neon project
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Lights, Neon, LEDs, HIDs
Forum Discription: Under Car Lighting, Strobe Lights, Fog Lights, Headlights, HIDs, DRL, Tail Lights, Brake Lights, Dashboard Lights, WigWag, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=2429
Printed Date: July 21, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Topic: neon project
Posted By: Pezzonovante1
Subject: neon project
Date Posted: August 01, 2002 at 11:35 PM
I've never done any car wiring but have a good knowledge of basic electronics so here's what i want to do: i have a 4 neons i want to hook up to a box of switches. there's a master power switch for this box and then a switch for each of the neons. i want to get the power for this "box" from the cigarette lighter (i DO NOT want to tap into my car's wiring (2002 sentra gxe, by the way). i've drawn up a circuit that i need to build for this, but i just need help with a few things. 1. i want to hook up a blue LED for each individual switch that goes on, when that switch is on. i can only get 5v LEDs, and i have no idea how many amps go through the cigarette lighter (anyone have any idea?) once i figure that out, i need to know what size resistor i should put before this LED so it won't burn out? (i will need 1 resistor for each LED, not 1 for all 4) 2. is there any safety precaution i should use, such as a fuse or will the one in the fuse panel suffice?
Replies:
Posted By: sparkyssb
Date Posted: August 02, 2002 at 11:46 AM
neons dont draw much power, so i am told  , so your amperage should be pretty low...i would probably assume that it a 10 or 15 amp fuse should work. but then again, that still may be too high.
Posted By: curtishaynes
Date Posted: August 02, 2002 at 3:45 PM
Is this an under car kit? If so you don't need a seperate switch. I have on my car an under car kit, 4 -10 inch tubes in side the passenger compartment, 2 10-inch under the hood, and another under car kit in the trunk, and I have had them on for 5 hours or more and it doesn't drain the battery(car is off)
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txblockbeater
Posted By: crroush
Date Posted: August 02, 2002 at 10:06 PM
Use a 1k resistor behind each LED. Also, usually the car cig lighters are fused between 15 and 20A (depending on make and model of the car, check your fuse panel, this will be the absolute max) If you are tapping the power to run separate circuits, it is always a good idea to fuse it so you don't burn up your circuitry, for your application I would use a 15A fuse (inline) from your tapped cig lighter wire. You should always be aware of the load you are putting on the cig lighter. If you decide to use a radar detector, cell phone charger etc from the cig lighter, it may draw to much current and pop your fuse. Craig
Posted By: installbat
Date Posted: November 10, 2002 at 2:45 PM
You are always better off grabbing power from main 12v source at mainignition harness and run a separate 10-15anp fuse on this accessory to be safe. Even though the cig. lighter circuit already has a fuse, its best to isolate accessories in case of a problem with either. Also run run a switch after the fuse to turn on and off in case switch fails. Fuse should be no more than 6 inches from source.
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chattenuc
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