Wiring neons...Hardwire vs. stock?

[matty00pro]

Hey,

I am wiring some exterior neon lights, and was thinking of just hardwiring a Auxilary power source outlet and then putting a switch in the dash.
Is there any drawbacks to doing this, or should i just use the stock cigarette outlet? Would there be any negative effects on the battery? Kind of wanted to keep the inside cig. outlet useable, and uncluttered (multi-pack).

Any help/input would be helpful.
Thnx

 

[DaViper]

Hey,

I am wiring some exterior neon lights, and was thinking of just hardwiring a Auxilary power source outlet and then putting a switch in the dash.
Is there any drawbacks to doing this, or should i just use the stock cigarette outlet? Would there be any negative effects on the battery? Kind of wanted to keep the inside cig. outlet useable, and uncluttered (multi-pack).

Any help/input would be helpful.
Thnx

Check out this how-to I wrote a while ago about wiring interior neons:
http://www.msprotege.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44332

I personally recommend wiring the neon controller/inverter straight to the battery so that you can turn them on and off even when the car's power is off and the keys aren't in the ignition. Like you said, if you hardwire the neons you also don't have to use up your cigarettle lighter plug. If you want to use a power distribution block that has a cigarette lighter plug, and hardwire it to the battery, just cut off the plug on the end of the power wire, and wire the positive and negative wires to the appropriate battery terminals. There are several ways to do this basically, but feel free to take advantage of the how-to I wrote to hopefully make the install a little easier.

Thanks!
-DaViper

 

[sam1]

ive had my 7 neons hardwired to the battery for several months now, and it is sooo much better than using those stupid cig lighter plugs. i put a little led switch on the left side of the dash where the stock switches are. much nicer, plus i can use my right cupholder without unplugging my neons. they are much brighter now too. no drawbacks really, except that you have to remember to shut them off before you get out. but its not too bad if you forget. ive left mine on overnight on accident once and my car still started right up cuz they draw such little power. if anything tho, you can always take the center console out to access the cig lighter wires and just splice into them, so that they turn on and off with the car, but youll still be able to use the lighter.

 

[1sty]

I'd use a relay and a switch and hard wire it. THis gives you all the current you'll need, no worries about plug adater BS and nothing will be seen.

When I had mine wired up I had the stereo's remote wire trigger a realy. The realy then when to a switch. This way, if the car was off, the neon would be too. Likewise with the radio being on. Also the switch was there for when I didn't want the lights on whne the radio was on.

Its actualy easy to do. You don't have to use a radios remote circuit you can use the accessory circuit of the car. Heres how.
Under the dash in the main key ingition harness you will find the cars main accessory wire. It is black/white and is a large gauge wire. Tap onto this wire. Then run that to terminal 30 and 85 of a standard automotive SPDT relay. You can get them at an autoparts store or radio shack for $5. Attach a wire to terminal 86 that goes to the switch. Ground the other wire to the switch. Attach a neons power wire to terminal 87. Ground the neons negative wire.

Pic:

Wired like this, the car must be atleast on accessory and the switch has to be active for the neons to come on. The neons can not be activated with the car off this way. Howeve, you can use the switch to active them when the car is off with a bit of a wiring change.