newbie neoner needs help

[shadowfox28]

OK i just bought an air dremmel and took it to my car. I will be placing a ****load of "glow in my car. My question is wat do i go with? l.e.d/neon/or sumthing else? And wat will i need to run the stuff? im not very good with electrical stuff so please sumone help me out. i want to also run a switch for the interior neon, and then another for my exterior underbody kit.
Thanks,
Manny

[XplosivePlushToy]

Heres a tip. Regardless of what you go with, for simplicity's sake, keep LEDs and neons on different circuits. Sure, if you can get it so that they have exactly the same resistance and all, but its a whole lot more complicated than just adding a few extra wires.

[shadowfox28]

hmm... im gonna assume i cant run all of this off my alternater???.

[skater]

hmm... im gonna assume i cant run all of this off my alternater???.

Neons and LEDs don't consume that much electricity, and on a car it all comes from the alternator sooner or later. Alternator capacity will be the least of your concerns unless you're really planning to overdo it and blind anyone that looks at the car...

[shadowfox28]

lol thats good to know where do u think i should tap into the juice? battery maybe? or is there a source that would be easily excesible from inside the cabin that would do the trick?

[wadespencer99]

OK i just bought an air dremmel and took it to my car. im not very good with electrical stuff so please sumone help me out.


Does that scare the hell out of anyone else here? :goofy:

[skater]

Does that scare the hell out of anyone else here? :goofy:

No more than about two-thirds of the posts in this section... :)

[shadowfox28]

lol yea i just cut up my senter console for some custome fiberglass werk, and i cut out whole for speakers in the interior hatch cover thing.

[world-insight]

Does that scare the hell out of anyone else here? :goofy:

man I just see more rice in the making.

[ND4SPD]

OK i just bought an air dremmel and took it to my car.
Congratulations?

I will be placing a ****load of "glow in my car.
why would anyone just 'place' lights in there car? :confused: and since you obviously need our help... shouldn't you be asking "I would LIKE to install some interior neons and or LED's, but am unsure of how to proceed... Any help would be appreciated!" ?

My question is wat do i go with? l.e.d/neon/or sumthing else?
Radioactive materials!! those glow real nice!

And wat will i need to run the stuff?
Electricity

im not very good with electrical stuff
go to school, read a book, www.howstuffworks.com, http://choosetoprosper.com/install-led-neon-car-light.html, http://www.msjsoftware.com/articles/article.asp?ID=24750



I know its wrong to make fun of retarded people, which is why I actually posted some helpful links, but this REALLY is a basic question which i'm sure has been asked every week since 2001... how anyone can NOT find information on this is pure madness.

[shadowfox28]

ouch, that was like getting poked in the eye with a shovel..... thanks for da input

[Excelcier]

Oooookkkk.... time to chime in.

First off, if you're not familiar with many electrical principals, I'd suggest not even starting this project. You can't post a "help me" post and get enough knowledge to install lights all over your car to have a "****load of "glow" as you put it. I hope you're not trying to steal my title away! You'll have a loooottttt of work ahead of you hehehe...

Secondly, I'm scared already because you asked if the alternator could support it...... if you're asking that question, stop while you're ahead. they are LED's and neon/ CC tubes, do the math and besides, if you're car isn't running, alternator won't make a difference!

Thirdly, LEDs / neons most certainly can run on the same circuit, why can't they? Anyone ( besides Matt ) even seen my car???

Do some research, grab some lights and a bench power supply and do some testing / experimenting and build up some lighting circuits and switching zones in your bench environment before EVER cobbling up your car. Make sure the $hit works before you start installing!

[shadowfox28]

Excelcior. i dont think it is possible to surpass u. I just wanted to see if there where any good constants in the cabin. i bought some pep boys neon tubes for my trunk setup(the funny ones that pulse to the beat). To wire them up I riped out the ciggy lighter and tapped in there. I also bought a set of switches and(which is the reason i am mutilating my center console) wired that up. It werk's just fine but before i start putting it in other places i want t know if it is o.k. to have all the wires running on the ciggy constant? is there another place?>

[CougarKat]

The cig lighter should be fine to power 2 to 4 10" neon tubes with no problem.
If you are planning more then get your power directly from the battery.

battery->fuse->switch->neons

You can get leds which are 12v and don't need to be connected to a circuit board with resistors and such.

[shadowfox28]

ok ill run my underbody's from the battery... but i already have my system wired to my battery. I have a power spliter in the trunk with 3 empty spaces(its da one dat comes with a wiring kit for an amp) can i wire my undercars to there, or will that drain too much power from my amp?

[CougarKat]

As long its a power distribution block then you will be ok.

Battery->fuse->distribution block->1,2,3....

1-amps
2-switch->neons

[99CougarNy]

agreed
I have full intentions of running all my interior accessories to a power distribution block located in my trunk. I also suggest LEDs as they pull a lot less juice than any neon will.
I will have 2 amps in my trunk, for my interior and exterior speakers. the rms will be will over 1000 amps, making peak around the 2400 range. I will be running a 0 ga. to the trunk and then distributing the power to my two amps, leaving me with enough clearance to hook up some other options. I want to put a cig. lighter plug in my rear console, hook up 4 in car leds ( i have neons now, i might just use them), as well as a dozen or more LEDs. I know this is all irrelevant to your problem, but i'm hoping it'll give you an idea.

Depending on the color, MCD, and a few other facts, your LEDs will have different specifications. My red led's run at 3.2volts?, and i believe around 80ma (these things are 80,000 mcd). A standard 3mm LED runs at around 2.4 volts or so, and 40 ma. Your car supplies 12 volts, and if you just go about hooking these things up you will fry them. You have to calculate the exact resistor necessary if you want to go with some single LEDs. The strips you buy at the store with a strand of 8 LEDs or so, does this already for you.
For more information on 3mm LEDs fine scrups how-to for redoing the car lights. oh, and you should do that too while your at it.

[shadowfox28]

yea that was a lot of abbrevitain that i do not understand. lol, im just gonna do the pepboys neon to the ciggy lighter to the interior. Then the underglows to the power distrubution block.

[Monkeygrits]

I smell buring wires:thumbsup:

[shadowfox28]

which ones?

[99CougarNy]

man, i'll help you out. I am running everything off my trunk, and will be adding more ... this included interior neons, leds, and soon exterior lights. If you want to run switches from the front you could always drop 12 volt relays in to make the switching easy. Thats what I plan on doing atleast. I'll show you one of the days our chapter gets together.

[Foreverfalcon40]

man, i'll help you out. I am running everything off my trunk, and will be adding more ... this included interior neons, leds, and soon exterior lights. If you want to run switches from the front you could always drop 12 volt relays in to make the switching easy. Thats what I plan on doing atleast. I'll show you one of the days our chapter gets together.


In a month when my turbo projectis complete!:biggrin:

[shadowfox28]

turbo project? wtf wen did that happen?

[Foreverfalcon40]

Since last week :)

I got a lil bet to settle for next summer...

[shadowfox28]

lol,yesssss please tell me one of those v8 guys from deer park challenged you

[Foreverfalcon40]

Some J-OFF with a huge E-co<k on the boards!

[XplosivePlushToy]

Oooookkkk.... time to chime in.

Thirdly, LEDs / neons most certainly can run on the same circuit, why can't they? Anyone ( besides Matt ) even seen my car???




I know this. Like I said, for simplicity. When I first started wiring sh** up in my car I wasn't too familiar with it all, and once I hooked up the LED's to the same circuit as the neons, the neons cut out. LED's worked fine because the electricity was taking the easier path.

You're a god with electricity. The thread started on the other hand is far from it.

[99CougarNy]

your saying not enough current was fed to the neons to power them up enough to work? didn't even think of that myself ... good info