Underdash Neons setup help

[AUR15]

Hi all, I have a 2007 Corolla (Auris) and I have 4 Blue 12" neons connected to a 4 socket cigerette lighter expander.

I am looking on the net for tips and how to's to run a power cable from the car battery to a Power Distribution Block and then attach the 4 neons to that, and then attach another neon to it in a few months.

I was wondering if any1 knows if I need specific gauge wiring from the battery to the distribution block.

And if anyone has a Power Distribution block to show a pic of what it looks like cos I find one but the guy says it wont work for what I won't it for, but its the one they have on the net? Please me

Thanks,

The Hammer

[JJCRU23R]

ok STOP.

Hammer time!

:P

welcome to TOCAU:)

PM d_ice if he doesnt intro himself into this thread... he should have some knowledge on this stuff.

what colour is the neons?

what colour is your new corolla?

Edited September 5, 2007 by JJCRU23R

[GtiRboy]

hmmmm, don't know too much about this..

But i'd say to find the size of the power cable, i would find the power ratings of each neon, add them up and then you should buy a powercable capable of handling that power - too small a cable, will make heat, heat will most likely burn out your wires and set your car on fire :P

Also, don't forget to put a fuse on this power cable, you don't want a short circuit somewhere that can't be stopped...

Running of power cable - make a neat path through your engine bay with the cable, zip tying it to places or whatnot.. Then you'll have to find a grommet(?) in the firewall to go through, you will see blank ones and also ones with cables going through them.. I have no idea how to put it through with the other cables correctly, probably good for someone else to tell you that. Just make sure the cable isn't going through a hole where there is no rubber around it, the metal edge could wear through the cable causing a short..

And yeah, good luck with your neons!

Hopefully someone else here can clarify - looking at you d-ice :)

[blue_rolla]

typically neons dont take much power... all the ones ive seen have run off ridiculously thin cables...

that said be sure you're running thick enough cable before you start running wires that will catch fire...

[MIIKEY]

iv installed underdash neons in my car's n all i did was tapped into a accessorys wire, and added a switch if iv needed to

ill take pics when i do them to my other car

[AUR15]

Yeah I have a Graphite Corolla with Blue neons in the front and back floor areas with a Green neon going in the boot to match my Fusion Sub and amp (which is going in today )

I have heard of running it off an acc wire, but I wont to do this:

Battery

|

Fuse

|

|

|

|

Switch

|

Distribution Block

|

(5) Neons

[D'Ice]

lol hahaha... they don't call me the Neon/LED King for no reason ;)

okay now you don't need freakin 0guage wiring for neons... they draw BABY power if you know what i mean and LEDs draw even less power so regular speaker wires are more than enough...

don't bother with a distroblock because we're dealing with such a small amount of power... so just solder all your neons in PARALLEL...

instead of connecting the neons to the battery i'd HIGHLY reccomend you connect them to an accessory wire with a switch in series... that way if you turn the car off everything turns off automatically, and when you turn your car on again it all lights up... you also don't have to worry about forgetting to turn off your neons or whatever... BUT... what if you do want your neons on but you don't want to be in the car ie: the keys in your pocket then you'll have to connect the neons to the battery... so there's a compromise... BUT... i have a small idea where you can have both... get yourself a 3way switch (ON-OFF-ON) and wire it up like so...

that way you can switch the neons off by having the switch in the middle position, you can have the neons running off the accessory wire by having the switch in the upper position, and you can have the neons run off the battery by having the switch in the lower position...

i hope this info helps if you need any more help just pm ;)

Edited September 6, 2007 by d_ice

[JJCRU23R]

geez d_ice.. reading your post and viewing your diagram makes me wanna solder something

[D'Ice]

geez d_ice.. reading your post and viewing your diagram makes me wanna solder something

OMG... you must always solder EVERYTHING... i had to learn the hard way... i ended up opening every single panel and redoing it all after a couple of months... it WILL F up after a while if you don't do it right... oh and TRY to heatshrink everything but if you can't then good electrical tape will work

[MIIKEY]

d_ice = can u set up a 3 way switch on a sound system which consists of a amp n headunit?:)

sorry was alittle off the topic but i just had to ask

Edited September 7, 2007 by MIIKEY

[AUR15]

Thanks for info, but im gonna stick with my original idea as it doesn't void my warrenty if I F**k up, but I shouldn't as I am very good at electronics (and my Dad is a Sparke), its just this is my first automotive good and i wanted some alternatives and info, so thanks everyone, I'll post pics as soon as I complete it :)

But I am gonna have a distribution block then off that my amp and neons, so ill use the one fuse near the battery

The Hammer

Edited September 7, 2007 by The Hammer

[JJCRU23R]

are you gonna use the same type of distribution boards that you use when you install more than 1 amp in the car?

or do they come smaller?

i guess you dont wanna tap into any wires.. thats where your scared of voiding warranty?

[D'Ice]

in that case you can either tap into your distro block or run your own wire from the battery but you don't need a distro block for each neon like you can just solder your own wires together... that way you don't even touch the car's stock wires... but yea the only wire you'll need to tap into would have to be the acc wire... i doubt it'll ruin your warranty if done properly (it's just like installing an aftermarket HeadUnit, since when did that void warranty) but anyways at the end of the day the choice is still yours

2c

[AUR15]

Thanks again for the help, the distribution block im gonna get is really small, it doesnt have multiple fuses in it as I already have one near the battery.

Your ideas are all good, but Im not doing it right now, Im just soley working on the head unit replacement and amp installation. So its really easily to put a distribution block in later.

But thanks D_ice, you really are the electric's guy like everyone says.

[D'Ice]

Thanks again for the help, the distribution block im gonna get is really small, it doesnt have multiple fuses in it as I already have one near the battery.

Your ideas are all good, but Im not doing it right now, Im just soley working on the head unit replacement and amp installation. So its really easily to put a distribution block in later.

But thanks D_ice, you really are the electric's guy like everyone says.

lol anytime man... but yea it's really up to you... good luck with it anyway

[AUR15]

Hey all, i've finished my Sound System and im now moving onto my neons now.

Ok here's all the neons I have and Where there going to go

Blue Neons (5) - Under driver, passenger dash and under driver and passenger seat and one under neath headunit.

Green Neon (1) - On Rear parcel shelf out of view

Green LED (2) - Mounted in boot to light up sub

Little Green LED (1) - Some where useful I guess?

I have everything set up ready for it but the only Problem I have is how am I going to power them all? I want them to be attached to the battery and need to be able to have the Boot neons on 1 switch and the rest on another switch??

Any help would be appriciated!!!!

[MIIKEY]

Hey all, i've finished my Sound System and im now moving onto my neons now.

Ok here's all the neons I have and Where there going to go

Blue Neons (5) - Under driver, passenger dash and under driver and passenger seat and one under neath headunit.

Green Neon (1) - On Rear parcel shelf out of view

Green LED (2) - Mounted in boot to light up sub

Little Green LED (1) - Some where useful I guess?

I have everything set up ready for it but the only Problem I have is how am I going to power them all? I want them to be attached to the battery and need to be able to have the Boot neons on 1 switch and the rest on another switch??

Any help would be appriciated!!!!

with ur Rear neons for the hatch , open ur light thats in the back, figure out what wire is what and then run it off that, iv got 2 24" blue neons running off the 1 light

hope it gives u a little idea

[AUR15]

Hey all, i've finished my Sound System and im now moving onto my neons now.

Ok here's all the neons I have and Where there going to go

Blue Neons (5) - Under driver, passenger dash and under driver and passenger seat and one under neath headunit.

Green Neon (1) - On Rear parcel shelf out of view

Green LED (2) - Mounted in boot to light up sub

Little Green LED (1) - Some where useful I guess?

I have everything set up ready for it but the only Problem I have is how am I going to power them all? I want them to be attached to the battery and need to be able to have the Boot neons on 1 switch and the rest on another switch??

Any help would be appriciated!!!!

with ur Rear neons for the hatch , open ur light thats in the back, figure out what wire is what and then run it off that, iv got 2 24" blue neons running off the 1 light

hope it gives u a little idea

Can someone please give me an idea please, I need to know how to power all the neons

Looking towards the D_Ice man for some advice :D

[poohbear]

Hey all, i've finished my Sound System and im now moving onto my neons now.

Ok here's all the neons I have and Where there going to go

Blue Neons (5) - Under driver, passenger dash and under driver and passenger seat and one under neath headunit.

Green Neon (1) - On Rear parcel shelf out of view

Green LED (2) - Mounted in boot to light up sub

Little Green LED (1) - Some where useful I guess?

I have everything set up ready for it but the only Problem I have is how am I going to power them all? I want them to be attached to the battery and need to be able to have the Boot neons on 1 switch and the rest on another switch??

Any help would be appriciated!!!!

with ur Rear neons for the hatch , open ur light thats in the back, figure out what wire is what and then run it off that, iv got 2 24" blue neons running off the 1 light

hope it gives u a little idea

Can someone please give me an idea please, I need to know how to power all the neons

Looking towards the D_Ice man for some advice :D

Get a multimeter, measure the amp draw for all of them to power up, i'm sure they don't require a separate power direct from the battery...

with regards to the powering of them, you have a few options,

you can find the 12V wire behind the cig plug (which should be always ON), and find the + and - wire. Simply wire them parallel with a soldering iron/solder and some wires and you're set. Make you you buy the correct gauge wire depending on the amps.

For the rear boot, just use the stock bulb wiring, i'm sure those filament bulbs draw way more power than your LEDs.

hope this helps.

[Mopp]

Wiring the boot ones is easy, there will be wires for the lights that come on in the boot, from the switch at the back, just tap into that, then when you open the boot, on they come!

for the others, you said you wanted to run straight off battery, all you need to do is run a wire throught the fire wall! :P

[D'Ice]

i'v got LEDs in my sub box that turn on WITH the boot light... so all i did was connect them in parallel to the boot light... that way the LEDs only turn on when you open the boot (that way you don't need a switch for it)...

now with the interior lights... do you want them on the whole time with a switch... or do you want them connected so as soon as you pull the key out they turn off (switched too)???

if it's option A then just connect the neons together in parallel and power them on from behind the headunit... tap into the 'memory' wire of the headunit (yellow on aftermarket hu) then connect a seperate switch in series...

if it's option B then do the same as aption A but instead of connecting it to the 'memory' wire connect it to the 'acc' wire (red on aftermarket hu) and connect a seperate switch in series...

[AUR15]

i'v got LEDs in my sub box that turn on WITH the boot light... so all i did was connect them in parallel to the boot light... that way the LEDs only turn on when you open the boot (that way you don't need a switch for it)...

now with the interior lights... do you want them on the whole time with a switch... or do you want them connected so as soon as you pull the key out they turn off (switched too)???

if it's option A then just connect the neons together in parallel and power them on from behind the headunit... tap into the 'memory' wire of the headunit (yellow on aftermarket hu) then connect a seperate switch in series...

if it's option B then do the same as aption A but instead of connecting it to the 'memory' wire connect it to the 'acc' wire (red on aftermarket hu) and connect a seperate switch in series...

Could I wire it off the Acc wire that is going towards the Amp? Would that work? 7 Neons connected in series (I think) and just make the power lead come off the Acc off the Amp? Would that work??? I worked out all the Neons would have less than 30 Amps

[D'Ice]

wait which acc going to the amp? the blue on or the red one... just to clarify, the blue one isn't the acc wire it's the remote wire... it's only ON when the cd player is on... unlike the acc wire which is ON when the car is on... anyway the remote wire barely carries any power, it just carries a small signal that turns the amp on...

connect all the neons in parallel and connect them to the acc wire behind the cig plug... that'd be your best power source from within the cabin