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hooking up neons *help*
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:21 am
by optlo
Alright, ive never actually hooked up neons unless you count plugging in the adapter into the cig lighter. Do i run it into the fuse box? If so, can i wire it someway so that when i turn on my headlights, the neons come on? Anyhelp or input would be awesome.
Sry for noob question lol
Brandon.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 10:29 am
by racer12306
first thing you need to do is see how many volts the neon lights need. if they need 12v then you can run a fused hardwire from pretty much any 12v source. if they need less than 12v then you need to step the voltage down before it gets to the lights.
if it were me i would run a fused line right from the battery and make sure that the lights would be getting the appropriate voltage.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 12:20 pm
by refect
majoriry of the neons are 12v. and im pretty sure the ones you are using most likely are too. cut the cig adaptor off and you are left with 2 wires. positive and negative. if oyu already know what is + and wat is - then you are good to go. if not just put the wires ont eh batery or somethin of wat you think might be + and - . if it doesnt come on switch them around and see. so now you got your + and - figured out.....ground the - somewhere. pretty much anywhere that is metal will do. you can undo screws adn stuff to get the wire up under it then screw it down. those work best in my opinion. then you are left with the positive wire. if you want them to turn on with the headlights you can do a few things. one you can run the positive through the firewall and splice into one of the positive wires on your corner lights and connect it there. or oyu can do it the ghetto and easier way that i like to do haha.. pop out your headlight fuse or a fuse that has to do with your headlights and stick it in there and pop the fuse back in. should work fine if you are only doin one or 2 neons on it. 3 might even be fine since neons use barely any amps at all. if you want to go more you should put a separte fuse on the positive wire. one way i did it was ran a 10 gauge wire through the firewall to my battery with a fuse on it. then split that 10 gauge wire off into separate little positive wires that i ran to individual switches. form there i ran all my positive neon wires to the switches i wanted them on and then grounded the neons.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:11 pm
by dblsg
having your neons on all the time might get anoying, that and you'll probably be a cop magnet, so it might be best if you put a switch in.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 1:20 pm
by racer12306
i forgot that he wanted them on with the headlights. that would definetly bring up a legality issue. you would attract cops from across town.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:25 pm
by cgneon
always run a switch, ive got 4 seperate switches for all my different stuff... its nice to have options...........
and make sure if the lights have the cig plug on it that the transformers are built in to the tube... should say on the packaging. sometimes they're built into the plug...
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 7:40 pm
by scneonchic
Just so you know optlo....those lights never had the cig lighters on the end, and they should be the 12V ones (If the ones you bought from me are the ones we are talking about). I had them wired straight into the fuse box, and to a switch. Its much easier and convient w/ a switch.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:34 pm
by optlo
alright - was just curious - i had neons that went into a cig adapter for my last neon.
I'll have to find a switch, and see if i can find a panel that will fit in our neon cubby hole we have.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:39 pm
by scneonchic
You can get a just a regular switch somewhere like Autozone or Advance auto, even walmart.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:45 pm
by racer12306
just make sure its a 12v switch.
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:27 am
by p8ntballah413
yeah i would just run a line from your battery, thats what i did, and ran it to four switches in my armrest, there are pics in my sig.
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:34 am
by cgneon
and use the lowest size fuse neccesary.. think each tube runs about .5amps.. i dont know if they make a 2amp or 3amp fuse... if not just use a 5amp... and use at least 18gauge wiring... (i use 16 for all of mine, which is overkill for neon tubes) i have a chart somewhere telling wire size to amps running somewhere.. and put the inline fuse within 8-10 inches from the battery,,, if u need any help, hit me up, ive wired a bunch of neons before....
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 6:52 am
by 03sxt
aquariuskid2001 wrote: dont know if they make a 2amp or 3amp fuse... if not just use a 5amp...
They make almost any size fuse - 1A (Black), 2A (Grey), 3A (Violet), 4A (Pink), 5A (Tan), and higher, obviously... Those are the ones made by Littelfuse, the most popular brand of fuses that you can find at AutoZone, etc. You don't see many of the lower amperage fuses because they're not quite as common, but they're around. You've got quite a few options.

Hope this helps.