Hi Bullet,
Dont think I can answer this one - but I'll throw out some thoughts:
The feed to the courtesy lights is 3 wires (+, - & BCM feed). Its the BCM feed that does the fading & auto control. I cant remember if it outputs 12v for ON or 0V for ON, regardless the fade will be done by gradually increasing or decreasing the voltage output.
So it will be the BCM output that you would need to tap into to have this feature elsewhere - whether you tap into it up at the cabin light mount, or down at the BCM connector itself. Only worry I would have in doing this is the possibility of increasing the likelihood of causing another burnt track. (I would imagine that the original problem I had was caused by excess current going through a weak spot on the PCB track). Adding additional lights & therefore drawing more current from the PCB may not be a great idea.
I suppose you could add in additional circuitry to either protect the BCM output (using a fuse on the o/p) or use the BCM o/p as an input for to an additional fading control circuit, designed to use power for running the bulbs from elsewhere.
Some of the other guys on here may be more up to speed with this sort of stuff & be able to comment.
John
+1 on everything John (good name btw ) said personally i'm going to have a separate circuit, the BCM just feels too sensitive to me to be fiddling with anymore. It makes sense that the excess current is what burned out the track, by my standards i would say the tracks width was under spec'ed.
I did actually mean Husky John first (sorry), but hey, having two John's that know their electronic shizzle is even better
So, basically what you are saying John(s), is that it would be better to come up with a seperate circuit altogether which is then activated by what? I'm such an imbecile when it comes to leccy stuff, but would really like to see the solution to this.
If you were to "strengthen the track on the BCM first and then tapped into the circuit, would that be beneficial at all?