Current draw on neon tubes
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=13588
Printed Date: May 21, 2024 at 10:33 AM
Topic: Current draw on neon tubes
Posted By: Blazermedic
Subject: Current draw on neon tubes
Date Posted: May 16, 2003 at 1:44 AM
Does anyone know the current draw on the Streetglow neon 10" tubes? I can't find any info on them (the website is useless) and want to know if I'm gonna need to put a relay on them or not. Thanks!
Cary
Replies:
Posted By: hotrodelectric
Date Posted: May 17, 2003 at 6:09 PM
Well, just out of habit I did use a relay on a set of four (2x36"&2x48"), but if I remember right the fuse they supplied was only a 10A. Judging from that and the wire size, you probably aren't looking at much more than 1.5A per tube. Now, that was on the ones with the individual transformers in the tubes. A simple switching relay is easy to set up anyway.
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: May 19, 2003 at 11:25 PM
Its just about 2 amps per tube. If you go into more detail about the install we can let you know about the relay.
Posted By: Blazermedic
Date Posted: May 20, 2003 at 2:14 PM
It's just 2 10" blue glow tubes that are going to provide ambient light at night for my amps. They're more functional than show, mostly so I can see my controls (gain, etc...) at night without having to turn on the awful stock interior illumination in my S10. I'm going to put them on a switch because I really don't want them on all the time. I'll probably just tap a fuse and run the power from there. You think a relay would work any better or provide more stable power?
Cary
-------------
Posted By: xetmes
Date Posted: May 20, 2003 at 4:11 PM
If your putting in a switch straight from 12V it should be fine, 1.5A @12V isn’t much for just about any switch. If you’re running it off a head unit remote I would definitely put a relay in as most remote outputs are only capable of handling in the hundred mA range (as far as I know) and you need to draw 1500 mA.
Posted By: xetmes
Date Posted: May 20, 2003 at 4:13 PM
what the heck, used notepad, i thought that would work alright :(. ill try again: If your putting in a switch straight from 12V it should be fine, 1.5A @12 isn’t much for just about any switch. If you’re running it off a head unit remote I would definitely put a relay in as most remote outputs are only capable of handling in the hundred mA range (as far as I know) and you need to draw 1500 mA.
Posted By: Blazermedic
Date Posted: May 20, 2003 at 5:29 PM
No way I'd run it off my HU remote wire. I really don't feel like blowing anything up. I'm just gonna tap a fuse somewhere that's way overrated and run the neons off that, and throw a relay on it just for the hell of it. Thanks to xetmes, bberman and hotrodelectric for helping out with this, I really appreciate it!
Cary
-------------
Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: May 22, 2003 at 10:15 AM
There is absolutely no need for a relay. Just tap into a +12 volt source put a switch on that line and then ground your neon’s to the chassis ETC. How do you plan on hooking up this relay and what would be the benefit?
Posted By: Blazermedic
Date Posted: May 23, 2003 at 1:58 PM
I don't know why I added the relay part of my last post. All that post-work drinking must be taking a toll on my logic. I did exactly what you said right after I put up my last post on this topic. I have to stop posting late at night. Thanks though!!!
Cary
-------------
|