Ok so I've seen a ton of posts on interior neons but I'm hopeless with wiring stuff. So... I was wondering if someone could give me a really detailed description of how to wire two 12" neons under my dash and two 12" neons in the back of my car. These are cheap neons with the lighter adapters. Or a link to a website would be just as good.
Thanks
Neon
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ScooterBovine
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 502
- Joined: May 9th, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Blacklick, Ohio
Once you figure out how to mount them there to your liking, the rest isn't all that hard.
You have several options, really.
Do the neons have switchs so you can turn them on and off? I'm sure that they do.
Do you want the neons to be on whether or not your car is?
If you want them only to be able to be on while the car is on, I'd suggest taping into the wire that goes into your cigarette lighter. But if you do this, I'd find a way to fuse the wires. A cheap method is to tap right into the fuse box location. Find which fuse controls the cigarette lighter, and use that.
I can't really give detailed directions, because I don't really feel that I am "qualified" to give advice on something like this. But the only thing I can preach is a good ground, and fuse everything so you don't harm something.
You have several options, really.
Do the neons have switchs so you can turn them on and off? I'm sure that they do.
Do you want the neons to be on whether or not your car is?
If you want them only to be able to be on while the car is on, I'd suggest taping into the wire that goes into your cigarette lighter. But if you do this, I'd find a way to fuse the wires. A cheap method is to tap right into the fuse box location. Find which fuse controls the cigarette lighter, and use that.
I can't really give detailed directions, because I don't really feel that I am "qualified" to give advice on something like this. But the only thing I can preach is a good ground, and fuse everything so you don't harm something.
No more MX-3.
Luke, I posted a how to on my web site under "Info". Let me know if its comprehensive enough, you may need a bit more information than I posted if you haven't got any experience with wiring.
The best advice is to take your timeand double check everything you do. Good luck with it.
The best advice is to take your timeand double check everything you do. Good luck with it.
“You’ll find, that the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that’s hardly worth the effort.”
If they have the cigarette lighter plug on them then that usually sucks. The adapter plug usually has internal circutry that converts the power to run the neon lights, if you hook the neons directly to +12 volts DC then they usually dont work. So that said, you most likely need to keep the bulky lighter plug on the end. What you can do (this works well) is go to wal mart or wherever and get one of those "3 cigarette lighter adaptors" that plugs into your cigarette lighter and gives you 3 outlets. Cut the cigarette lighter cord off of it and wire the (+) to a constant +12 volt line (run that directly off the battery, and fuse it) Run the (-) wire to a good ground (frame or other bare metal surface under your dash...that part shouldnt be hard) Now you have aa spot under your dash for 3 lighter plug ins, and you can plug your neons into there and hide the wires away nocely.
94' MX3 GS atx
93 geo storm GSi
99' Ford ZX2 mtx
2001 honda CBR 600
2000 kawasaki kx 500 MX
93 geo storm GSi
99' Ford ZX2 mtx
2001 honda CBR 600
2000 kawasaki kx 500 MX
you can pick up a cheap soldering iron and some solder and just learn yourself. I learned while working at Motorola, and all they did was make me ltake a 30 minute class. Its quite simple, so pick that stuff up, get a little spare wire and go to town. I gaurentee you will pick it up real fast. Just a thought. The soldering iron I got is kinda cheap, but it was less than 10 bucks and it does the job
93SE-KLDE Theres a big peice of metal inside my other peice of metal now...weird???
you can pick up a cheap soldering iron and some solder and just learn yourself. I learned while working at Motorola, and all they did was make me ltake a 30 minute class. Its quite simple, so pick that stuff up, get a little spare wire and go to town. I gaurentee you will pick it up real fast. Just a thought. The soldering iron I got is kinda cheap, but it was less than 10 bucks and it does the job
And then you got it for next time too because it will come in handy.“You’ll find, that the only thing you can do easily is be wrong, and that’s hardly worth the effort.”
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reprobation
- Regular Member
- Posts: 141
- Joined: August 22nd, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Dallas, TX
- Contact:
When i did my interior lights, i used Cold Cathods.. just as bright (if not brighter than neons), you can get them at any computer parts stores (like bestbuy, or Fry's Electronics), they come with an inverter and a molex adapter (which is used to plug them in on the inside of a computer. They are standard 12V, and have a built in fuse. So they are really nice and easy to hook up.
Hooking them up:
The first thing you have to decide on is power source (red wires), you can run it through the firewall, to the interior of the car (which is REALLY easy to do with a bit of patience) and plug it into the battery. or you can find a wire that has already been pre-run through the firewall and used for something else... note that this will require you to splice your red-wire into this... so if you suck at soldering, or don't want to fk somethin gup.. this isn't the route to go.
Once you have mounted your Neons/LED's/Cold Cathods, you need to find a decent ground. This can be pretty much any exposed metal on the inside of the car. There is TONS of exposed ground behind the steering wheel. The easiest way to do this, is plug the red-wire into your battery, and take the black wire and touch it to pieces of metal, if the tubes light up, you've got your ground. ... once you attach everything to where it should be.. your all set.
Now what i actually did was ran a switch with an LED (tons of nice looking one's at AutoZone) and put it into the plastic next to the e-brake. Then i ran the wire from the battery to one side of the switch. and then ran a wire from the other side of the switch to the inverter box. After that all I had to do was find my ground.. and whalla. when i flip the switch the Tubes come on, and the LED lights up. whalla.
Now as for mounting, when i mounted them what i ended up doing was getting some copper pipe holders from HomeDepot. These worked great and held everything securely. when i did the passengerside i took out the glove box, and the little piece of plastic that sits just below the glovebox is where i drilled two small holes. THen i took two very flat head screws with nuts, and screwed them down completely to the plastic. (this way there was still clearance to open/close the glove box. Then in put the two Copper pipe holders on the other side, and ratched up the nut to meet them. This let the tube float, and sit perfect. The tube is not visible, but at night it lights up everything on the floorboard, to the ridge of the seat. (Note: the blubs also arn't visible.. which makes it great because they don't blind you while driving, nor do they reflect off glass, or be illegal!
)
As for the driverside, i did the same concept, but upside down, i took the two screwes and went up, this time letting the copper pipe holders kinda float. There's a small piece of plastic that is flat that is usually used for alarm boxes and stuff. just below that is the piece of plastic im talking about... if you take some time.. you can get some really long screws to fit there... and then you can put the tube holders there. What i had to end up doing was using some 1 1/2" screws, and putting the screws all the way in, then i used two nuts on each screw to give the tubes some height so that they wouldn't have to bend/break, then i put the copper tube holders in, and then placed another nut on top of that one.. whalla.. all done.
Hopefully this long friggin' post helped you.. if not. .ill post some pictures later
sorry about all the crappy misspellings and what not... bye!
-Chris
Hooking them up:
The first thing you have to decide on is power source (red wires), you can run it through the firewall, to the interior of the car (which is REALLY easy to do with a bit of patience) and plug it into the battery. or you can find a wire that has already been pre-run through the firewall and used for something else... note that this will require you to splice your red-wire into this... so if you suck at soldering, or don't want to fk somethin gup.. this isn't the route to go.
Once you have mounted your Neons/LED's/Cold Cathods, you need to find a decent ground. This can be pretty much any exposed metal on the inside of the car. There is TONS of exposed ground behind the steering wheel. The easiest way to do this, is plug the red-wire into your battery, and take the black wire and touch it to pieces of metal, if the tubes light up, you've got your ground. ... once you attach everything to where it should be.. your all set.
Now what i actually did was ran a switch with an LED (tons of nice looking one's at AutoZone) and put it into the plastic next to the e-brake. Then i ran the wire from the battery to one side of the switch. and then ran a wire from the other side of the switch to the inverter box. After that all I had to do was find my ground.. and whalla. when i flip the switch the Tubes come on, and the LED lights up. whalla.
Now as for mounting, when i mounted them what i ended up doing was getting some copper pipe holders from HomeDepot. These worked great and held everything securely. when i did the passengerside i took out the glove box, and the little piece of plastic that sits just below the glovebox is where i drilled two small holes. THen i took two very flat head screws with nuts, and screwed them down completely to the plastic. (this way there was still clearance to open/close the glove box. Then in put the two Copper pipe holders on the other side, and ratched up the nut to meet them. This let the tube float, and sit perfect. The tube is not visible, but at night it lights up everything on the floorboard, to the ridge of the seat. (Note: the blubs also arn't visible.. which makes it great because they don't blind you while driving, nor do they reflect off glass, or be illegal!
)As for the driverside, i did the same concept, but upside down, i took the two screwes and went up, this time letting the copper pipe holders kinda float. There's a small piece of plastic that is flat that is usually used for alarm boxes and stuff. just below that is the piece of plastic im talking about... if you take some time.. you can get some really long screws to fit there... and then you can put the tube holders there. What i had to end up doing was using some 1 1/2" screws, and putting the screws all the way in, then i used two nuts on each screw to give the tubes some height so that they wouldn't have to bend/break, then i put the copper tube holders in, and then placed another nut on top of that one.. whalla.. all done.
Hopefully this long friggin' post helped you.. if not. .ill post some pictures later
sorry about all the crappy misspellings and what not... bye!
-Chris