neons

[rollaboy1990]

just want to know how to conect my neon lights so that when i open the door it turns on and wen i close it it turns off i have a 2004 toyota corolla

[Guest]

If you *must* install neons, and want them to come on with the doors you will need ;

The neons themselves

Wire (duh)

a SPST relay

spade/bullet/whatever connectors.

an inline fuse

You will need to locate the door light circuit (e.g wires that are powered up when the doors are open...) and connect the relay to this circut in parallell

You will the need to run a positive wire from somewhere that is always on (you will need to fuse this line) and connect that to one side of the relay's switch

then install your neons where ever you want them and connect them all in parallell.

Run a wire from the other side of the relay switch to the positive of your neons, and then a ground wire to the negative.

The neons should then switch on when the doors are opened.

You could also put a normal switch in parallell with the relay so you can operate the neons with the doors closed.

[DJKOR]

If you have changed your dome light over to LED's, you can cut out the relay completely seeing that neons do not draw much current. That said, a relay circuit would be optimal, and I would recommend using one if I was to provide any advice. If you know what you are dealing with, then that's your call.

The way I would do it is as follows:

1) Find the wires that lead up to your dome light exclusively. You should have three of them. All Toyota's are pretty much the same in the respect that they are ground switching, but you should test with a multimeter first before making any final connections. The following assumes you are dealing with ground switching. My SV21 Camry was like this as is my Aurion, so I would imagine the Corolla being the same. Attached is a diagram of the Corolla wiring, and it appears to be the same. As I said though, test before connecting.

2) Of the three wires going to the dome light, one will be constant +12v. This can be used to power your neons directly, or will connect directly to one side of a relay coil. Your choice there. Your decision will be based on your research.

3) The other two wires will be for ground. One will be a constant ground and the other will be grounded only when a door is open. You can test this with a multimeter. Just be aware that the one that is grounded when the door is opened can also possibly be +12v when the door is closed. Just remember this when testing them as this may confuse some.

4) I would then get a SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw) switch with a 'centre = off' position and use this to control your neons. The common (typically the centre connection) connection of the switch connects to the negative side of your neons or the other side of the relay coil. Then one of the switch connections goes to the constant ground of the dome light, and the other connection of the switch goes to the switched ground of the dome light.

From here, you are done if you connected directly to your neons, or if you went via a relay, you just have to finish wiring it like Mick has mentioned above.

With this, when the switch is in the centre postion your neons will always be off, when the switch is in on of its end positions your neons will always be on, and in the other position your neons will come on whenever a door is open.

If you don't understand what I've been going on about, seek the assistance of someone who does.