cold cathode wiring... - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

rndmheroxx · 08-06-2007, 10:16 PM

i have already put a set of dual cold cathode tubes in my trunk which are working very nicely... i order another 2 sets for mounting in the foot wells.#1) can they both be powered from the cigarette lighter with no problem (solder on back)??? i havle already cut holes and installed the switches for them.#2) also do you really need those in-line fuses for these lights....i mean i dont want them to get fried after i went though all the troubke of mounting and wiring them so nicely

BlueFusion6851 · 08-06-2007, 10:23 PM

Your cigarette lighter should be fused already, but it won't hurt to have the in-lines there 'just in case' something were to short out.

rndmheroxx · 08-06-2007, 10:42 PM

how about the trunk dome light wiring??? that fused too?? but yeah im goin down to radio shack tomorrow neways so ill get some just in case.....the cig lighter has enough juice to power 2 sets???

touringcamry · 08-06-2007, 11:54 PM

I put a fuse in the trunk light just in case.

Here is my DIY: http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t177494.html

rndmheroxx · 08-11-2007, 09:55 PM

bump...one of my questions wasnt answered...if i splice into the back of the cig lighter, will it provide enough volts to power 2 sets of lights??? (one for each footwell) thanks =) any other power supply locations would be apprecaiate...seems the cig lighter would be the best location as far as distance is concerned =/

shuluke · 08-12-2007, 12:48 PM

I think it might depending on the fuse for the cig lighter.. If you just raise the fuse i think you should be able to power both of them from the cig. But I have never done it.

rndmheroxx · 08-12-2007, 01:30 PM

sounds good ill try it without changing the fuse first, then try wat u said..ill let u know

touringcamry · 08-13-2007, 12:02 PM

Do not up the size of the fuse for the cig lighter circuit. That is a fire hazard. My cathode kit requires less than 1A and the cig lighter is fused to 10A so that should be fine.

Voltage is not the concern here. You worry about the current. When selecting a fuse, you want one that will handle your voltage, or greater, but it is the current that you really need to be concerned with because that is what causes the fuse to burn. If you have high voltage, you should try to find one that is sand packed.

As long as you wire the kits in parallel, you should not have a problem with voltage.

shuluke · 08-13-2007, 12:08 PM

Oh, I didnt know it was a 10 amp fuse. yeah you should be ok for sure then.

Shuluke

rndmheroxx · 08-13-2007, 08:21 PM

wired em up today..looks awesome with the switches and all =D thnx for all the help guys

shuluke · 08-14-2007, 12:57 AM

Hey guys, Its funny but when I tried this.. multiple times.. the light stops working. Did you guys add any voltage regulators? My second one burned out today and I was following TouringCamry's DIY. It didnt even stay on for 2 min.. I have the exact kit as he did as well. I dont know whats going on with it.. I got fed up and Ill be doing a LED retrofit hopefully this weekend.

PS. I was wiring it exactly as it should be. The first one never worked in my car, just on the computer. and the second one worked in my car. I unplugged it so I could zip tie it all to my trunk roof and then when i plugged it in again I got nothing. When i measured with a multimeter though, i was reading 12.99 volts.. Maybe its burning something?

Shuluke

rndmheroxx · 08-14-2007, 10:09 AM

okay first off...are you workin in the trunk?? and did you use a fuse?

shuluke · 08-14-2007, 10:10 AM

Yes working in the trunk.. and no i didnt use a fuse.

Venom_5 · 08-14-2007, 10:21 AM

im so confused ... for the cathodes in the trunk, you cant get them to work?

i just installed dual 12" white cathodes in my trunk in about 20 minutes without any problems or having to add any parts

shuluke · 08-14-2007, 10:34 AM

Thats why I am so confused. It didnt take me 10 min to do it.. but they just stop working. Here is the situation.

1st time. I plugged it in a computer to make sure it worked. It did. I then cut the wires and soldered them to a bulb plug and took it to my car to install. I zip tied everything and velcro'd the box on the top and when i plugged it in nothing happened. So i took it out and tested wires/ testing my bulb plug and everything. nothing worked. I took it out and took it inside to test on my computer and it was not working anymore..

2nd. I took it apart and followed the steps exactly as TouringCamry except adding the fuse, thinking maybe when I was soldering I screwed something up. I plugged it in first to make sure i didnt zip tie everything again and it wouldnt work. When i plugged it in, it turned on. I was estatic. So I zip tied everything and velcro'd the box to the top and when i plugged it in again to finally be done with it.. It was not working.. I dont get what I did from one thing to another...

Trust me I understand how to wire things cause my background is in electronics.. It was just really weird. I just figured I will run a bunch of LED's in the back instead cause I am tired of getting these tubes just to die on me. They look cool in the pictures everyone is taking.. but it just is not working for me. oh well ill post pictures of my LED trunk retro when I get around to making them.

Shuluke