UnderDash lighting, Help me wire it !! Options

[NaderG]

i Need help with wirring my under dash lights , plz be as detailed as possible and a couple of pics would be superb !! , i already asked a couple of ppl on PM but the answers werent detailed enough and i felt lost so please help me out , thanks !

[LeonStryfe]

hey man! I can definitely help you out with this one.

Instead of tapping into an already used source such as cig lighter etc, via splicing or crimps, make your own new source which is very easy. You can also set it up so you can have a switch to turn it on and off.

If your gonna make a completely new source, you have to consider 2 things that are very important; The wire and the fuse.

Wires are categorize in terms of capability to accept heat, since current = heat. Certain wires can only handle so much before it melts and cause a fire.

For example a 1 awg (gauge) wire can handle up to 250 amps. A 10 gauge wire can only handle 30 amps. If for example you run 60 amps on a 10 gauge wire, you will melt the wire and possibly cause a fire within your car. This is why we use a fuse. The fuse limits the current that goes through the wire.Each fuse of course differs. So if I want to use a 10 gauge wire, I need to have a 30 amp fuse to be safe. Of course you can go much lower rated fuse. 10 awg wire with 20 amp fuse etc. As long as your fuse does no go above 30 your wires is safe.

Buy a fuse holder with a high rated (0 awg to 10 awg) gauge wire, and connect it to the positive side of the battery as close as possible. This way your "unprotected wire" wont burn up because of the distance. Just remember, the closer the fuse the safer you are. Then attach a 3 amp blade fuse into it.

Now you are wondering why 3 amps? LEDs, Cold Cathodes and Neons do not take a lot of juice. If i can remember correctly, LEDs take .04 amps, and cold cathodes at the most .17 amps. However, if you choose to go with a much higher fuse, say 5, it'll be perfectly ok. Just dont use anything above 22 gauge wire.

Battery ---> Fuse----->(switch)--->(distribution block: this thing just splits it for you so you can run source wires to every part of your car and into each light. Best thing to do is just do it parallel instead of series. If you're using LEDs dont forget to use Resistors!!!)

Take each ground of each light and just run into another distribution block and ground that distribution block.

I'll take pictures of my wires, and I'll show you how I connected them as well as where I ran it through. There is a very easy way of running your wires into the inside without going through the firewall.

PM me as well if you need so advice.