wiring neons to light switch

[TRANSAMCHARGER 10+ year member]

This is what I am doing i am hooking neons to a switch that will be mounted next to my cd palyer, i am using a fuse box which has 3 outlets of power then going to 3 differnt switches. i want to know where to put the fuse box, and if i can ground all of my wires to the metal screw on it and if it is safe to hook up the other fuses now if i want to use them later, (meaning no neons on other 2 switches) and lastly whither the battery needs to be discontected or can i attack it wwith out gettin shocked.

Thanks any help is good

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[ramos 5,000+ posts]

Originally posted by TRANSAMCHARGER This is what I am doing i am hooking neons to a switch that will be mounted next to my cd palyer, i am using a fuse box which has 3 outlets of power then going to 3 differnt switches. i want to know where to put the fuse box, and if i can ground all of my wires to the metal screw on it and if it is safe to hook up the other fuses now if i want to use them later, (meaning no neons on other 2 switches) and lastly whither the battery needs to be discontected or can i attack it wwith out gettin shocked.

Thanks any help is good

let's see. Fuse box location depends on how you want to go about it. What I would do is put a fuse inline between your battery and the 12v feed wire for the fuse box. Putting the fuse as close to the battery as possible. Then mount the fuse box where you want to.

You can ground to bare metal on the car. It will help you keep your grod wires as short as possible.

You can go ahead and put the fuses in as long as you don't have any wire connected to those terminals on the fuse box. Don't want to short anything out or worse set your car on fire.

It's always a good idea to disconnect the negative battery terminal before starting anything. It will save you a whole lot of trouble and blown fuses //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[alove_85 10+ year member]

All I did was take a toglle switch and use wire to wire a power and ground to it from any source of power, but only power when the car is on. I used the radio. Than i took neon lights that are suppose to plug into the cigarette lighter and cut the end off. I took one of those wires and hooked up up to ground and the other to accesory and whala

 

[ChefJoe 10+ year member]

I'm thinking about using the relay I've put in for my remote wire to power a couple of those 4" cold cathode lights that come with computers. That way the floor of my car will light up blue when I turn on the stereo. At $21 for two tubes, both in acrylic housing, I think it can't be beat.

http://www.voyeurmods.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=CC-01B-4

 

[4six1000s]

Cold cathode lights wont work in a car on a 12V system. I've looked into it, they are to be used on a 110V house electrical system, like that in a pc. Unless you use a power converter they won't work.

 

[ChefJoe 10+ year member]

Originally posted by 4six1000s Cold cathode lights wont work in a car on a 12V system. I've looked into it, they are to be used on a 110V house electrical system, like that in a pc. Unless you use a power converter they won't work.

I cannot believe you say you looked into it. I have three different cold cathode light kits in my computers and they all have a little plastic, 4 prong connector that gets the DC power from the 12v + and gnd of the PC power supply. It's electrically identical to the crappy cig. lighter plug on car kits, but they are much cheaper.

My reluctance comes from the inverter. It converts a 12 v signal to an uber low amp thousands of volts signal. They only make the wires from the inverter x number of inches and with separate/split wires for a reason (such a low current that the electrical interference of each wire requires the connectors not be side by side for best performance). I'd want an in-line fuse though (these things only draw milliamps of power).

Don't let the name fool you, cold cathodes are simply thin neons that don't require a hot coil on each end of the light.

Further, your computer parts (minus the monitor) run entirely on DC power, the power supply converts the AC power into DC power (5+ Gnd Gnd 12+).