interior neon help???

[Yofavcracka]

Ok, heres the deal, i just bought 2 10 inch red neon tubes to go under both the driver and passenger dash. The lights came with a gay switch and a plug to plug into the cigarette lighter. How can i make both of these lights turn on when i turn on my headlights? I know running a wire directly to the battery is waaaaay out of the question. Is there anyway on doing this? can i just find the wire that controls the healights and splice the two wires into that one? is that even safe?

[james99]

i had neons in my other car. if i remember correctly, i ran all of the positive wires together and all of the negative. then i got a switch that had 3 prongs on it, ran the positive wires to one prong, the negative to another. the third prong i used to attach a ground wire and bolted it to the door sill. then extend a peice of wire from the prong you ran the positive wires to and pin it under one of the fuses in the fuse panel under the dash. use one of the fuses that only recieve power when the car is on, i used the ignition fuse i beleive.

if you dont want the switch, i think you can just ground one wire and pin the other under a fuse.

im not absolutely sure, but to the best of my knowledge this is how i had mine ran years ago. if anyone sees where i messed up please correct it.

[99CougarNy]

Relay ... run a 12 volt relay ...
Now, i don't suggest tapping power but hey to each their own so if thats the route you can go as stated above or tap off the ciggy line.
As far the relay, tap an interior light (i like the light either under the console, the the headlight switch light) run that 12 volt line to the relay, and also your 12 volts from the ciggy or what ever ... ground it ... and the line out to the neons ... you turn your interior lights on, ur relay turns on ur neons =)

[Yofavcracka]

ok im still confused, what i want to do, is i gues connect the two wires from each neon tube, run it into a two way toggle switch, mount it somewhere, then run a line to the battery, but i guess ill need a ground for it too, but where should i ground it? and how can i run it to the battery?

[99CougarNy]

ok let me help you out here ...

This is your positive line ...
+[Bat]
|
Fuse
|
[Firewall]
. \+++++++
. [Switch?]
Neon Tube-+- -+-+-Neon Tube

as you can see, I ran a wire from the battery to a fuse through the firewall to a switch. From the switch to the neons (in pararell).

You then have to ground them, either by connecting them to a ground wire, the battery, or by grounding them to the chassis.

If you want them to only be enabled when the interior lights are on, you can incorporate a relay before the switch. As stated above, you would have the 12+ volt lead coming from an interior light source.

[Drewmanfu0]

There is a thick red wire coming out of the bottom of the fuse box that is large enough to run any neons, it runs straight to the battery.

Just strip it back and stick a small screw driver through the middle of the wire and thread a 16-20 Ga. wire through the middle and solder, tape, and ziptie the end of the new wire to the thick red one so it doesnt work itself loose. Now you have a wire to run to your switch. Be sure to use a fuse.

[CincyZetec]

if u want them to turn on w/ the headlights, i would find a power wire running to the headlight switch. pull the panel off where the headlight switch is, then turn the headlights on (i would suggest the running lights in case u want the interior neons on w/out blinding people w/ the headlights) and use a multimeter to test which wire is the power to the lights. then i would cut the wire and crimp a butt connector to the wire comming from the power sourse into the switch then twist the positive ends of the neons and the wire that goes into the switch together then crimp those into the other end of the connector. then just find a good ground under the dash for each seperate neon. i did almost the same thing, but i ran my own circuit straight from the battery into the console into a switch panel i made to run interior neons, underbody neons, and strobe lights. there's really no need in my opinion to get into relays and stuff like that since it's only for a light, it's not a major important circuit. if u ony have a few neons, the circuit doesn't have to b real complicated. the simple ideas usually work.

[shadowfox28]

There is a thick red wire coming out of the bottom of the fuse box that is large enough to run any neons, it runs straight to the battery.

Just strip it back and stick a small screw driver through the middle of the wire and thread a 16-20 Ga. wire through the middle and solder, tape, and ziptie the end of the new wire to the thick red one so it doesnt work itself loose. Now you have a wire to run to your switch. Be sure to use a fuse.
can anyone else confirm that that red wire is a viable power source?

[scrupul0us]

can anyone else confirm that that red wire is a viable power source?

::sighs::

since it goes to positive terminal of the battery id say so huh? of course its a dumb thing todo b/c your not fused in anyway...

[Drewmanfu0]

Why do you think I said to be sure to use a fuse?

[CincyZetec]

personally, i'd tap into a circuit that already has a fuse. then i don't have 2 worry about wiring up another fuse. i know it's not too tough, but i'm kinda anal about mounting things so they don't hang out in the open and look like i did it half-assed. i think it's more of a hassle to mount a fuse then to find a pre-existing fused circuit to tap into.

[scrupul0us]

Why do you think I said to be sure to use a fuse?

for some people u have to reitterate the obvious...

[Yofavcracka]

ok.....i tried and totally lost....turned the switch, nothing happened. Ok, here it goes, i have both neons, positive wires going to one side of the two way toggle switch, then both negative running to a ground. out of the other side of the toggle switch i ran a line straight to the battery, put an inline fuse and then connected it to the positive terminal....and nothing. Oh, what is that red wire your talking about?

[Drewmanfu0]

There are three poles to the common toggle switch, GND, +, And ACC make sure the acc side goes to the neons and the + goes to battery. I have a Distribution block for my amps that is where I would draw power from in my car. But the thick red wire that I speak of goes to the battery and if you have no amps you "can" use that. But if you do, please use a fuse and solder and wrap and zip tie like I said.

Red Wire______Fuse holder______+ switch ^V^V^V ACC switch_______neon +=============Neon negative _________Ground.

[Yofavcracka]

i bought what the guy at the hardware store was an inline fuse....it looks like a cylinder with two round prongs coming out of it...i think it might be crap. Where can i buy a fuse that'll work? what should i ask for?

[Yofavcracka]

HA!!!! finally made it work....yey they look good, ill have pics of my neon, and my carbon fiber shift knob up later tonight when it gets darker!!