Cold Cathodes

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=86538
Printed Date: April 28, 2024 at 4:30 PM

Topic: Cold Cathodes

Posted By: hotmilk400
Subject: Cold Cathodes
Date Posted: December 02, 2006 at 5:27 PM

i bought some cold cathodes off the internet.. they were on sale at XoXide.com for $3.99 for 2 with a transformer (i think they went up to $5.99) well anyway, i spent all day installing them (it was cold too). I have a 1988 Mustang, and i bought 14 ,12 inch tubes. and this is what i got.

[IMG]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/hotmilk400/DSCN0512.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v323/hotmilk400/DSCN0510.jpg[/IMG]

the real thing is ALOT better then the pictures.. .. the car is VERY BRIGHT.. i also got a blue laser light thing for my dome light.. pretty much it was 3 super bright blue LED's in a case, that cost about $1.99 on XoXide.. so let me know how it looks.. i also have 2- 48 inch neon tubes, and 2 - 32 inch neon tubes waiting for me to put them under my car..(got them for $30 new, but the store said that i was lucky if they all worked.. thats why they were so cheap, but they all work) but i have to do that inside a grague or something.. its way to cold outside.. (like 30 or 40 F here)

Replies:

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: December 02, 2006 at 5:30 PM

opps... the pictures did work.. let me put them on again..

posted_image

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: December 02, 2006 at 5:32 PM

yeah i know my sub is erally ilttle (8 inch) but it is loud.. haha.. and plus i only paid like $30 for it.. and the amp i got from a cop for $20 ... but the rest of my speakers are all new , and cost me about $500.. $200 for the radio, and $300 for the 6 speakers... haha.. but i also have a car alarm, (look in the other post for it, i had trouble installing it) and now it works nicly.. when u hit the unlock button to get in the car, all those blue lights light up.. and its kinda nice.. haha

Posted By: killer sonata
Date Posted: December 02, 2006 at 8:42 PM

looks pretty nice. good job.

Posted By: bellsracer
Date Posted: December 04, 2006 at 3:40 AM

Very not bad... However I am SO jealous of you...

A Memphis 8 for only $30... Hook me up!

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Never send your ducks to eagle school.
The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.
The 3Ls of life: Learn from the Past, Live for the Present, Look to the Future.

Posted By: sizzource
Date Posted: December 06, 2006 at 10:55 PM

How did you hook these up? I am interested in doing it on my Ram truck. But I have no idea which wire to splice into. I am dropping a toggle on it though.

Prob splice into my cig lighter, right?

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My Truck Electronics:
- Pioneer DEH-P4800MP HeadUnit w/ Sirius Radio
- Valet 562T Remote Start System

Posted By: j_darling2007
Date Posted: December 07, 2006 at 8:50 AM

Run a fused wire from the battery to a toggle switch and then to the lights would be your best bet.

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There are 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't

Posted By: killer sonata
Date Posted: December 07, 2006 at 8:58 AM

Dont forget to run a relay after the switch before all the cathodes. Depending on how many lights you are connecting, one relay should be able to handle them all.

Posted By: sizzource
Date Posted: December 07, 2006 at 9:19 AM

What does a relay do? I thought all I would need is to just hook it up to a toggle and then to my cig lighter or something instead of running it directly to the battery. This way I wouldn't have drop a fuse in or a relay.

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My Truck Electronics:
- Pioneer DEH-P4800MP HeadUnit w/ Sirius Radio
- Valet 562T Remote Start System

Posted By: kykillerklown
Date Posted: December 23, 2006 at 11:47 PM

sizzource wrote:

What does a relay do? I thought all I would need is to just hook it up to a toggle and then to my cig lighter or something instead of running it directly to the battery. This way I wouldn't have drop a fuse in or a relay.

You would use a relay if you were hooking up several sets of lights. This is done so the draw of power is coming through your relay instead of a toggle switch that may not be able to handle the load. You would have to figure out how many cathodes you are using and see what the total draw of these are. If they are more than the rating of the toggle then you will need to use a relay to power the lights and the toggle to "switch" the relay on. Make sure you use a fuse on all wires from your source to your toggle and from the battery to the relay if you use one.

Good to see a familiar name on here Sizzource.

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: January 15, 2007 at 8:39 AM

you dont need a relay .. my 14 cathodes only draw like 1 amp (they are only 1.5 watts each) its the same almost as a floresent light.. they take next to nothing to run.. yeah..all i did was pull the power from my cig lighter (but i got way to much on it now, i have to pull form the battery) .. haha..i got my car alarm, my sub and amp, and all those light on that cig lighter circuit... one day im going to have to put that on my battery.. but its like 10 degreese outside.. haha.. and i dont wanna freeze..

Posted By: mbaudio06
Date Posted: January 19, 2007 at 12:02 PM

bellsracer wrote:

Very not bad... However I am SO jealous of you...
A Memphis 8 for only $30... Hook me up!

Memphis 8? Nowhere near a mephis, how about MA Audio

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: January 27, 2007 at 2:16 PM

some people have been asking me about how you go about hooking these lights up.. i bought them from a computer store, that had a 4 pin connector on the end... i simply cut that, and the small switch off .. and used the Red wire as the 12V + and the black wire as the 12V - .. if u still want to use the switch, or connector.. see where the red one changes colors after the switch, and use that wire (i think it turns yellow right? that is your knew 12V + ..
posted_image

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: January 27, 2007 at 2:24 PM

for the wiring. i have a 4gauge wire that comes right off my battery and goes to the back of my car for the amp. i spliced into that wire for my 12V+ .. then for the 12V- i ran those wires back to my dash.. and under my radio, i have 2 switchs... one switch controls all those lights, and the other, my underbody kit. i made it that the ground is on the switch just so i didnt have to ground those lights in like 10 spots..

and as a update, i just boungt some LED lights off a website, and i will replace the one light in my trunk (one u can not see in the picture) with LED lights.. i also bought UV LED lights for my headlights, and inside my engine area. 2 blue switchs to replace my Red ones(becasue the new radio i have interfears with the switchs.. )

Posted By: firelizard
Date Posted: February 09, 2007 at 1:49 AM

What fuse is recommended for this?
I did the same thing right after reading this thread - bought the 2 12" blue CCs from Xoxide and they got here this week.

Figuring out the Molex was simple.

Yellow from the male plug is 12v positive, black are grounds (duh).
Red one from the plug is for 5v

Posted By: brentfullstop
Date Posted: February 09, 2007 at 5:25 AM

I have also just bought 2 cathodes and a switch, and i was planning on just fusing a wire from the battery, into my dash to power them. nice and simple - Battery -> switch -> cathode -> ground. Is that all i need to worry about? or am i missing some crucial step here?

Posted By: bellsracer
Date Posted: February 18, 2007 at 11:40 PM

mbaudio06 wrote:

Memphis 8? Nowhere near a mephis, how about MA Audio

ROFL! >.< I guess that will be the last time I post at 2am... hazukashii >.<;

oh well... shikatta nai (can't be belped)

Posted By: hotmilk400
Date Posted: April 02, 2007 at 5:08 PM

you dont need really need a fuse, if you bring it off a cig lighter, but if u want, just use something super small, like 5 amps.. these lights take next to nothing to power.. 14 lights take like 1 amp or soemthing.. i forget what it was...

and there is nothing to these, just Battery -> switch -> cathode -> ground. as long as you got the colors right, its fine.. there super easy