anything then this method would make things difficult. Grab your self a pack of wire connectors, the ones you twist on to the wires that make a nice and secure connection. Thats what I used and seem to have no issues. Now when you ran the wires through the doors how did you get it from inside the car to the door, I had a hell of a time, Rob suggested I use a coat hanger, gonna try that tomorrow and see if that works.

with mine, they are wired both to one wire (as per the instructions). with getting the wire through to the door, i used what he said to use, the long zip tie, but i zip tied the wire about 5 inches down its length really tight, and just shoved up under the dash until i got it through the hole. as far as the rubber tube goes, i undid the connection on both ends, and fed the zip tie through, periodically pulling the tube at both ends to unjam the flimsy zip tie from getting caught up on the ribs on the inside. im thinking i may wire each light individually to each courtesy light. its gonna be b1tch to get the wire up under the dash tho, i gave it a shot and it was a VERY tight fit. you just gotta keep at it. its a pain, no doubt, and i did hurt my hand trying to get the wire up to the grommet in the first place, but it works.

[rjdmmfl1]

np try the 12v battery, however pressure on the EL tape could have an effect on it.

Tareeq, you should not be having problems.. please check and make sure that the connections are snug, if this continues, let me know, and I'll just send you za replacement set, I want you to be completely happy!

[spockrock]

Tareeq, you should not be having problems.. please check and make sure that the connections are snug, if this continues, let me know, and I'll just send you za replacement set, I want you to be completely happy!

oops...sorry I am not having any issues with mine, other then just getting it through the door the proper way. I am 100% satisfied, my littler brother was just admiring them.

[sonicbliss]

for any one having this issue . i dug into it again tonight and figured id go with the whole amperage theory. looks like it was a good theory to go off of. i wired each sillplate individually to each courtesy light and bam. no more flickering. i also resealed my passenger plate with some clear RTV so that problem is solved also. that being said, i am now completely happy with these. thanks again rob, and thanks spockrock for your advice.

[rjdmmfl1]

for any one having this issue . i dug into it again tonight and figured id go with the whole amperage theory. looks like it was a good theory to go off of. i wired each sillplate individually to each courtesy light and bam. no more flickering. i also resealed my passenger plate with some clear RTV so that problem is solved also. that being said, i am now completely happy with these. thanks again rob, and thanks spockrock for your advice.

I'm 99% sure you were having a connection issue, not an amperage one... the picture I have above involved 5 sets of kickplates (10 total) being powered off of one little itty bitty 12 volt battery. All power inverters were connected to the same power and ground wire! I've had my kickplates wired as I state in the install instructions for a month now, and haven't had a single flicker.

Regardless, I'm glad you're good to go now... I also relaized what happened with your kickplates (sealing issue) and have fixed that on my future installs!