UnderDash lighting, Help me wire it !! Options

[NaderG]

i Need help with wirring my under dash lights , plz be as detailed as possible and a couple of pics would be superb !! , i already asked a couple of ppl on PM but the answers werent detailed enough and i felt lost so please help me out , thanks !

[Akira_g4]

like neons? then its easy. just tap into the green wire from the cigarette lighter, ground the other wire to chasis, then mount the neons somehow underneath the dash. id get pics but its late, i can get some pics of mine tomorrow after work if u want.

This post has been edited by Akira_g4: Jun 19, 2007 - 2:21 AM

[NaderG]

This sounds really easy ! , can u explain how to "tap" into a wire ? and some pics would sure be good , thank you

[Jaws4God]

I ran mine to a constant power (ran my own wire) and just did a switch. that way at shows I don't have to have my key in or parking lights on.

[NaderG]

I would prefere if they just turn on/off with the rest of the interior lights , i am having trouble figuring out to wire it ground ...

[NaderG]

How do i qire it to ground ?? anybody ?

[CelicaST_CALI]

Yea im kinda thinking of kinda putting some neon above the pedlas and under the glove box and other places i decide.So theres a way to wire the neons to a switch?i dont think i would do it if they came on when i turned the headlights were turned on..Any idea on a good company and a diagram or pictures?

This post has been edited by CelicaST_CALI: Jun 20, 2007 - 7:38 PM

[goferris]

How do i qire it to ground ?? anybody ?

easy, you drill a hole in your floor panel, make sure you grind it down to bare metal and screw it on. not too hard.

[NaderG]

How do i qire it to ground ?? anybody ?

easy, you drill a hole in your floor panel, make sure you grind it down to bare metal and screw it on. not too hard.

Any other way ? that doesnt incluse drilling holes ?

[goferris]

How do i qire it to ground ?? anybody ?

easy, you drill a hole in your floor panel, make sure you grind it down to bare metal and screw it on. not too hard.

Any other way ? that doesnt incluse drilling holes ?

you can always just route some wire to an existing gound and tap into it but that doesn't sound like it would be any fun. do you have an amp in the car? if so you can route a wire to the ground there. other than that i think you would need to drill.
sorry

[NaderG]

alright , i guess i have to drill. thanks for the help

[CelicaST_CALI]

any idea on my question?

[beastman]

any idea on my question?

Ok here is how i did it on my car. I will try to explain in the easiest terms i can. go to home depot or some similar home improvement store and look for a power distribution block like this one:



Then run one wire attached directly to the battery to a switch inside of your car. I put my switches here:



Run another wire from the other pole on the switch to one end of the distribution block. then make "jumper cables" to go from the first screw (where you connected the wire from the switch) to the next screw..etc. like in the picture (the red wires). Now all of those screws on the opposite side of the block are live. So, just cut off the cigarette lighter plug attached to the neon, strip down the wire and connect the positive to one of the open screws on the distribution block. This way all of your neons hooked up to that block will turn on at the same time and you will be able to have them on without your car running because it has a hard line right to the battery.

You can also do a similar setup for the ground but just bypass the switch part. Just connect the wire to a ground and then jump off of that along the block. And once you do this your neons should glow like this:



Any questions PM me or post on here and i will try and help.

This post has been edited by beastman: Jun 21, 2007 - 12:34 AM

[CelicaST_CALI]

ok in about a few months i will pm u and get all the real directions cause ima defintly do this .

[NaderG]

hey i stil dont want to drill a whole in my floor ... any other way to wire it to ground ?

[CelicaST_CALI]

y is driling so bad?just drill and put some bondo or something in the hole,or of course u can ducktape it!!!lol

[Akira_g4]

I have mine wrapped around a screw, thats how i ground mine, works fine for me.

[cnelson]

your making it harder than it is with the home depo idea..

please note: this is not the only way to do it. this way your parking lights, or your headlights MUST be switched on.. (yes there are differant ways without useing them) however this is also the safest because you add a fuse, it will help incase soming shorts, or there is a bad gound.

My setup:

led's under seats, under dash, and in vents, and couple other places..

Tools needed:
wire, (one roll of red and one roll of black, small gague like 16)
wire striper (makes things easier)
add-a-fuse mini from any auto store
a switch if you want but not nessary..

Install:

1) open your inside fuse box.. find the one for the parking lights (i don't remeber the number)
A. Rmove the fuse from there..
B. place the 'add-a-fuse mini' than put the old fuse and a new fuse of the same size in

2) put your lights where you want em..

3) Take the red wire, and connect one end to your positive line on your lights, and one end to the line coming off the 'add-a-fuse'

4) Take the black wire and connect it to the negitives on your lights, than the other end to a UNPAINTED piece of metal in the car for the groud.

5) THIS STEP IS IF YOU WANT THEM ON A SWITCH
You would run the positve wire to the 'acc' line on the switch and the line coming from the 'add-a-fuse' would go to the postive end on the switch, and than the negtive line from the swtich to a UNPAINTED piece of metal.

now, when you have your lights switched on, you can have the interor light s turned on, or have them off if you installed the swtich.

Hving Troblue?
when i first did this, make sure you have GOOD ground.. because your lights won't come on if you don't have a very good ground.

I'll make this more in-depth with pics later, it took me only 3 minutes to write this.

-cnelson.

This post has been edited by cnelson: Jun 22, 2007 - 5:49 AM

[beastman]

i agree that that is a good way of doing it but the original question was how to keep the lights on while the car is off for shows and stuff. That is why i have my lights the way i do. A long time ago i had them connected the way you have it, but i wanted to option to have my lights on even when the car was off. I havent had any problems with shorts or anything of that matter. BTW 8 gauge wire is pretty thick stuff. Thats for running amplifiers and stuff. I would recommend 16ga. wire will work fine.

hey i stil dont want to drill a whole in my floor ... any other way to wire it to ground ?

Just unbolt one of the bolts for your seat and put you ground wire on there, or inside of the fender, or on your front strut bolts. Any of those will work as a ground.

This post has been edited by beastman: Jun 21, 2007 - 10:39 PM

[NaderG]

is there any way to "test" the ground, or just plug and see if it turn on ? would they blowburn if i do that ?