Installing interior neons
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Bufalo Grove, IL
Installing interior neons I want to install some interior neon rods that are pretty cool looking. i have no problem mounting the units on my sub enclosure but i cant figure out how to wire it for power. how do i wire it to a 12v source? any idea of how to do a clean installation without having the lighter adapter installed? please give me any sugestions/ parts to buy inorder to make this install clean and nice. also can any tell me how to wire it to a 12v flip switch so i can turn it on and off?
for power, pull off of the cigarette lighter(dunno color), or the pink wire(i think) on TCS. if you plan on doing other neons, you may want to look into the sound controller from streetglow. WARNING, yu will get rice comments a plenty for this.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Bufalo Grove, IL
ha yeah but this is for my truck not my trans am. so im trying to install on my truck and if i like it, i might do some small minor lighting in my transam to light my sub nicely
If they're going on the sub enclosre, why not just get power from your amp's 12V+ terminal? You could wire a switch into the circuit pretty easily, just run the power from the terminal to the switch, then back to the lights. If you wanted to be slick about it, you could get power from the fuse panel and use a switched ignition source, or from the back of the parking light switch to come on only when the lights are on.
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if u use your power from your amp u are risking noise interference when the neon is on.
b 4 u cut the cig adapter off, get a test light, plug in the neon and turn it on and test to see which wire is + on the neon .
then cut the cig adapter off and run a wire from your ign wire ( only gets power when the car is on, u don't want it to be constant just incase u leave the switch on by mistake overnight ) to a 3 prong switch ( Strauss sells them for like $3 )
then ground the prong on the switch that is labled for ground, and run the middle prong to the 12v wire of your neon.( the one that u tested earlier with the test light )
if u are confused let me know, i will try to explain again.
b 4 u cut the cig adapter off, get a test light, plug in the neon and turn it on and test to see which wire is + on the neon .
then cut the cig adapter off and run a wire from your ign wire ( only gets power when the car is on, u don't want it to be constant just incase u leave the switch on by mistake overnight ) to a 3 prong switch ( Strauss sells them for like $3 )
then ground the prong on the switch that is labled for ground, and run the middle prong to the 12v wire of your neon.( the one that u tested earlier with the test light )
if u are confused let me know, i will try to explain again.
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Originally Posted by Phoenix57
why cut the cig adapter off? just take power from it, neons don't take much power
also sometimes the cig asdapter is not long enough to reach were u would want it to, and when u have the neons off which most of the time u will, u won't have the cig adapter just laying around in front of your dash......u know what i mean.
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From: Showing Italians the power of LS1
A plan I have is to install six 12" white neon tubes in the car, one under each side of the dash, one each under the front and back edges of the front seats, all of them installed so the tubes are hidden. Then wire them up to a SPDT relay:
getting it's trigger from the dome light. They would only work when the dome light is on. If you want to use a switch to control them, wire the trigger of a SPDT relay to + through a toggle switch. As for your main power, I would just run a 12Ga wire (with a fuse on it!) to the + post over by the fuse block under the hood. Fuse it using an inline fuse within 12" of the post, then bring it inside through an existing grommet in the firewall. wire the + to the relay, then ground from some bare metal nearby, then wire up the switch to the trigger, then the + output to the neon transformer(s). Here's a diagram of a 30A SPDT relay that can be bought at your local electronics store:
The picture is intended for remote turn-on to several amps, but the connections are the same:
wire terminal #86 to the switch (or domelight), #87 connects to the + of the neon transformers, #87a is not used, ant the other connections are self-explanatory.
getting it's trigger from the dome light. They would only work when the dome light is on. If you want to use a switch to control them, wire the trigger of a SPDT relay to + through a toggle switch. As for your main power, I would just run a 12Ga wire (with a fuse on it!) to the + post over by the fuse block under the hood. Fuse it using an inline fuse within 12" of the post, then bring it inside through an existing grommet in the firewall. wire the + to the relay, then ground from some bare metal nearby, then wire up the switch to the trigger, then the + output to the neon transformer(s). Here's a diagram of a 30A SPDT relay that can be bought at your local electronics store:
The picture is intended for remote turn-on to several amps, but the connections are the same:
wire terminal #86 to the switch (or domelight), #87 connects to the + of the neon transformers, #87a is not used, ant the other connections are self-explanatory.
Last edited by Snootch; Jan 27, 2005 at 02:38 PM.
