I recently bought a set of redline neon underbody lights, Im not sure of the model number but they are the ones that have a controll box to set to fade with engine rev, music and what not. Anyhow I got them all hooked up, but couldn't get them to work with the box, so I decided to ditch the box and just hook them up to a switch. Well I ran a wire from the positive of the battery to a switch and then to the positive of the transformers, then negative of the battery to the negative of the transformers. The only problem I had was the 42 (?) inch ones were only lighting half way. I figured I could deal with it, so I ran all the wires in the car and hooked everything up but now when I flip the switch they only come on for about a half a second then go off. (I have the transformers the lights are hooked up to in my trunk, and I ran the wires outside the car to the transformers first to make sure they would work before I tore the carpet up and ran them inside.) It is weird because they would stay on before I put the wires inside of the car, only with the long ones just lighting half way. I know my connections are good or they wouldn't come on at all. Only thing I can think of that I changed is I used about an extra 2 feet of 16 gauge to hook up the switch inside the car. Im not sure if the extra 2 feet of wire woud make the current get too low by the time it gets to the transformers. (All wiring is 16 gauge, which goes to about 6 inches from the transformers, then splits to the 2 transformers power wires which are 16 gauge also, same with negative.) Just wondering if anyone could give me some input on what could be wrong here, and what I could do to fix it. Also, is it a bad idea to have that set up with them, connected directly to the battery through a switch?? Sorry, I'm kinda new to stuff like this. Thanks.
Your neon flash question is really similar to mine?? The underglows I just did do the same thing, they flash for a second and go right off. Someone has to know about this . . .
jcondo wrote:...Well I ran a wire from the positive of the battery to a switch and then to the positive of the transformers, then negative of the battery to the negative of the transformers.....
I had a problem like this when hooking up my amp. It would come on for a sec or two then go off. It neded up being the ground. A switch normaly has 3 connections: (+),(-), and (acc).
You need a wire going from the (+) of the switch to the (+) of your battery. You also need a wire going from the (-) of the switch to the (-) of the battery. And a wire going from the (acc) to the transformer/neon. You will also need a ground going from the neon (if it has one) or transformer to the battry or a paintless spot on the car's body.... perfreblly a lower portion of the car.
This may help, when electronics come on then off it is usally a ground problem.
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"Laying in bed one night, I said "Where did I go worng?". Then I heard a voice say "This is going to take a while..."
Thanks, I figured out some things tho in the past few days, 1. I dont need a relay since it is directly from batt. to switch to transformer pos. and not through any fuses (as Exodus 259 said his buddy's was hooked up). Not ground, spent like 2 hours doing continuity test and testing several grounds and it was all ok. So, I'm not sure what exactly it is but in about 3 days when I have a whole day off work im going to un hook everything and retest it as I put it in one step at a time... Like every single move I make from testing lights to battery outside to mounting everything inside and all that and get VERY detailed since someone else has the same problem... so Exodus 259 check back in like 3-4 days and if I get it figured out I will at least say what my problem was and it may be of use to you since there is not many responses... I WILL get it figured out... Hopefully...
Just be sure (if using a switch and no transfomer) that you have:
1x (+) from batt to switch
1x (-) from batt ground to switch
1x (+) from switch to neon
1x (-) from neon to batt ground (if neon has a ground and power wire)
Let us know how it goes, Good Luck !
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"Laying in bed one night, I said "Where did I go worng?". Then I heard a voice say "This is going to take a while..."
Justin Moore wrote: A switch normaly has 3 connections: (+),(-), and (acc).
You need a wire going from the (+) of the switch to the (+) of your battery. You also need a wire going from the (-) of the switch to the (-) of the battery. And a wire going from the (acc) to the transformer/neon. You will also need a ground going from the neon (if it has one) or transformer to the battry or a paintless spot on the car's body.... perfreblly a lower portion of the car.
Only if it's a lighted switch. A normal SPST switch has 2 connections.
-Chris
dont forget a fuse bro....................
do the neons have a ballast or relay?
if they do check those out of the bad ground thing doesnt solve it.
Injection is nice but id rather be BLOWN!
Yes, I had power going from (+) battery to (+) switch.. well from the inline fuse for my audio power to (+) switch not directly the battery (Sorry I said not through fuses but I ment the cars fusebox). Then from (+) switch to transformers (spst switch) then from (-) batt. to (-) transformers. It is really weird because I was getting power to transformers, had good ground, and all connections were very secure. I really dont think transformers are bad, because they worked outside when testing and once I moved them inside they stopped. Also there are 2 transformers, one for the 48 " lights and one for the 36 " lights. So if one transformer would stop working the other still would work. It would be very odd for both transformers to just stop working withing the 2 hours for me to install and mount and test. Lights go from transformer - one light - other light - back to transformer, no other wiring grounding or anything. Transformers connect into one line, so one line for power and ground. Tomorrow Im going to retest, then mount transformers behind glove box, and see if that will help. I will be getting rid of about 4 feet of power and ground wire so there will be less resistance and voltage drop to get to transformers. Hopefully that will help because that is the only thing I could think it would be. Thanks for all the help, could still use any suggestions incase that dont work.
From what I have been told, less wire is better so cutting off 4 feet is a good idea... also what gauge wire are you using?
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"Laying in bed one night, I said "Where did I go worng?". Then I heard a voice say "This is going to take a while..."
It's all 16 gauge wiring.
Ok, retested everything, now lights are only lighting half way when connected to battery, Is it possible my battery just doesn't have enough juice to power them?? Just would like to know before I go and upgrade to an optima or something. Thanks.
