Relay for Interior Neon

I have neons in my car that are hooked up to my door pin so that when I open my doors the neons light up. However, I want to be able to use a toggle switch that will allow me to turn the lights on at my own free will, or have them turn on with the door pin (in other words, when the toggle switch is "on," the neons turn on regardless of the door pin position, and when the switch is "off," the neons will turn on only when the door pin is activated). Could someone please tell me how to hook up a relay switch to do this? Or maybe I'm using the wrong piece of hardware for the job. Thanks.

Again: When switch is "on," the neons are on no matter what,

            When switch is "off," the neons will turn on with the activation  of the door pin.

I'm not sure how to go about incorporating the door pin switch but I do know how to hook up a relay for a toggle switch.

PIN 86 = line in from switch

PIN 85 = Ground

PIN 87 = Constant 12v fused

PIN 30 = Out to Neons.

I don't know if this would work but if your door pins have a positive output then splice that wire and run a wire to pin 86 also.  When the door opens then it sends the power to the relay, acting as the switch and turns it on.  By flipping on the switch that would keep them on.  Like I said before I'm not too sure if this will work, so you can fiddle around and see what comes up, let me know what happens.

I'm not that knowledgable of relays. I have installed many things, fog lamps, neons, etc. but have never used any relays before. But thanks for your reply, it sounds like it will work, and I have it all figured out in my head (what you said). The only problem, and it's a dumb question, but how do I test for a positive output on the doorpin? Can I use a testlight and connect the + wire of the test light to one of the doorpin wires and the - wire of the test light to the ground?? Would this be the correct way to check for a positive output?

My only concern with what you're describing is that I will blow a fuse. I tried to connect my switch to the neons AND the doorpin so that I would have an "On/door" activated switch, but I ended up blowing a fuse. Could this be because I hooked my neons up to the ground of the doorpin so that whenever the door opens, the ground is activated? When I tried to switch the two, I had the neons connected to the ground of the doorpin, and the switch connected to a constant ground. Could this have caused the problem?

One more last thing if you don't mind. If I don't have a positive output on my doorpin, what would you suggest doing to solve my problem?

Thank you

well your car uses negative door triggers so you will take the door triger wire and put it to pin 85 ,pin 86 will be constant twelve volts,pin 87 will also be constant twelve volts, and pin 30 will be the output to your positive wire to the neons transformer. now you can just wire your switch right in to the positive neons wire after the relay connection.

see how that works

I connect the switch to pin 87, but what do I do about pin 86? Does that just stay as is, or do I connect something to that too? I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this, so if you could maybe draw me a diagram, it would help immensely. Thanks for your help though.

ok you want to take a wirer from a constant source of twelve volts and run it to pin 87 now take another piece of wire and conect pin 87 with pin 86 yes conect bothe pin 86 and pin 87 together.

now pin 85 will be going to your negative door trigger.

pin 30 will go to your neons positive laed

now about that switch you want to add well conect one wire from it to pin 87 and

connect the other side of the switch to the wire coming off of pin 30

and heres how it will work when the door is opened in the car pin 87 and pin 30 will connect turning on the light and when you shut the door the light will go off but when you flip your switch you added it will come back on and stay on till you turn the switch off.

i hope you understand if not i will draw it for you ok good luck.this is probably the least complicated way of doing this that is why im telling you do wire the relay this way good luck,hope you get it .

Ok, I got one more annoying question, cuz my electronics knowledge has decreased. I know you mentioned using a diode for something, where do I put the diode and how do I line it up (with the positive and negative). And I bought diodes that can hold 12V, so should that work? Thanks

you dont need a relay just add your switch, send a good source of power like the battery to it ,use a 14 gauge wire ,or maybe a 16 and wire all the neons to the switch .neons dont draw much current so a relay would be added work for you .make sure you use a good quality switch one that can handle maybe 10 amps to be on the safe side if you add more neons at a later time. now just ground your neons and your lit. good luck

I wanted to do the same thing. I have a '97 Nissan Altima. I have all the parts I need except the relay. I should get that today, and hopefully, this weekend it will be installed. I was also thinking of using one of those remote transmitters they sell for the fog lights as the switch, so I can push a button and have the interior light up before I approach the vehicle.

I'll also try to get some pictures.

Hey everyone. im 18 years old and i am a total novice when it comes to the world of car electronics but the subject greatly intrests me. currently i have two neons inside my 97 explorer sport, but they are pluged into the cigarette lighter. if anyone could tell me how to premantly install them i would be very greatfull. also i would like to add two more neons under the dash in both the passenger and driver side. a setup like mobiletoys is exactly what im looking for for these lights. i.e. id want them on when the door turns on but off otherwise unless i flip a switch. unfortunatly i know almost nothing about wiring but i would like to attempt to do it myself because the only way to learn is really try. i think its a wonderful hobby and would like to try. if anyone could give me any help it would be greatly greatly appreciated. please email me @ dolphins4@aol.com or reply here.

Thank You

mobiletoys2002, I finally got the chance to hook up my neons the way I wanted, with them turning on when I open the door, or off unless I flip a switch. However, the way that you told me to hook them up only fried the relay, and I'm back to square 1. Here's how I hooked them up, maybe I did something wrong, but I think it's the same as what you told me:

Pin 87: Switch pwr. and constant 12 volt fused
Pin 86: Connected to Pin 87
Pin 30: Switch acc. and neons' positive wire
Pin 85: RED / White Negative door trigger

Other than that, I grounded the neons and the switch, and plugged it all in to see what happened, and all I got was a crackling, and a melted part on the side of the relay. What could I be doing wrong?
       Justin