Interior lighting HELP!!!!

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 1:18 am

Whats up guys ! i bought blue neon lights for under my dash and they have 2 options steady on and dance to the music ! but i dont want to have to plug it into my ciggarette lighter i dont smoke but i dont want to keep that fliped down ! (i have a 1999 daewoo leganza) and it didnt come with wiring instructions will you guys please help me !!!! i also bought a toggle switch because i dont want to have to be reaching down under the dash every time i see a cop or when i want to turn it off!! and it dosent have an off feature a very detaile wiring diagram would help a bunch!!!! But i dot want to dat it into any thing and over thad the fuse realy so i was thinking i have to go to the battery or a seperate battery? thank!!! please help me guys!!!
thanks!!
matthew

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Sun Oct 19, 2003 2:58 am

I installed blue neons to light up the foot well in my fiance's Lanos with a toggle switch so they can be turned on & off.

I tapped into the power that goes to the cigarette lighter and ran a toggle switch between the neon and the cigarette lighter power.

Here is a simple diagram to follow so you can do the same in your car:

It now looks like this with the neon turned on at night:

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.

Good luck,
Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 5:29 am

cliff thank you so much !!!!! this looks like just what i need!!!!!! thank you soo much!!! but 1 more question. my toggle switch has 3 progs and 1 is for a ground wire. were do i run that? and should i just cut the ciggarette plug off of the neon cord and once i do that how do i know what is positive and negative on the cord cause i dont know now when its on!
but thanks so much!! will i need 2 toggle switched for 2 lights???

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:05 am

Is your toggle switch lighted? (does it light up?)
If so, then you just need to ground the ground prong to the ground wire on the cigarette lighter ground wire.

You can connect both neon lights to the one switch to control them both, just like I did ... and you can see in the pic I posted that both neons are on using only one switch.

Here is a new diagram for you to follow.
Make SURE you connect the correct prongs to the correct power and ground wires!! If you do not, you can 1) Blow a fuse, 2) Damage your switch or 3) Damage your neons.

After you cut the wires on the cigarette lighter, you can tell which is positive and which is negative by using a test light bulb. Connect a wire somewhere to a known good ground point, such as a long wire from under the hood on the battery Negative - post.
Next, get a car light bulb and use some tape to stick a piece of wire to one of the light bulb posts.
Tape the ground wire from the battery to the outside silver part of the light bulb. When you touch the other wire on the light bulb to the power wire (positive) the bulb will light up. *NOTE* There is ONLY power to the cigarette lighter wires WHEN the ignition is turned to ACCESSORY or ON. There is NO power on those wires when the key is off or not in the ignition.
Make sure it is on so there will be power on the cigarette wires.

Any more question, just ask.

Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 4:31 pm

how can i tap into that wire and still be able to use the lighter??
im not a very good elecrtican . and im not sure if the togle switch lights up but the box says red glow but says nothing about a light ! butt i will ground it just to be on the safe side! so shold i use diffrent wire for the gounding wire? or would a peice of the neg wire from the neon be ok?

lol but thank you so much cliff!!!!!!

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Sun Oct 19, 2003 6:45 pm

mattman702 wrote:how can i tap into that wire and still be able to use the lighter??
im not a very good elecrtican . and im not sure if the togle switch lights up but the box says red glow but says nothing about a light ! butt i will ground it just to be on the safe side! so shold i use diffrent wire for the gounding wire? or would a peice of the neg wire from the neon be ok?

lol but thank you so much cliff!!!!!!

To tap into the wires, you need to get a wire splice that crimps into your existing wires and you do not have to cut them.

Here are the wire splices:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/millionbuy/acc15.html

And this is what they look like:

The splices fit onto the wire that has the power and ground (use one splice for each), then you add your new wire, fold the tab over the top of the splice and crimp it down. You then have spliced and connected wires with power and ground.

You should be able to buy those wire splices at any auto parts or electronics parts store and they are not very expensive at all.

The switch says it glows, so yes, it has a tiny light bulb or an LED that glows inside it. That is what the ground wire connection is for.

Yes, you can use the same ground wire as the neg from the neon.
In a car, ground is ground and it is all the negative connection no matter where you connect the wire.

Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 8:06 pm

im going to autozone right now to but the splice!!! on the splice its
power,ground, acessory! and ground is the same thing as negative?

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Sun Oct 19, 2003 8:09 pm

cliff i just want to say thank you so much!!!!!!you have been more than helpfull and if there is anything i can do in return let me know!!!! if youre ever in lasvegas let me knoe ill show you all the hot spots and be able to get you kgood rates on a fully furnished rental home!!! its a family business www.vegaseventsplus.com

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Sun Oct 19, 2003 10:43 pm

mattman702 wrote:im going to autozone right now to but the splice!!! on the splice its
power,ground, acessory! and ground is the same thing as negative?

You will need one splice for positive, and one splice for negative.

And yes, ground is the same thing as negative.

Do NOT splice positive (power) and negative (ground) together in the same plastic splice thing or you WILL pop the fuse in your fuse box that is labeled as cigarette ligter.

One splice plastic thing to connect the cigarette power wire to the new power wire you are running for the neon light.

Then one splice plastic thing to connect the cigarette ground (negative) wire to the new ground wire you are running for the neon light.

Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 6:22 am

Hey cliff i went to auto zone today and bought 1 of those wire testers were when you touch a positive wire the the fuse lights up and i got the wire splices and i mounted the lights in the footwells if my car . i followed the directions you gave me exactly , i found the neons positive and negative wires i found ciggarette lighter pos and neg and then i spliced my 2 negative neons and my toggle switch ground with my cigarette neg wire . then i spliced my cigarette pos with my toggle power then i attached my ground, my positive, and my negative to my toggle switch and it dosent work! i worked on it for 3 hours!! and i did it correctly! and the fuse is good to!! i tripple checked!! i checked one of the neon lights befor i installed it and it was good but i didnt check the other 1 but what do you suggesti do i have power comin through the lighter to the lights arent turning on!

p.s. where do you live??

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Mon Oct 20, 2003 8:18 am

Did you remember to have your ignition key turned on?

Thers is power to the cigarette lighter ONLY when the ignition key is turned on.

Did you connect the switch properly? There are 3 connections on it.
1) Incoming power, which connects to the power source (the power wire coming from the cigarette lighter)
2) Outgoing power, which goes to the positive wire on the neons
and
3) Ground, which is the negative connection.

Something didn't sound quite right from your description of how you connected the switch.

There should be 1 ground wire from the switch ground to the cigarette lighter ground wire. That same wire should connect to the neon's negative wires.

There should be 1 power wire from the cigarette lighter's power wire to the switch's incoming power connection.

Then, both positive wires from the neons should be connected to the switch's outgoing power connection.

If that doesn't work, try connecting the neons and the switch directly to your battery with an in-line fuse to make sure everything is working. The fuse is necessary so you don't accidently damage the neons.

Where do I live?
http://mq-mapgend.websys.aol.com/mqmapg ... 40%24x9%40

Norfolk, Virginia ... about 10 minutes drive to the Atlantic coast.

I'll think about this a little more and try to help after I get home from work, get some sleep and wake up tomorrow. I'll be awake about 2pm EST, which is noon your time.

Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 8:47 pm

I made a quick diagram but i cant figure out how to post it up on here!! icant copy and paste! i had the switch connected properly and the ignition was set to on i even tryed turning the car on www.geocities.com/mattdaddy702/matt.bmp
try this for the diagram you might have to copy and paste it sorry its so sloppy but i made it in less than 10 mins lol

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Mon Oct 20, 2003 10:57 pm

That *looks* right, so the only thing I can think is that

1) the switch is not wired properly according to it's diagram

2) the switch is bad
or
3) one of more of the neons are bad, so if one is bad it may be keeping the other from working.

Try connecting the neons directly without the switch.
Connect each one individually, then together, and then try again with the switch.

If you leave the ground wire off the switch, the only thing it will do is keep the switch from glowing.

Boy this stuff can get frustraiting!

Any more questions, just ask. I'll do my best to help.

Cliff

mattman702 · Post by **mattman702** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:01 pm

the switch might be bad i never thought of that ! i did drop it pretty hard !
how can you tell if a neon light is bad? im going to go try this
thank man!!!!!! ill let you know how it goes with out the switch!

TheGreatAndPowerfulOz · Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:32 pm

If a neon is connected properly and it does not come on, then it is bad.

Cliff