the other night i was trying to find something in the center console compartment and i had trouble because it was dark, so i bought a license plate light and a mercury switch and installed them.

 

looks good. i did this similar mod on my 02 crv on the dash cubby hole. but i used 2 red leds with the integrated 12v resistor in them wired to a small switch that when the lights are on and the door is open it would have them on.
you could probably use the same switch i did from radio shack and install it where the wire comes out to go to the merc switch if it gets broken off or in the way.
good install.

 

Mercury switch? What is this 1960? It should have been motion activated.

But really, did you see that there is a dome light right above the center console?

 

What, these things have dome lights!!!???
No but really, they don't put out enough light

 

An LED would solve that.

 

Sorry I'm too new. What is a mercury switch?

 

Oohh. I'm gonna guess here... It turns on when the mercury goes to the bottom. So its triggered by gravity when the lid opens?

 

that would be correct

 

Great Job Man !!! Looks Good.

 

I like it!

 

There is a major flaw in that design. If the truck flips on it's roof, the mercury will complete the circuit and the light will turn on and drain the battery.

 

i think if he flips his rig, he wont care much about the battery lol.

 

i think that was a joke....well i hope it was

and good job man, nice budget friendly mod. I can see the housing getting in the way sometimes, you should run the mercury switch to an led mounted about a half inch from the base, but either way nicely done

 

But seriously I like this mod. I"m thinking about doing it with and LED and leaving it "always on" with the corner lights (like all the rest of the lights in the cabin). I'll run the wire from either the 12v outlet or the wire from gear shift indicator.

 

I like it. Gives me an idea for mine. Thanks!

 

Hey thanks for all the positive comments

 

I always laugh when I watch Lethal Weapon & Mel Gibson talks about a bomb triggered by a mercury switch as though the mercury switch is some exotic device.

I wonder if the light flickers as you drive?

Otherwise a great idea.

 

well i angled the switch in such a way that when the lid is shut the switch is almost pointing all the way down, that way the mercury is far away from the contact points. the light turns on when the lid is more than half way open. i bet it would flicker if i was hitting some intense bumps.

 

awesome idea.. i actually found my self grabbing my flashlight i keep in my door panel to hunt though the console for some change this morning.. im sure if i had a led in my dome light it might help but i like your idea better