I am about to install some neons under my dash. I want the neons to come on when I open my door, and I also want to have a switch. What kind of switch do I need to buy, I was thinking of going to Radio Shack. Thanks for the Info.

 

bump

 

Hmm,, well, fint he wire that hooks up into the dome light. When you open the door it will be on, then you can add the toggle so you can turn it on and off if youd like,

Find the wire, and just tap it in

 

You'll need a single-pole, double-throw switch (SPDT)...center-off is optional.

The switch should have 3 leads on the bottom. Connect the middle one to the power (or ground) of your neons. One side fo the switch should connect to power (ground) that is always connected...this will allow you to turn the neons on whenever you want. The other side of the switch should connect to something thats only on when the doors are open. I tapped the wire to the little ring that light up around the ignitioin key hole, but I used some of those radio-shack wire taps and the connection is loose...I've gotta go in there and just solder it now (as well as some other places I've used those wiretaps.. ). That should to the trick...you just have to decide if the switch is going to be switching 12V or Ground..and dont mix them up

HTH

 

zboy,

by "single-pole, double-throw switch (SPDT)",,,do you mean a relay, or just like a toggle switch??

you say the middle pole to the (+) of the neon, and one side of switch to a power always on,,,,maybe like straight to the battery??

then for the ground(-) of the neon,,,did you just ground it out to the car??

when you tapped into the little ring thing, what wire did you go to, (+) or (-)??

I think if I go with the (+) on the neon to the middle pole on the switch, then straight to the battery with one side of the switch, with the other side of the switch I should be able to connect (tap into) to the (+) wire on the little ring light. Does this sound like how you have yours hooked up? If not, do you have any diagrams??

Thanks for any help.....DMAN

 

I just meat a toggle switch..thats the kind you want..it'll give you 2 positions...in either of the 2 positions, only 2 of the 3 pins will be connected. A center off would allow none of the pins to be connected.

Well, I was saying positive, but the reason I also mentioned negative is because I think the car switches the negative lead on and off..not the positive lead. (i.e., if you were to put a volt meter between the positive lead to the dome light and the ground of the car, you'd measure 12 volts all the time).

I think what I did was connect the middle lead of the switch to the negative wire for the lights, and then connected one side of the switch to ground, and the other side of the switch to a switched ground (like the dome light or keyhole light or something). That way in one position ground will always be connected, and in the other ground will only be connected when that light is switched on. There should be a place under the dash to grab 12V from for the + terminal without going through the firewall. One of the power leads to the stereo always gets power even when the car is off...I forget offhand if anything else does. But the neon lights shouldn't draw enough current to blow the fuse or anything.

Hopefully that's a little clearer..if not, I'll double check what I did and check the FSM too

-zach

 

Thanks zboy,

I know about the negative switch thing, cause I have a neon in my trunk right now hooked up through the negative switch on the trunk (trunk open -- light on,,,,,,,,trunk closed -- light off).

I thought I understood what you were saying about the connections, but your explanation made it clearer. Check your stuff out if you get a chance, and just drop a line if it's different than you said, but I think that will work.

Thaks Again.....DMAN