I'm thinking of getting some neon bulbs to put in my trunk and someone mentioned wiring it to my amp. how do i go about doing this, or should i not do it, and just wire it to something else? i have a rockford fosgate 400w amp w/ 2 RF subs. what should i do?

 

Well, make sure the neon bulbs (tube lights) are 12V-DC. Just wire them to your 12V+ "turn on" signal wire (sorry i forget what it's really called.. basically it's the wire that is connected to ure HU that triggers the amp to turn on) that goes to your amp so that way they will turn on whenever you have your sound system on. Good luck.

 

Yeah just splice the power wire into the remote turn on wire going to the amp. Also make sure you have a good ground for the other wire. I have blue neons glowing from behind my RF 800a2 and it looks pretty good.

-Tom

 

You have to be careful when wiring to the amp turn on lead of your stereo. If you pull too much power from it, you can fry your head unit. I did this in my last car and the techs at Crutchfield suggested I use a relay. It was about $10 and worked fine, the only problem was the click when I turned it on. Another thing to think about is that the transformer for the neon can introduce noise on in your system. In my new Max I opted to have separate power and switch for it.

 

Hey,

From my understanding the remote wire (blue in most cases), sends a signal to the amp telling it to turn on when the headunit is turned on...but it does not supply power. That is why you have a "POWER WIRE" running from your battery directly to the power terminal on your amp, not the remote terminal. I could be completely wrong, but that's just what I would assume from looking at how an amp is wired (but you know what they say about assumptions...)

If it were my car, and I wanted to do what you want to, this is what I would do...

Get all of the neons that you want to hook up, mount them however you like, and run all of the black wires to a universal ground (i.e. a screw in the trunk), then connect all of the red wires to one long power wire and hookup a switch somewhere in the cabin of the car.

You do have another option. I have one blue 12" neon tube in my trunk, mounted to the top, completely out of sight, and it replaces the ugly yellow trunk light. It comes on when you open the trunk. Just something to think about...

 

Well, then you'll have to worry about the switch... which you'd probably want to run all the way up to the front of your car. The reason why you could use the "remote turn-on" wire for the amp is so that it turns on only when the amp is powered, and also he doesn't have to worry about wires running all the way up to the car.

 

Nadir, I see what you're saying, but you make it seem like his car is a 150 foot yacht, and running one extra 18 gauge piece of wire to the front of the car is an all day affair, (it will take 5 minutes). You're already running the blue remote wire to the front, so what's one more 18 gauge wire???

Also, if you run the power wire from neon to the remote wire (I still don't think it will supply the power needed to run the amp), then every time you turn your HU on, it will turn the neons on. I only want my neons to be showing and glowing when the trunk is open. Your wasting power, and running down neon life if its turned on all of the time. Installing a switch is a 10 minute job, at most, and then you can control the neons and only turn them on if somebody is actually looking in your trunk. Or if you don't want to "run wires all throughout your car" hook it up to the trunk light, and take that little bulb out. I'm just saying that I would not splice into the remote wire, nor would I have it running on the same current as the amp!

 

BidspayMax is correct! You should NOT tap into the remote turn on wire whatsover other than what its sole purpose is for...to TURN ON the amps. You can permanently damage the headunit if installed incorrectly. I believe every headunit on the market tells you this in their instructions! When running alot of options in your system, yes, it is best to run a relay.

 

Ok use a relay to do this.
the 5 pin relay has pin numbers, 87, 87a, 30, 85, and 86.

Do it like this
87=12 volts positive power
87a=nothing
30=output to the positive lead of the neon light
85=lead from remote turn on (blue wire)

 

I've installed about 2 dozen sets of neons in or on my maxima in the past, and I have no clue what those numbers mean, or what you are telling this guy to do, but it seems overly complicated. I've found that the best advice when installing neons, or other electronic equipment in your car is to keep it VERY simple, infact, OVERLY SIMPLE!

Either hook it to a switch, or the light in your trunk...Done!

 

Yeah but im assuming he wants to get the neons to run when the amp is turned on or when the trunk is open. You way would most certainly work. Just a word, put the load after the switch on the on the positive lead, not on the ground lead.

 

..make sure that you fuse it. If you decide to go with a switch from the front, and a direct power to it - it should have a fuse. You can tap off an existing wire that has a fuse (although that could overload it) or better yet run a 16 ga. wire from your battery to a swich with a fuse on it near the batter as you would do for your amp. The neons pull very little (about .5 amps for 20" tube) but you don't want a stray wire grounding out in your dash or engine compartment!

 

thanks guys... readin all this stuff worries me about wiring it to the remote wire (which was my initial guess) and i had thought about wiring it to the trunk light so it turns on when the trunk opens, but i think i'm gonna keep it simple and just wire it to my ground effect lights and control the on off from the front of the car :x thank you though.

 

If it helps any, the neons I have in my sub box are hooked up to the tilt switch in the trunk. I also installed a switch in-line if I choose not to turn them on automatically when the trunk is opened. I had these installed for almost 8 years of owning my Max and NEVER had a problem. Another option is to hook the neons to your light switch so that they turn on with the lighting circuit. This way, this will save you time if you don't want to wire a switch all the way up to the front. Keep it simple and you'll be fine.

 

a relay is definately the best answer.. 86 is ground, btw..

here's mine: http://dropkick.trouble-free.net/~tl/remoterelay.jpg

 

Well the remote wire from the head unit does send a signal to the device. However the current on the signal is not intended to power neons. As others have said before you definately need a relay.

 

Why not use 2 relays wired in series? The first relay would be connected to the amp-turn-on wire. Then connect the output of that relay to the next relay. The trigger wire for the 2nd relay would be the light bulb in the trunk. That way, the neons are only on when the amps are on AND the trunk lid is open (trunk light comes on). I know it's a little more complex than the other posts, but this will ensure that you don't waste power or the neons themselves.

 

great idea studman..

 

bidspaymax, so basically you tapped power from the trunk dome light for the 12" neon? and that was sufficient?

 

Hmm... that's a good idea... i may PM you sometime next month when i stop spending on performance stuff for my car and do that to see if u can explain to me fully how to do it ty

 

Yes, absoluetly, more than sufficient. I've had the neon in there for well over 6 months, infact, probably closer to a year, and it is still going strong. It goes on only when the trunk is open, and does a sufficient job lighting the entire trunk. Tomorrow I'll take pictures and post them (Friday, 11/1). Thanks.