Interior neons... Where to wire with a switch?!?!?

[tothebone]

I have two 10 inch neon lights that at presently are hanging under the dash illuminating the driver and pasengers feet, merely plugged into the cigarette lighter port. I want to hard wire it to a switch in the empty slot in neat the security/coin/ trunk release area. I already have the switch from toyota, like the one used in the auto headlight workaround forum. I tried just to wire it to the positive and ground of the cigarette lighter. It works when the ligher outlet isnt attached. When I re-attach the lighter outlet, it stops working. is there another swtiched 12 volt wire I could tap into and just run the positive to the swtich then to the positive of the lights? Or can I use the positive off the cigarette lighter outlet and run the ground somewhere else? What about the switched power going to the radio? Can I attach to that without any negatiev effects on the radio? Any other thought or ideas? It is not cool having to plug the cigarette lighter plug to turn on the lights. HELP!!!!

[Jahntassa]

I'm confused.. what do you have unplugged to where?Generally, i'll get power off the positive wire going to the cig lighter, and usually make a fresh ground.. Otherwise, ground to the cig lighter. The switch should only switch the positive wire.. I have a voltage meter hooked up to the cig lighter in the same way, and it works with the cig lighter plugged in, with or without something plugged into it..

[ragingfish]

You may find it easier to snag an "Add-A-Circuit" from your local auto parts store.Yes, I plug this gadget a lot. But it really DOES work nicely. The only drawback: your circuit must be 10 amps or lower to use it.No soldering, no splicing. Remove a fuse from the under-dash block, pop this in with two fuses in it...creates a second circuit. Attach the positive wire to the add-a-fuse, and ground the neons on the body somewhere. I recommend using the CIG fuse, as it is ignition controlled (powers the radio and cig lighter). You *could* also wire in a switch in the space below the emergency brake handle...that little coin slot thing pops out, and it's identical in size to the spaces next to the wheel. You would have to remove the lower console and center console to run wiring, but would look cool in the end. I'm contemplating relocating the switch for my interior LED system over there...

[tothebone]

Here is a quick drawing of how I attempted to wire it Basically I cut the pos and negative of the cig lighter right before the little harness that plugs in the back. I attached the pos and neg of the lights to the source, then reconnected the harness as well. The positive went to the switch and back to the light. It worked perfectly untill I re-attached the harnes to the cig lighter, then it wouldnt work at all.... pain in the (removed). But, i see ragingfish has a cool idea, maybe i'll try that next....

Attached files

[ragingfish]

Try disconnecting just the ground wire of the neons and connecting it to the chassis. Leave your positive as is. It might work that way...

[tothebone]

so, just pull out the cig fuse, pop that bad boy in and wire away? is 10 amps sufficient for two little neon lights? If so, that may be the easiest solution. I may stick with the switch in the dash as its right above the fuse block and I wouldnt have to run so much wire. Great idea though, you havent had any problems with this thing? no fuses pop prematurely? Does the fuse block cover fit over that thing or does it need to be modified? AND where did you get it? Ive stared at the electric gizmo section of advance for hours and never have seen that thing.... enough questions yet? Thanks....

[ragingfish]

Not sure if advance has them, pep boys definitely does. Yeah, you remove the CIG fuse, put it in this gadget, put a second fuse in, crimp that barrel on the positive lead of your neons, plug this puppy in, and replace the cover. It is low-profile enough to not interfere with the cover. Just have the wire come out the side. I ASSUME 10 amps should be more than adequate for neons...but I can't say for sure, having never looked at them in a store or owned them. Do you have the box? Instructions? Anything somewhere that says maximum power consumption? Maybe Jahntassa can enlighten...

[tothebone]

naw, got em off ebay, they just came in bubble wrap. The cant draw that much power, you can only see them at night. One last question.... Does that gadget 10 amps max total for both or 10 max in each?

[ragingfish]

each circuit

[Jahntassa]

Quote, originally posted by tothebone »Basically I cut the pos and negative of the cig lighter right before the little harness that plugs in the back. I attached the pos and neg of the lights to the source, then reconnected the harness as well. The positive went to the switch and back to the light.So you have two positive wires going to the lights?It should be.. splice negative from the neon to the negative on the cig-lighter..The switch should have one side connected to the positive on the cig-lighter, and the other side goes to the positive wire on the neons. And that's it.. It seems like you have the switch connected oddly somehow... the power to the neon should go 'through' the switch, and nowhere else.

[tothebone]

it does, i just suck at drawing diagrams and terrible luck when it comes to these things... Thanks for the help!

[Jahntassa]

Well, it's just wierd, cause plugging the harness into the back of the ciglighter jack shouldn't cause the neons to not work... I've never seen behavior like that...

[tothebone]

Yeah, I know, it doesnt really make sense. I am the master of bizarre stuff like that. But thanks to you guys I have a few ideas to go on. Ill keep you posted....

[Kari]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish » The only drawback: your circuit must be 10 amps or lower to use it.There's a 15 fuse in the one for my LEDs...but I know nothing about such things so I can't speak for why that may be. LOL

[tothebone]

I wonder if LED's draw more power than neons.... hmmm?

[Kari]

I think it's the other way around. The 15 is the one that came out of the fuse block, there's a 3 controlling the LEDs.

[Jahntassa]

LEDs take relatively little, same for Neons. If you just have two small tubes, I doubt they need more than a 2 or 3 amp fuse..

[Kari]

Interesting...I always thought neons took more power than LEDs did.

[Jahntassa]

Well...they do..just not by much. Especially when you have a lot of them lumped together. And Neons take a lot more voltage to get running, but not neccesarily a lot of amperage. They're basically the same as flourescent bulbs, but simpler.At least, as far as i've come to understand it..

[tothebone]

what do you think abou this?http://www.accessafuse.com/

[DaddyVibeMI]

Quote, originally posted by tothebone »what do you think abou this?http://www.accessafuse.com/Well, that is new to me and never seen fuse look like that before.It won't hurt to give try to see works...