How To: Wire Interior Neons

[DaViper]

Due to the large amount of replies and questions after I posted me interior neon pics from my Mazda Protégé 5, I’ve decided to make a “How To” guide for installing interior neons in your car. I ask that you please read the whole guide before asking any questions about installing them, since this guide should cover the complete installation.

Objects Required:

*Neon Tubes (any color) (they can be the ones with a cigarette lighter plug or with 2 wires).

*Power Distribution Block, or Neon Interface (neither is necessary, however they will make this install MUCH quicker and easier).
-Power distribution blocks can be purchased at stores such as Pep Boys or Auto Zone. Power distribution blocks either plug into a cigarette lighter or can be directly wired to your battery (both ways provide you with at least one positive and negative wire terminal).
-Neon Interfaces give you one module to control your neon lights from with several options for how the lights work. The one which I bought (while I’m currently writing this the interface is in the mail coming to me) is made by Street Glow (or OPTX, which is the same company, however costs less from some odd reason). This box has to be directly wired to your car’s battery or another power source. Here is a pic of the interface:
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/neoncontroller.jpg
This unit is basically a power distribution block with more features. It allows you to turn the neons on into full on mode, or flash to the beat mode. Even if your neon tubes came with a feature to flash to the beat, this unit will work much better since it will always have the neons on it flash to the beat EXACTLY at the same time, and you only have to hit one switch to turn this mode on, rather than a switch for each neon individually. This unit will control up to 16 neon tubes at once.

*Double Sided tape, zip ties, or any kind of tape to help secure the neon tubes.


Tools that are not required, but are useful:
*Wire stripper



Installing The Neon Tubes once you have all the products:

Step 1: Deciding where you want to put your neon tubes and your distribution block.
First you must decide where you want to mount each neon tube. The most common places are below the dash in the front foot wells, and under the front two seats. This configuration should allow even light distribution to light up both your front and rear floors. You also need to decide where you want to mount your power distribution block or Neon interface, since these units have the power switches to turn all the neons on (unless you wire a separate switch elsewhere for them) and they should be in a convenient place for you to reach to turn the neons on. Also remember that you’re going to have to run the wires from each neon to this unit, so it shouldn’t be in a hard to reach place.

Step 2: Mount the neons into the places you’re planning to put them.
In the protégé 5, I found that it was easy to place the front right neon on the part of the dash that sticks out as it ends below the steering wheel. Here are pics of where I mounted them in each part of the car:

Front left Neon (Under the driver dash)(you wont have the blue wire…that’s my subwoofer amp power wire). The camera is against one of the pedals, looking up towards the driver seat. Double sided tape and zip ties should hold this in nicely. This is the most important tube to secure well, so secure it well so that it wont fall when you’re driving and cause an accident!:
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/image017.jpg

Front right neon: (Under the passenger dash). This tube was mounted right onto the bottom of the dash as far back as it can be placed. It’s a bit tricky to mount this one, but remember that it doesn’t have to be hidden well from when you’re down there working on it. If you tape it to that little ceiling you can’t see the tube at all when you’re sitting anywhere in the car or outside looking in. I secured it on the right side using a zip tie to that clear plastic tube that’s already there. The left side takes some creativity. Double sided tape works pretty well, but if your passenger kicks the neon by accident it won’t hold (I know this from experience).
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/image19.jpg

Rear Neons (Under the driver’s seat). I mounted this neon right after where the carpet ends covering the back of the seat. I used zipties and tape to secure these to wires I had for side airbags. Use whatever you can to tie to, or use double sided tape if you can get it to hold there. Make sure it’s mounted far enough back so that passengers in the rear seats wont kick them by accident.
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/image023.jpg

Step 3: Wiring the neons (if your neon tubes did not come with cigarette lighter plugs on the end of their wires, skip this step)(also skip this step if you wanna be lazy and just get a quadrasocket adapter and plug in 4 cigarette lighter plugs….which will look bad and be a nuisance).
Cut the cigarette lighter plug off of the end of the wire of the neon tube as done in the picture below.
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/image034.jpg

Next, strip the ends of the two wires, and connect the red wire to the red terminal on the power distribution block (or the neon interface) and plug the black wire into the black terminal (if you have a black wire with a white stripe instead of a red wire then plug then striped wire into the red terminal). If you have for example, 4 neons and only 2 sets of positive and negative terminals, twist tow positive and negative wires together and have them share a terminal(as done below). If you have more neons than your power distribution block says it can support in its specs, than you will need to buy a 2nd one, or one with more terminals.
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/image020.jpg

Finally, plug in the power distribution block into the cigarette lighter socket, or wire the positive and negative wires to your car’s battery if it needs to be hard wired. Mount the power distribution block somewhere where you can access it, since the switch to turn the noens on is on the side of the power distribution block or neon interface. Now just hide all your neon wires so they aren’t visible and you’re finished!

Here are a few pics of what mine looks like now (I installed it the way described above, and I temporarily used a power distribution block).
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/interior1.jpg
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/interior2.jpg
http://www.mazdamp3.com/members/DaViper/interior 3.jpg

If you have any other questions feel free to ask them here or e-mail me at Matt_Miller@Comcast.net.

I am not responsible for any problems that may occur while doing this install, however you should be perfectly fine if you follow these instructions carefully.

I do have a paypal account, and although I dont ask for any money for this, I do appreciate donations, so if you found this how to helpful, and are feeling generous, please send me a small donation via paypal to Matt_Miller@Comcast.net

Thanks!
-DaViper

[Rism]

Hey man great -how to- do u think u can post a link on where u got that Power Distribution Block, i checked out the streetglow website and couldnt find it, thx

[midnightracr]

Damn man that was a great write up. You don't know how much that just helped a brother out

[DaViper]

My neon interface controller arrived today and it's installed. My bell power distribution block in the picture in the how to above is for sale. I'm asking $10 plus $5 shipping. I paid a little more than the price you'd pay for the product and shipping, but it has only been used for about 2 weeks with very minimal day to day use. The paint is scratched in a few places, but the unit still functions fine. Let me know if you need more pics of it. PM me or IM me on AIM if you're interested, I take paypal payments! The unit gives you two sets of positive and negative terminals, and it can power up to 4 neons. It also has a cigarette lighter plug port on it, so although it uses one, it gives you another so you still have cigarette lighter plug ports, without buying an adapter.

Thanks!
-DaViper12

[derrick1623]

moved to how to, good...i was going to write one up, now i don't have to.

[DaViper]

The price for my power distribution block in my post before this has now been lowered to $10 shipped. It's a great deal, functions perfectly, and is great for one of these installs.

-DaViper

[eting_pro5]

does any one now if this can be wired to act like a dome light: In OFF it would funtion like "DOOR" on the dome light, automatically coming on when you open the door, and off when the doors were shut. By turning the switch ON the neons would come on?

possibly by tapping into the domelight wire?

[GotTurbo?]

does any one now if this can be wired to act like a dome light: In OFF it would funtion like "DOOR" on the dome light, automatically coming on when you open the door, and off when the doors were shut. By turning the switch ON the neons would come on?

possibly by tapping into the domelight wire?


that would be nice...good idea..sorry i cant figure out high to do it easily...anyone?

[DaViper]

Yeah I'm sure that would work, it just may be difficult to fnd the dome light wire in a convenient place.

-DaViper

[JonKlsn]

I'll be wiring some into the dome light this next week. I still don't know how easy it will be, but I will do it regardless. I'll post my findings here once im finished.

[mspeedpro]

i cant figure out where to buy the "neon interface" where it powers the neons according to the music... also my gf wants this done in her explorer... i guess its pretty much the same exact installation if u just take it to the battery?

[DarthNewky]

Instead of doing the dome light you could always tap into the Wireharness on the driver side to get a remote power on and have that go to a relay or just use that for power. There are wires there that turn on when lights go on, Also you may be able to find something there that would switch when the doors open or when your flip the switch on the top, but I highly doubt you would get a anything from the dome switch

Use the handy volt-meter and find where power comes

[JonKlsn]

(2thumbs) That is my plan. I didn't mean to actually wire it in to the dome light.

[sidpro5]

I just installed my underdash "kit" using adhesive-backed velcro. Put the part with the "hooks" on the flat ends of the tubes and mounted them as high up on the capet as possible in the front of the footwells. The wiring is kinda rigged right now, since I don't yet have the interface, but it works.

[REMillers]

Nice. I wired mine using a block, but instead of a switch I simply ran the wires up to the drivers side map light (by the sunroof switches). Took the bulb out of there since the passenger light is powerful enough to read anything up front. So now whenever I hit the drivers side map light switch..bam neons on.

[timba24]

I eventually plan on installin neon and was thinkin of wiring it to a 3-way toggle switch.

position one would be a ground from doot lights
position 2 would be off
position 3 would be a constant ground

this way if I wanted it to come on with my dome or when I unlocked it I put in position 1 and if I just want it on position 3 would be there for that.

[giz]

i just bought my neons today with the power distribution block, although i couldnt find where to plug the block into in the fuse box, the instructions said something about a 12v source in the fuse box, but i didnt see one. if anyone could help me out that would be great. thnx

[DaViper]

i just bought my neons today with the power distribution block, although i couldnt find where to plug the block into in the fuse box, the instructions said something about a 12v source in the fuse box, but i didnt see one. if anyone could help me out that would be great. thnx I would run the two wires straight to your battery. If you do this your car doesn't have to be on for the neons to work.

-DaViper

[REMillers]

Yep battery would or like I did just tap it into one of the maplights switchs. No need for the keys to be in plus no need to try and place another switch in there.

[giz]

this will probably sound stupid but what wire do i use to run from the battery to my interior?

[crzygosu87]

anyone wanna post a picture explaining all this pleasE? i hab no idea what you guys are talking about...connecting the neons to the dome lights? and the drivers side map lights?

[REMillers]

I can take pics of my setup, might do that today.

[matty00pro]

Can someone post how to wire (interior neons, etc) into the factory light switches? Ie....neons on with cluster/Ac control lights on. thnnx

[digitalpro5]

I tapped into my fog light switch in the car. Pretty darn easy, but it only goes on if I switch on my parking lights, but who the hell has neons on in the day time anyways.

[crzygosu87]

can someone post pics on how to connect the neons to the map lights? thanks (blowup)

[Khoga]

i was at walmart the other day and saw those blue tube lights that are for the lamps, like tha lava lamps and those novelty lamps (hope u kno wut im talken bout) and seen that they ran for about $8, thats alot cheaper than those neon tubes.
any chance you could wire those to your car somewhere and have them work?

and where can u find those power distruibution blocks for cheap?

[digitalpro5]

i was at walmart the other day and saw those blue tube lights that are for the lamps, like tha lava lamps and those novelty lamps (hope u kno wut im talken bout) and seen that they ran for about $8, thats alot cheaper than those neon tubes.
any chance you could wire those to your car somewhere and have them work?

and where can u find those power distruibution blocks for cheap?U can just about hook up any type of light, just as long as theres a positive and a ground wire. But be sure it's low wattage lights. As for power distribution blocks, I bought mines at Pep-Boys that you can connect up to 6 lights. It wasn't cheap I think it was like $24. So far I only have two red neons (perfect since they match the interior lighting) one under the steering wheel and one under the glove box. I'll hook up two more under the seats, and try to figure out wiring one in the trunk area.

Oh, trying to get power from the cig-lighter is very hard. My first try was to get power from there but it takes so much effort to tap into there because you'll need to remove the entire radio console and splice the wires off the cig-lighter (I may try it next time).

[Brian MP5T]

Great How-To!

[Khoga]

Oh, trying to get power from the cig-lighter is very hard. My first try was to get power from there but it takes so much effort to tap into there because you'll need to remove the entire radio console and splice the wires off the cig-lighter (I may try it next time).

We just alwayz use the fuses, some stupid shit could happen though

[Bijou-MP5]

how do you wire straight to your battery? :)

[matty00pro]

Hey i got some neon bass rings(4), work very well and was wondering a easier way to wire them. Currently/how they came:

[GuntherMP5]

Has anyone come up with the actual wiring for the light to come on with the door and then go off, yet. I have more than enough cold cathode lights and LEDs to do what I want , I plan to use a fuse block for the lights , well at least for the cold cathodes with inverters, but I too would like the lights to come on only while the dome light is on. has any one found an easy to get to 12v that works?

[Brian MP5T]

Double Throw Double Pole Relay...

[ZapWizard]

Has anyone come up with the actual wiring for the light to come on with the door and then go off, yet. I have more than enough cold cathode lights and LEDs to do what I want , I plan to use a fuse block for the lights , well at least for the cold cathodes with inverters, but I too would like the lights to come on only while the dome light is on. has any one found an easy to get to 12v that works?
All you should have to do is wire into the courtesy light power, I am not sure where to tap the wire though.

[Changed1MG]

I tapped into my fog light switch in the car. Pretty darn easy, but it only goes on if I switch on my parking lights, but who the hell has neons on in the day time anyways.


How'd you do that?


now THAT sounds like a great idea. but how would you turn off the neons if you didn't want them on at the same time as the fogs - say . . . grandma's in the car and can't stand the light.

[RYuReady]

Bringing this thread back to life...

Did anyone figure out exactly which wires to tap into to have the neons on with the dome light?

Thanks in advance.

[klieu]

All you should have to do is wire into the courtesy light power, I am not sure where to tap the wire though.

This is good idea, anyone knows how to do this ?

Thanks

[tunersteve]

I had wired my lights in a long time ago, and I wired them into a constant 12V power source in the fusebox. There are a few circuits that are constant on and aren't being used, but I don't know the numbers off hand. Note this will truly only work if youre using an interface, or you have a switch wired into the circuit. I installed 4 Varad 6" Red LED lightbars. The only problem with LEDs are that the lighting is directional, so you have to mount them and actually aim the lights.

[sgtfoo]

I'd like to revive this thread a little...

-does anyone know where we can tap power from the courtesy lights.. aside from the lights themselves??

-for exterior lighting.. would it work if I wanted to have a switch inside teh car that runs on the ground wire to the negative terminal on the battery and to the negative on the light? and the positive wire going from the battery to the positive on the light?

-which fuses inside the driver-side fuse-box are constant and un-used 12v ??

[Nords]

i power my 2 interior neons with the drivers side fuse box, running all the cabling up to my 4 CF covered switches above the deck. i dont have a manual on me to tell u which fuse has power always on tho. its a very nice switch panel... 1 for sub, 2 for int neons, and 1 for my underbody front-lip neon. you can pm me if u wanna know how i hooked it all up and what i used for the switch panel

[mx-p5]

Bumping an old thread. just curious if 12" tubes are what were used here. I am wanting to wire blue interior neons in my car and some red interior neons in the wifes car. Our biggest complaint with the cars is the lack of light on the floors if you were to drop something. lol

What's the best total length neon to use? 8"? 12"? And, would an Ebay kit be anygood? I know you get what you pay for, but it is just interior neons. Don't care if this seems too ricey, I like it

[tunersteve]

Bumping an old thread. just curious if 12" tubes are what were used here. I am wanting to wire blue interior neons in my car and some red interior neons in the wifes car. Our biggest complaint with the cars is the lack of light on the floors if you were to drop something. lol

What's the best total length neon to use? 8"? 12"? And, would an Ebay kit be anygood? I know you get what you pay for, but it is just interior neons. Don't care if this seems too ricey, I like it

If you go with neons, a set of 6" mini's should work. They throw off enough light to fill the footwells without a problem.

[mx-p5]

That'll throw enough light?

[sidpro5]

It should be ok. I went with 12" when I did mine, though. Lit from under the dash to under the front seats.

[mx-p5]

That's what I'm wanting. To fully illuminate the floors. I'll either be doing blue or white. I want to be able to see if i dropped something, cause the dome light sucks

[sidpro5]

If that's the case, I'd go with 12's or LEDs ($$). And go blue. White is so boring. lol

[mx-p5]

My ride is Laser Blue, so ,i was leanin towards the blue neons, not LED's.

Wife's ride is white, and she wants red Neons.

Probably do 12"s up front and 6" under the front seats for the rear floor

[sidpro5]

Sounds like a plan.

[tunersteve]

That'll throw enough light?

I had 6" blue mini-neons in my '92 Daytona, and had them hidden, and they still illuminated my feet well enough to see everything. My 6" LEDs in my Protege even lit up the floor without a problem. I like the mini's since they're wired two per set, and easier to tuck away. A 12" is a big bulb to hide in a footwell.

[99ProtegeKV]

Thanks for this HOW TO. i used it to install my 10 inch green ones. i got it wired to the battery then to a green LED switch that i got at Autozone. it comes with the wires and everything for like 6 bucks. u can just buy a different switch at like radio shack or something. they have TON of them. its awesome. i got the green, to match the green tubes. i put one in on the driver side, and tomorrow im putting them on the passenger side. i got the ones that pulse to the music, or stay constant. they work great. i just helped my friend do the same thing for his car today. im spreading the NEON VIRUS. gotta make sure the autoparts stores have extra. I bought my first one from AUtozone, and they only had one left. so i had to come back, and they didnt have it there for like 4 days. so ijust went to Pep Boys. the 10 inch tubes are only 20 bucks its sick. my friends think they look sick.... which they do. lol

[o.g.sk8er]

That'll throw enough light?

I dont think neon throws enough light, well not for me anyway. Cold Cathode is the way to go. Cheaper too. I have both neon and cathode tubes, and the cathode tubes are sooo much brighter. I lit up my entire interior for about $35. This was for 6 tubes. 2 under the dash, 2 in the back seat, and 2 in rear hatch. Some places charge this for 1 neon tube.


http://www.oznium.com/cathode-kit

[99ProtegeKV]

ive been lookin at those Cathodes now, they seem pretty sick... Anyone have them? any reviews. im thinking of ordering a few sets. to really get my car glowing. they are cheaper than the neons. i was thinking, gettin 2-4" and 2-12" sets (2 tubes in each set, so total of 8 tubes) for the back seat, trunk, and maybe some in the grille or under the bumper or something. I also wanna get the Music Interface, since my existing 2 neon tubes have em. and does anyone know how to waterproof these so i can put em on the outside of the car. that would be great. im lookin forward to these.

PS. when i start hookin up like multiple tubes, i was thinking to have all the interiors on one switch, so like... 4 tubes on 1 switch, then have the exteriors on another switch, so like. 4 outside tubes. should i get a special power source? like an amp or somehting. im kinda new at this so im lookin for as much help as possible, and i dont want my car going on fire/exploding/dying. lol so yea thanks.

[o.g.sk8er]

I have 6 blue 12in tubes. 2 under the dash, 2 in the back seat, and 2 in rear hatch. Also, one 5 led light bar in each headrest.
The whole thing is wired to a duck bill switch I mounted near the fog light switch. Its not advised to wire more than 3 sets of 12 tubes because it will dim the out put of the cathode.

http://www.msprotege.com/members/o.g.sk8er/LED%27s%20021.jpg
http://www.msprotege.com/members/o.g.sk8er/cathode.jpg
without the lights
http://www.msprotege.com/members/o.g.sk8er/LED%27s%20024.jpg
view from front of car
http://www.msprotege.com/members/o.g.sk8er/Cathode%20013.jpg
duck bill switch
http://www.msprotege.com/members/o.g.sk8er/Cathode%20016.jpg

rice it up!! lol

[99ProtegeKV]

o.g.sk8ter.... i have the same switch but in green, howd u install it into those fake button things. ive been lookin at them for a few days now.... and also, its not bad for my battery if i have a bunch on the same switch...it only effects the brightness? its not gunna like.. make my battery crap out or anythign, cause that wouldsuck.

PS. Sick setup u got there. thats a good idea with the headrest LEDs, never thought of that. sick bro

[o.g.sk8er]

the way I installed the switch was to remove the dummy mount in the dash, cut all the crap thats on the back...you'll see. Then drill a hole, wire it up, install the switch and click it back in. Then run the wires wherever you need. Simple. hehe

When I said, "The whole thing is wired to a duck bill switch," I should have said, its all powered, or controlled by one switch, meaning I dont have a bunch of wires connected right to the switch. lol
I have them wired in series, I think this is the term.
The dash kit and head rest kit are wired to the back seat kit, and the back seat kit is wired to the hatch kit. Confusing...lol..its late so...hehe

Thanks for the kind words!

[99ProtegeKV]

oo i see. thats a good idea. yea dont wanna have a big pile of wires going to the switch... yea and if i get exterior ones, im gunna put that on a seperate switch... dont want cops bitching.
u kno what size bit u used? i see what u mean about the fake inside of the switch. i figured it out.. im gunna try it out tomorrow. ill prob just go to Home Depot tomorrow morning or something nd buy a bit that should fit.

[o.g.sk8er]

my bit collection sucks ass...lol
I used about a 6mm bit and just hogged it out till the switch fit. Worked great.
Oh, and you can water proof the cathodes. There's a how to at oznium.com
Look pretty easy.

[99ProtegeKV]

alright going to install my other green neon into the passenger footwell, then to the switch in that fakeswitch box thing idk what to call it.. ill let u kno how it turns out. (cabpatch)

[99ProtegeKV]

ok. just finished the second bulb. wasnt as easy as i thought. so i put the second bulb in the passenger size, cut the wire, wired them to the switch, had it all hooked up, switched on. and nothing happened. i was pissed. i had no idea why it wasnt worknig. i tried disconnecting everything and then i finally realized it was the fuse. so i went to radioshack with the fuse, and of course they suck and didnt have it. so then i went to autozone and me and the guy were looking around at the different fused for like 20 mins. i finally got a 20Amp fuse instead of the original 15. so i put that in... and it worked wonderfully. the switch i fit into the fake button things on the left side, and it looks awesome. im getting some pics of it tonight when it gets dark. itll look sick. its a lil rainy today, so its kinda visible now. but still cant wait for tonight. next is the exteriors. eventually.

[jklm874]

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[99ProtegeKV]

finally got the pics of the lights on. looks awesome. thanks for everyone who helped me out.

[blkspdfreak]

i did this to my show truck, hooked it up to the door sencor so when i open the door it comes on.

[99ProtegeKV]

how did u do that, cause thats a good idea. obviously its not the same thing for my car, but similar.

[blkspdfreak]

its an 86 mitsubishi mighty max. you use the ground wire, just make sure its a big enough guage for how many neons you use. when the door opens, the ground is connected, completing the circuit. i dont know of the newer cars, ive got a msp but havent looked if its the same.

[south9border]

i bought a power distribution block from pepboys, tried bringing in a power line from the car battery. All the fuses were in line and correct but the freakin power distributor wouldnt DISTRIBUTE lol I spent like 2 days trying to get it to work
Finally I just called it quits and bought an add-a-line fuse adapter. Hooked up the on off switch and spliced in the neons for power. Finally works.

I suggest saving your wiring from the battery for amps that actually need that much power...
thats just me tho

[99ProtegeKV]

yea true.. its not too difficult.. once u have one wire going from the battery through the firewall, its easy to jsut slide in a few more... i would like to have it hooked up to the car so it turns on when i start, but then again.. i cant keep it on for show or something.. so it has its goods and bads.

[Proteggy]

i wired mine throught the a pillar and under the headliner and hooked it up to the dome light switch so when you open the door my neons come on looks so nice

[skyshels]

I understand the wiring, but how did you remove and replace the headliner and pillar cover?

[jeffsays]

hi there.
good job...
it's so helping...how you find dude..that's good idea..it worked great...
thanks

[danmowchan]

I don't mean to be a pain in the ass, but someone in here mentioned that they wired it to one of the light switches on the ceiling. Can anybody provide any insight on how to get this accomplished?

Edit: I'm in a Mazda3

[mx-p5]

pull down the headliner and run wiring

[obiwan177]

I just did this to my P5. Using LED lights from www.ledunderglow.com and they're awesome! I disconnected my fogs from the fog switch and taped together the two wires that turn them on, so they're always on. Then I replaced those wires with a power wire coming from the fuse box and another wire going to the LED kit. Works like a charm.

There are a few weird things though. My fog lights stay on when I turn on my brights, and so do my low beams. Also, if I have my LED's off, but turn my lights on, they go on at about 10%. Enough to see the footwells, but not enough for any sort of effect or anything, which I think is pretty nice.

[klieu]

wow, nice posts