NEON kit help - wiring problemo

[Jag_V4Ape]

So, I have a neon kit which I recently just installed. The Wires to the CPU of this neon kit were short, so the plan was to move the CPU on the back seat and have these extension wires running to my battery.

Main plan was also to have a switch in the back seat so I can turn off the power to the neon kit manually as it draws power even during its "off" switch.

Questions are, does it matter which kind of switch you use during this kind of setup? What if the switch is rated too high? (since I dont even know what this systems limits are). The switch I used said "10A 277VAC and 20A 125VAC".

Also, I believe the wires are 18 guage, Im not exactly 100 percent sure about how to connect extension wires perfectly and how to get a proper switch since they all have different power measurements (have no clue about).

Any thoughts?

[Spizzak]

If the switch is rated higher that wont be an issue, and most switches that you're likely to find in stores are gonna be rated way higher than you need. As for the wires, the best way would be to get the same or thicker wires and solder the two ends together cleanly and then shrink wrap the whole thing.

That being said you can do a lot of other things or do things the wrong way and it'll still work.

[GreyGhost]

Is this a true neon kit or LED's? Is the CPU you are talking about the high voltage transformer? If they are high voltage leads, extending them is a recipe for disaster. IIRC correctlly, neon tubes operate a a few thousand volts (up to 15,000 or so).
EDIT: It looks like you are extending the wires between the battery and brain, ignore all this high voltage talk.

The switch you put before the brain, as long as the kit draws fewer amps than the switch is rated for you are ok (and with 18 ga wires, I doubt it's drawing more than 20A consistently). Do you need the neon on with the bike off? Why don't you wire a relay into the bike to automatically kill all power to the neon when the bike is off.

Make sure that only the glow from the tubes can be seen, if the light tube itself is visible, you are setting yourself up for a ticket.

Good luck.

[Jag_V4Ape]

Thanks! I was just worried about having an over powering switch and messing up something. As for connecting the wires, thanks! Seems like a good idea - now its time to learn how to solder. lol

Btw, say you were to use extension wires which arent the same colour as the stock wires on the CPU (red/black) and you use just plain black 18 guage wires to use as extention.. is this bad? or are you suppose to use the same colour as the originals?

[Jag_V4Ape]

Is this a true neon kit or LED's? Is the CPU you are talking about the high voltage transformer? If they are high voltage leads, extending them is a recipe for disaster. IIRC correctlly, neon tubes operate a a few thousand volts (up to 15,000 or so).
EDIT: It looks like you are extending the wires between the battery and brain, ignore all this high voltage talk.

The switch you put before the brain, as long as the kit draws fewer amps than the switch is rated for you are ok (and with 18 ga wires, I doubt it's drawing more than 20A consistently). Do you need the neon on with the bike off? Why don't you wire a relay into the bike to automatically kill all power to the neon when the bike is off.

Make sure that only the glow from the tubes can be seen, if the light tube itself is visible, you are setting yourself up for a ticket.

Good luck.

Im not really sure how you do relays to be honnest. Not really that technical with this kinda stuff.

(The Kit)
http://www.beseenatnight.com/our-pro...&category_id=1

(Close up)
http://store.valueaccessories.net/im...sionStage1.jpg

You'll see the neon CPU that I speak of. The manual says if you want to keep it simple and just turn the neon off - add a switch. Also, the neons will be just for show - dont plan on having them on when the bikes on the road. Would have loved to, but I had to expose the LED's on the back of the bike since there wasnt a place to hide them (so now I have to just use them for show only).

[djltoronto]

Btw, say you were to use extension wires which arent the same colour as the stock wires on the CPU (red/black) and you use just plain black 18 guage wires to use as extention.. is this bad? or are you suppose to use the same colour as the originals?

If you use all black wires, diagnosing future problems will be more painful. If possible, use like coloured wires.

And it's a transformer, not a CPU. --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_sign


**Edit** though you had neons... seems you have LED's. Carry on..

[Jag_V4Ape]

Thanks. Yeah I just keep calling it CPU since it said that on the product site lol, oh well.

Kit Contains:
-CPU & Wireless Remote
-(4) 3 Inch FlexTech LED Strips
-(6) 5 Inch FlexTech LED Strips
-(4) Y-Splitter Cables
-Mounting hardware

Was asking about the wires because I have some cables left over from my RC Car project years ago, but they're black (ground) and black with grey stripes (power). Not 100 percent sure that would have been proper but thanks! I'll try grabbing these 18 GA cables from the source if they have any.

[RockerGuy]

If those are LEDs that u have, I would say your unit might not draw more than 10watts. I would say your wiring and switches would be sufficient

[frekeyguy]

i'd run it off a relay....

[gav.man]

It's ok to use the black wires on both sides but label the red wires black lead as positive where ever it connects to for future use. The lights are usually polarity sensitive (red to positive), they might not work if hooked up backwards. I mounted my water resistant switch to my battery holder and can reach it under my seat area easily. I turn it on at night as you cant see my bike or myself at all.

[Jag_V4Ape]

For the Relay suggestions. Just came across this.

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

Looks like a good idea but WAY to complex for me. Gets confusing compared to just adding a switch, and soldering the extension wires. The LED kits transformer (or CPU), has its own fuse on the red wire which you can pull out. This would be a good idea to turn the system off, but that red cable is just too short to reach the power. If I did make it reach the power, I'd have to remove the entire seat section inorder to just turn the system off manually by pulling the fuse out. So in my case, seems like extending the current wires by soldering is the best way, and adding a manual switch.

Does anyone know how to solder? Since I don't really have the kit or know much about how too.. Wouldn't want to mess it up :$

[Jag_V4Ape]

It's ok to use the black wires on both sides but label the red wires black lead as positive where ever it connects to for future use. The lights are usually polarity sensitive (red to positive), they might not work if hooked up backwards. I mounted my water resistant switch to my battery holder and can reach it under my seat area easily. I turn it on at night as you cant see my bike or myself at all.

Here's a problem to the black wire "I think", but not 100 percent sure. I tried this before but the black wire ended up smoking and it all burnt off. Wasnt sure if the wire was improper, or if it was the switch itself. It started smoking to sh** when I turned the switch to a "off" power. But to be honnest, I dont think that wire I used was meant for such a connection as I found it laying around and it "seemed" to be an 18 guage, but it was from a wireless internet power cable that was previously cut (for god knows what reason), but I found it laying around to test/try. lol

Stupid me.

[GreyGhost]

What switch are you using? How many places does it have for wires to be attached to it? Wire colour doesn't matter at all, size matters some, how you connect the wires matters a lot. Take some pictures, draw some diagrams and people can help you with what goes where.

[Comrade Yeti]

Here's a problem to the black wire "I think", but not 100 percent sure. I tried this before but the black wire ended up smoking and it all burnt off. Wasnt sure if the wire was improper, or if it was the switch itself. It started smoking to sh** when I turned the switch to a "off" power. But to be honnest, I dont think that wire I used was meant for such a connection as I found it laying around and it "seemed" to be an 18 guage, but it was from a wireless internet power cable that was previously cut (for god knows what reason), but I found it laying around to test/try. lol

Stupid me.

I would recommend just stopping before you end up damaging something that costs $$$$ to fix. Give it to someone who knows what they are doing

[djltoronto]

For the Relay suggestions. Just came across this.

http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html

Looks like a good idea but WAY to complex for me.

If the most simple of all electrical wiring seems too complex for you, please seek assistance before proceeding.
The info in the link you provided is dead simple, common, and correct.

[frekeyguy]

I see that your in Brampton, I can help you out with this. PM me if you want

[gav.man]

If the most simple of all electrical wiring seems too complex for you, please seek assistance before proceeding.
The info in the link you provided is dead simple, common, and correct.

Agree. To be sure it is safe (no fires) and lasts a long time the proper gauge wire should be used, It should be fused, have the right switch amp rating and proper splicing techniques.

[Jag_V4Ape]

What switch are you using? How many places does it have for wires to be attached to it? Wire colour doesn't matter at all, size matters some, how you connect the wires matters a lot. Take some pictures, draw some diagrams and people can help you with what goes where.

Next time I should be working on this would be.. possibly Sunday. So I will try getting pictures as I go. One of my friends lent me his solder iron, and told me - the fact I was using plyers to strip the wires was a bad move as you need a very good/stable connection, etc. Than he said, soldering is also a good thing when fusing two wires - than said electric tape and shrink tape doesnt make much different and just use electric tape.

the Switch I was using had only 2 sides, but they dont have + or - on them so I just randomly put them into their own spot. But this switch does say 2 measurements on it (10A 277 VAC and 20A 125 VAC). I think I ended up connecting a wrong guage to the cable when it started smoking up. Also, the factor I stripped the wires with plyers was also another bad factor. And thirdly, to connect the wires together I used the ends of a terminal connector (thats usually used to connect a wire to a power source) http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/images/1/1...yeTerminal.jpg
I ripped that circle thing off so I only got that metal part at the bottom, and just clamped both wires together and threw some electric tape ontop of it.

All that - what I did was just a massive problem all together, lol. Was sorta schooled at work by a friend who's into electric engineering.. so got a better understanding of things. Hopefully when I attempt my 2nd try, it works well.

[djltoronto]

Next time I should be working on this would be.. possibly Sunday. So I will try getting pictures as I go. One of my friends lent me his solder iron, and told me - the fact I was using plyers to strip the wires was a bad move as you need a very good/stable connection, etc. Than he said, soldering is also a good thing when fusing two wires - than said electric tape and shrink tape doesnt make much different and just use electric tape.

the Switch I was using had only 2 sides, but they dont have + or - on them so I just randomly put them into their own spot. But this switch does say 2 measurements on it (10A 277 VAC and 20A 125 VAC). I think I ended up connecting a wrong guage to the cable when it started smoking up. Also, the factor I stripped the wires with plyers was also another bad factor. And thirdly, to connect the wires together I used the ends of a terminal connector (thats usually used to connect a wire to a power source) http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/images/1/1...yeTerminal.jpg
I ripped that circle thing off so I only got that metal part at the bottom, and just clamped both wires together and threw some electric tape ontop of it.

All that - what I did was just a massive problem all together, lol. Was sorta schooled at work by a friend who's into electric engineering.. so got a better understanding of things. Hopefully when I attempt my 2nd try, it works well.

well, no one will say your not persistent.

[Jag_V4Ape]

If the most simple of all electrical wiring seems too complex for you, please seek assistance before proceeding.
The info in the link you provided is dead simple, common, and correct.

You're right, I just read/looked over it again. It does seem easy but.. also unnecessary? Dont understand why a relay would be required as the original kit already has a fuse on the red wire.