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MG MGF Technical - Wiring in Neon permanently? Scarlet Fever possibly

Just bought a couple of neon tubes to fit in my footwells to light them up at night.

They came with the plugs that fit into the lighter but I want to wire them up so they come on when the headlights are on. I assume I have to wire them into the fuse box possibly????

Any suggestions on how I can do this properly. I'm hoping Andy "Scarlet Fever" can help as I know he has neon on his car now but if anyone else knows how then let me know.

Ta much!
Bob Millar

Red wire with balck stripe, going to the radio, or any of the switchgear in the central console.
Will Munns

What's the current draw on the neons? Dash lighting circuit is probably fine as Will suggests, but the wires look to be only up to a 3 amp load (Will?) If significantly great than this, you'd ideally need a relay and a fused cable from the battery.
Rob Bell

It's a pretty small neon. I assume there will be a fuse in the plug for the lighter so I'll check that. I'm really only interested in them being on when its dark hence the headlights. Probably wait till the weekend anyway as I dont fancy doing it in the dark!
Bob Millar

Hi Bob,

My neons are wired in in series, via a relay and a switch. Power comes straight from the battery via a transformer (this is what i think has packed up on my install as it was buzzing on August 17th).

To be honest auto electrics aren't really a strong point with me, i simply followed the wiring diagram supplied with the neons.

If you want them to come on with the lights then Will's suggestion rings true, presumably you have a permanent live via the transformer and you use the wire suggested above in place of the switch?

SF
Scarlet Fever

I think that Will was suggesting using the dash lighting circuit (red/black tracer) as the live power feed Andy: only on with side/head lamps. No need for an additional switch. But the neons may draw a little too much power to do this sucessfully: need to check the specs Bob.
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed on 06/11/2003

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.