Nest outside lights too bright

[TheHoff]

Problem solved. Installed this 12 v led dimmer/on off switch replacing the on /off switch inside. Easy to install and dims the outside lights to about any level you want.

[BeSerious]

Thanks for the tip.

Were there multiple out going wires? Or does this gadget dim the door handle and awning lights at the same time?

[TheHoff]

All of the outside lights are on one circuit of two wires controlled by the simple on/off switch inside. I replaced the original switch with this on/off/dimmer and all of the lights outside act as one when dimmed. Twist the dimmer white and red wires together and connect to the 12 volt (hot wire). Connect the dimmer black wire to the other wire of the old switch and you have it. You will need a multimeter to verify polarity before connecting.

[Glass Stream]

Thanks again for the information on the switch. I haven't pulled the current one to look at the hole, but does this switch fit cleanly and easily into the hole? Did you have to pull the refrigerator out to mount it? Best...

[TheHoff]

Plenty of room behind the switch. See photos of my instillation

[KPW]

Would love to be able to control the awning lights without turning on the back door light. Bugs are epic around that back door light, and it’s impossible to get in and out without colonizing the inside of the Nest with gnats. Is there a way to put that back light on a separate switch?

[Glass Stream]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

Plenty of room behind the switch. See photos of my instillation

Great. Thanks for the picture.

[TheHoff]

I’m sure that could be done. I don’t have any tips for you. Good luck

[Blount-Force]

I'm glad to have come across this post because I just learned, from all of you, that the lights on the outside of my newly purchased nest "Should" work by turning on the switch that activates the awning. As of now that switch only turns on the awning lights for me, and I didn't know that it should have done more. I've been searching for the switch that turns on those other lights, and now that I know which one is it, I can correctly identify the problem and get it fixed.

Would anyone be able to post a picture for me of their exterior lights so that I can use it as a reference when showing my dealer (whom I just purchased a brand new nest from) what it's supposed to look like. Thank you!

[Glass Stream]

Hi. On my 2019 Nest, one switch controls the lights and a separate one the awning. The light switch controls the porch light, door handle, and awning light simutaneously, and is adjacent and to the right of the switch that only moves the awning in and out. Best..

[BeSerious]

This is a good example of how some NESTs have a dimmer switch that controls the "disco lights". Ours has a plain black on/off switch


BeSerious

[TheHoff]

Originally Posted by Glass Stream

Hi. On my 2019 Nest, one switch controls the lights and a separate one the awning. The light switch controls the porch light, door handle, and awning light simutaneously, and is adjacent and to the right of the switch that only moves the awning in and out. Best..

Agree.

[ImagoX]

Apologies to necro-post in here, but this issue caught my eye. It baffles me that they decided to put ALL the exterior lights on the SAME CIRCUIT. As my engineer friend at Honda says 'that decision probably looked GREAT on a spreadsheet - it probably saved a few cents per unit'.

At the expense of having zero control over what's individually on/off. Sheesh.

SO. Can anyone who's been inside the rear 'porch lamp' verify where the wires are run? I'm thinking I'll just add a separate, small single-pole switch in-line on the power feed to the porch light (mounted someplace in the interior) so I can at least toggle that light on/off individually while leaving the awning lights unaffected. I'm comfortable splicing/soldering wires - I'm just not sure how difficult/easy the access TO those wires is.

Thanks!

[TheHoff]

Sorry. I don’t know about the wiring possibly separating The perch and awning lights.

[ImagoX]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

Sorry. I don’t know about the wiring possibly separating The perch and awning lights.

It turns out it's a moot point: I just took delivery of my new Nest (which is why I asked about wire placement). I went inside and looked, and the porch light is placed on the other side of the bulkhead wall from the one-piece shower lining and the port-side hall wall, which will make it very difficult (if not impossible) to reach those wires without likely major disassembly.

I'll take a look however - maybe there's a way to loosen the fasteners around the top corner of the rear door or something and gain access to the wiring harness - if so, adding an in-line switch should be trivial. The trick will be accessing the wires in the first place.

Thanks! --M

[BeSerious]

The outside light switch on the refrigerator wall (photo 1) only has two wires: 1 black and 1 black/grey..

Behind the black access/wall brackets in the closet, there are several bundles of wires that run up the driver’s side of the door behind these brackets. I THINK these bundles are for the:
- license plate light
- running light above the door
- inside backdoor light and switch
- outside backdoor light
- backdoor handle light
- awning LED strip
- awning motor

Two of these wire bundles continue up behind the top most bracket in the closet (photo 2)…
I THINK the green and white bundle is for the outside running light above the door. The other bundle with 1 white & 3 black/gray wires probably handles these:
- inside backdoor light
- outside back door light
- back door handle light
- awning LED strip
- awning motor

And there’s the problem — there simply aren’t enough wires to handle the awning motor, dimmer controlled inside backdoor light and three more outside light fixtures — unless the following fixtures are wired in parallel…
- outside back door light
- back door handle light
- awning LED strip

Photo 3 show the wiring harness behind the next bracket down which provides access to the inside backdoor switch/dimmer.

BeSerious

[ImagoX]

Hmmm... I tried looking at the wiring diagram in the owner's manual, BeSerious, to confirm your wiring observations, but it has a space that just says 'To 12v wiring schematic - see 12v schematic for model'. Unfortunately THAT diagram does not seem to be included in the owner's manual. Doh!

Thanks a million for your observations though - it's actually good to know that the wires to the exterior lighting units run along the *driver's side* (and, I assume over the top of the rear door), than that they're buried behind the one-piece shower liner or bulkhead wall.

Worst case, assuming the awning lighting is on the same circuit as the porch light, it should be spliced in or run off that main wire, so I *should* be able to place a switch somewhere along that run to me the control I'm looking for. If I do that I'll document how I proceeded in case it helps anyone else.

PS - did YOU put that in-line fuse, BeSerious, or was that done by Airstream?

Thanks!

[BeSerious]

Originally Posted by ImagoX

...
PS - did YOU put that in-line fuse, BeSerious, or was that done by Airstream?

Thanks!

Your welcome! The inline fuze was already there. If you loook behind the second bracket down, you will see several splices that look like they were done with automotive grade wiring splicers etc.

BTW I suspect that the 2nd wire bundle is accessible behind the head liner. But you will need to remove the screen door to get behind the headliner Once the headliner is down I suspect there are already splicers for the pigtails that would need to run down to the porch light and door handle light. If so, a simple dimmer could be installed in the pigtail to the porch light and mounted on the head liner

FWIW my plan is to simply try removing some of the LEDs in the Porch light fixture.

BeSerious

[ImagoX]

Originally Posted by BeSerious

Your welcome! The inline fuze was already there. If you loook behind the second bracket down, you will see several splices that look like they were done with automotive grade wiring splicers etc.

BTW I suspect that the 2nd wire bundle is accessible behind the head liner. But you will need to remove the screen door to get behind the headliner Once the headliner is down I suspect there are already splicers for the pigtails that would need to run down to the porch light and door handle light. If so, a simple dimmer could be installed in the pigtail to the porch light and mounted on the head liner

FWIW my plan is to simply try removing some of the LEDs in the Porch light fixture.

BeSerious

Weird... hiding a crimped-on fuse behind an access panel is *not* what I'm used to seeing in automotive wiring. I wonder what's being fused with it, and if it's on the 'model-specific 12v diagram' they reference in the owner's manual. Thank again!

[BeSerious]

Originally Posted by ImagoX

Weird... hiding a crimped-on fuse behind an access panel is *not* what I'm used to seeing in automotive wiring. I wonder what's being fused with it, and if it's on the 'model-specific 12v diagram' they reference in the owner's manual. Thank again!

Technically the fuse is part of the pigtail from the dimmer switch, which is then crimped onto the NEST “wiring harness”. I think the fuse protects the dimmer switch.

I should have been more accurate about the quality of the “automotive grade” wiring. The connectors in this “harness” are the kind you might buy at an auto parts store for repairs adding a pigtail, etc., NOT automotive OEM quality connectors.

BeSerious