interior neon lights *HELP*

This forum is for discussion of topics relating to MX-3 lighting such as Headlights, Tail lights, Accessory Lights, Interior Lights, Etc. For example, Rear Euro Altezza Style Tail lights, Headlight units, LED's, HID's, Bulbs, Interior lights, Neons, Strobes, Auxillary Lights/Fogs or anything filament and gas discharge related.
Also anything dealing with the elctrical system.
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tekniq
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Location: chattanooga,TN

interior neon lights *HELP*

Post by tekniq »

i jus got some blue neons to go inside my car and they didnt really come with instructions or anything and ive never really wired anything up in my car so could anyone help me with wiring it to my fuse box or battery which would be better any help would be appreciated thanks
pipes
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Re: interior neon lights *HELP*

Post by pipes »

O.K.
I am assuming that you nothing about electronics ( I appologise if you do but just so don't miss any steps by making assumptions I will take you through it step by step!)

I am not quite sure exactly what neons you have.. generally speaking they are the type that come with a cigarette lighter adapter.

The first thing to understand is how you get them to work..

If you have the cigarette lighter type you plug them in and turn them on with the toggle switch. generally speaking these are the most common.

If you have a neons where there is two loose wires at the end then you will notice that one side is either (red or is black with a white stripe) and the other wire is most likely all black.

The red one is your power input and the black is your ground. If you pop tou bonnet and touch the red wire to you battery (where your red cable is) and touch the black one to the black side of the battery and once again using your toggle switch they should light up.

This is just a check to make sure you neons work.. It is a real pain to install somethin when they dont work to start with.
Neons are very polar directional.. That is you need to connect red to red and black to black, in electrical speak, negative to negative and positive to positive..

Disconnect your Black cable first from your battery and then your red Cable..

O.K. We have not done to much yet but simply figured out that they work and what type of neon they are.. either the type that plugs into your cigarette or the the type that can connect directly to your battery..

-If You can connect directly to your battery:
This is easier to install:
First you need to find a power source.. ie: just as you connected to your battery before. (the red wire)
Depending on how you want your neons to operate will depend on where you get your power from.
If you want to be able to turn them on anytime.. whether the car is on or not, then you can run your power from your toggle switch to the battery.. This way the lights will turn on whether the car is on or not.
Alternatively you may want to only want the neons to operate when the accessories are on.. light how your radio turns on. To do this you need to find an accessories power source.. An easy access point to connect to is where your radio fuse is near your feet. I think it was a light blue wire with a brown stripe(guessing).
The Black wire however can be connected directly to the cars chassis.

The other thing to note is what sort of toggle switch do you have.. ie: how many legs does it have..

If toggle switch has 2 Pins/legs- then this is simple. The switch simply breaks the power supply. therefore connect your black cable on your neons to the car chassis(make sure it is a solid metal connection.) Once you have figured out where you want to get power from... (battery is probably easiest) run a cable to one of the legs on your toggle switch. Run another cable from the other leg to your neon(the red or striped cable).
Hook battery up again
Lights should work!

If switch has 3 or 5 Pins/Legs- Then it is a little more difficult. If it has 5 pins then there is most likely a light in the switch that comes on when you use it.. youwill need to run power to the toggle Vcc. Then run a small piece of wire to another pin.. usually pins 1 and 4 loop. Pin 5 will be your Power out to you neon as before and Pin 2 will be your ground wire.. Note that in this case the toggle switch gets grounded as well because the light in the toggle needs to get a +ve and -Ve source as well. For a 3 pin it is the same just that there is no loop for the light.

You can connect as many neons as you want to this toggle switch in this manner, howere I would suggest a relay if you get to many to control your volts.

-If you need a lighter socket:
The procedure for getting your power source is the same as above, either from accessories to only work with your key or direct to your battery to always be able to turn on.
The thing to remember when using these cigarette lighter adapters is to never just cut off the ciggarette connection as there is alot of circuitry that needs to be kept so that the correct operational current is maintained..
When you plug your device into your cigarette lighter socket the two little flaps touch against the side of the socket slot.. this activates the earth, while the very tip presses against the end of the slot and provides the power.. As we don't want to have ugly lighter sockets in the car we need to by pass this..
First, using a screw driver open the lighter adapter.. Once inside you will see that there is a little red wire that most likely connects to a small spring and a fuse that runs to the tip and there is also a smal;l black wire that connects to the side flaps..
By cutting these wires and attaching our power to the red one(from the battery or accessories) and the black to the chassis(good earth)
Hook battery up again
Lights should work!

Remeber Striped or Red cable is power
Black Cable is earth.

I hope this has hepled, It is hard to explain...
I am in the process Of installing an timer to turn on my interior lights and underbody neons when I unlock my car with my keyless entry.
Sonicxtacy02
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Re: interior neon lights *HELP*

Post by Sonicxtacy02 »

Thats gotta be the most extensive set of neon instructions i've ever read. Someone must have been bored. ;) :p
Shaun Newman
SOLD 1994 Blaze Red GS/ SOLD 1994 Chaste White GS-R
pipes
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Joined: July 16th, 2003, 2:01 am
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Re: interior neon lights *HELP*

Post by pipes »

Yep Bored at work..
Every day there seems to be another post wondering how to install neons.. hopefully this give some insight!
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