Rep Power: 257

I've had a pair of neons sitting around for a while and decided to put them in my car, and I want to do it tomorrow. I've looked up how to do everything i'm supposed to, but I just want some reassurance. I bought an Add-a-Circuit for the fusebox. Tell me if i have this right.

First, I know I should probably disconnect the battery to avoid shock or anything like that, by first remvoing the negative and then the positive wire.
I plug in the add-a-circuit in the acc fuse slot. Then I attach a power wire (14 gauge i believe) to that add-a-circuit that leads to the Power prong on my switch. the neon tubes connect to the transformer included with them, and then since the wire from the transformer had positive and ground, i connect the positive to the acc prong on the switch, and the ground wire to the ground prong on the switch. That should be it, right?

 
Rep Power: 257

Bump. I just really need to be sure about the grounding. If the ground wire from the neons goes to the switch, or if i ground that wire somewhere else and get another wire for the switch and ground that somewhere else too

 
Rep Power: 0

everything is right, except the grounding. the transformer ground wire needs to be grounded to metal somewhere, and the switch needs to be grounded to metal somewhere too (actually, the switch doesn't NEED to be grounded, it's just to make the light in the switch work when the switch is on).

 
Rep Power: 257

Now I got everything hooked up and wired the way it should be but when I turned the car on and put on the switch, the neons lit and then shut off. And they wouldn't turn back on. I was using the 3amp fuse and the normal 15amp fuse in the addacircuit in the acc slot in the fusebox. Connecting to the wire from the addacircuit is a red 18gauge wire going to the switch. When I checked the 3amp fuse again, it was blown so that explains why the neons wouldn't turn on. So I decided to put in a 10amp fuse instead and that blew too. I have both the switch and the transformer grounded to a bolt thats where when you open the door on the metal where the dash plastic ends. is that a good grounding spot, and would a bad ground be able to blow any fuse no matter how big it is? all the wires are brand new so i dont think there would be any shorts in the wires, except the neons that have been sitting in my room for a while.

 
Rep Power: 388

U lost me here with the last post. 3amp with a 15amp circuit in it just doesnt sound right to me, but i'll shutup and let someone else give u a correct answer. good luck man. oh... where are you putting them?

 
Rep Power: 257

What I mean is the Add-A-Circuit that plugs into the fuse slot has two spaces in it, one for the 12v acc fuse that the add-a-circuit took the place of, and the fuse that came with the add-a-circuit. And your asking me where the neons are? They are under the dash. Oh...btw, the transformer that came with the neons, that can be placed anywhere I believe?

 
Rep Power: 0

pm me your email, i'll send you a pic of how its supposed to be wired and if its wired the right way, i can get you to try other things

 
Rep Power: 0

sounds like you have the switch wiring messed up. Im willing to bet you have the ground wire and the wire going to your transformer reversed.

 
Rep Power: 379

I did this and fried all of the CCFL invertors I had.

 
Rep Power: 257

I took the neons out of my car and tested them with a 9v battery by touching the pos and neg ends of the transformer wire to the batteries pos and neg posts...the neons lit up okay and seemed fine...so does that mean there's nothing wrong with my neons if the fuse blows all the time when they're in the car?

I dont think I wired it up wrong...the wires to the transformer have one with a blue stripe and one with no stripe...blue stripe is pos and no stripe is neg, right?

 
Rep Power: 257

you were right, mostly. I reversed the wires from the supply power and the acc power. Now, I got it all ok and the neons are working. Thanks for all the help. I do feel a little stupid switching those wires, but it's the first time I've done anything like this so I'm just glad I figured it out.