Neon hookup, power problem please help!

[i3urtonair]

Ok, I got some neons to put under my seats, however ricey you think this may be, I still need some help. A friend of mine told me to just run some wire from the + and - charges on my battery into the car (from the main battery under the hood right into under my dash).

Im not too sure this is safe, the heat in the hood could prolly burn right through my wire right? If thats the case, does anyone know where I can get power from? I have a Gen3. I saw that right under the hood-pop lever there is a bunch of wires, which im guessing are getting power to/from the battery and other things such as the horn etc... Anyone know if its safe to draw power from that? and if so how I would know whats negative and whats positive etc etc..... Appreciate the help, thanks!

I drive a 1996 Gen3 Camry btw

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: i3urtonair on 2002-05-24 19:46 ]</font>

[EKam]

- you can take power from the battery, however you can ground the -ve inside the interior to any part of the car body.
- no it will not burn the wire
- you can also take power from the cigarette lighter, or the radio
- use a volt meter

[tAn_CamRy]

i agree with elegantcam. you should try tappin into another wire, such as a cigarette lighter. im totally freezin up and cant remember how i did my neons but if u want, u can add a switch between the power and the lights so you can control it. and the wires will not melt. i hav a whole bunch of wires from neons under my hood. and for the negative, try groundin it to the firewall or any bare metal thats visible.

[toyota pad won]

you can also tap into your headlight harness, and that will cause no problems. Only thing is, your neon will be on every time you use your lights. I have a friend that has his hooked up that way and it works good.

[EKam]

On 2002-05-28 20:00, toyota pad won wrote:
you can also tap into your headlight harness, and that will cause no problems. Only thing is, your neon will be on every time you use your lights. I have a friend that has his hooked up that way and it works good.

IMO don't think this is a clean way to do it, I'd rather have a separate switch instead.

[toyota pad won]

yeah, you are right, it is best to put in a switch so you will have complete control of your lights

[soundlzrd]

I recomment taking it off an internal sorce becasue my friend almost fried his car when they shorted out and cought fire...or so he says. At any rate, use a fuse and you may also want to look into a relay, stays brighter.

[GreCam96]

well I hooked my neons and they wokr fine... hooked it up to my cig lighter and made a switch with a fuse for each neon. That way if I overload one it will beokie .. the fuse will juz break... okei.. if u got questions.. ask mehh

[EKam]

I think there's already a fuse to the cig lighter. :smile:

[Xenon]

There's no fuse for the cigerette light only I think! It's usually the who instrument lighting or the gauges! But it's always better to seperate exterior components from you car's components..

Gives you a better chance to trouble shoot just in case something happens..

[i3urtonair]

Ok, well turns out the cigarette lighter thing worked...unfortunately i didnt buy streetglows, so the cheap imitation brand (Quest Industries) neons I had didnt work too well... The tranformer/starter thing that you need to start up neon lights was inside the Cigarette lighter adapters, which I had to take apart in order not to use the ugly looking adapters. Little to my knowledge the transformers/starters burned up when they werent incased in the plastic. The company is sending me new neons and transformers and so I'll have to rig up something. As for switches I am goinng to be putting them in my center console.

[soundlzrd]

Well, at least they are helping you out, and sending you new stuff.