how to install my underglow without putting cable around + battery side?

[woody08]

how can i hook up my underglow without it drawing energy from battery with the switch being directly connected to it? connect to a fuse or something like that can someone help please? i had electrical probs. after i connected it directly to battery to draw power

[supermex]

You'll need a relay
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/hweb2.pdf

[woody08]

ok thanks, after i get one what do i do with it and where do i put it? im not much of an electronic type of perosn

[supermex]

You'll need to find a source from the fuse box and follow the instructions on the link for the relay.
You'll need
A relay
fuse
switch
wiring.
If you not much into car electric stuff, you may want to pay someone to do it.
It sucks to have splice and exposed wiring on a new car.
Or go to google and search how to.

[PurrfectAngel]

The wiring, fuse and switch should have come with your kit. It's usually a 5amp fuse(a little tiny glass tube), some take bit bigger fuse, and it's in a plastic shield that you press and twist apart that attaches to the switch. If a switch didn't come with it , which I'm assuming it didn't or you would have a diagram and everything then you need an accessory switch. Some people hook them into the head lights/fogs, but if you are not an electrical person or don't really know what your doing I do not recommend this. There are multiple ways attach these.

You will need:
- 26 guage wire
- Solder (Rosin Core) makes a better meld
- Soldering Iron or gun, I recommend the iron. If using heat shrink put hang on wire before you solder it. Also twist wire together before you solder it.
- heat shrink (if usuing you'll need a heat gun as well)
- black electrical tape 3M Super 33+ works best
- toggle switch and a place to put it.
- zap straps/ties different sizes (plastic pull through straps) They are your friend.
- clamps which hopefully came with your lights. If not you can get some at your local hardware store or anything you can rap the zap strap around will work.
- 5 amp fuse and fuse housing plus spare fuse in case you blow it.
- wire cutters
- wire strippers or single edged razor blade for taking the sheath off.

NOTE: All wire should be twisted together and tined (twisted and a light coat of solder) before soldering together for best connection and all exsposed solder joints should have heat shrink on the them or black electrical tape wrapped around them.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you check the lights to make sure they work first before you install them.

How I did my old ones:

1) Install lights under car (gas/led plastic tub) Some lights are different than others as far as the wiring goes. Some have wires at both ends, some on one end. Short tubes in the front and back and long on the sides. If single wire at one end make sure you attach them so that wire on the side lights run towards the front of the car, the front one's wire should be close to the battery side and the back one, I would run up through the bumper, around your tail light (which you will have to unscrew) and through the hatch along the floor and underneath the running plastic in your door jam along the drivers side to the front. You can run the wire under the car but it's more attaching. This route you have less wire to run, easier to hide and no extra attachments.

2) Attach a piece of wire to each prong on the switch (2 or 3). Install switch where you want it.

3) Once lights are anchored, and switch is in, run the wire up to the battery whichever way you find easiest. Group wires together, positive in one group, negative in the other, with some slack, wrap with electrical tape or zap strap so they are not roaming loose.

4)If using a 2 prong switch, attach the power wire without inline fuse to the group of wires for the power, and the power wire with inline fuse to the + terminal on battery. Attach a ground wire to the group of negative wires and then to the - side of battery or the chasis.


NOTE: Attached the power wire to the battery first and then the ground, otherwise you may blow your fuse.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj79/nopichicP5/inlinefusediagram.jpg

[ATL2.0L]

if these are at all related . . . i installed a switch for my angel eyes, and did the wiring as follows . . .

from the switch there were 3 prongs on the back of mine, labeled ground, led, and power. i grounded the ground to a local ground spot on the inside of the door frame on the driver side (if you end up finding this helpful after, let me know and i can take pics of everything). i then wired the power to a 10A fuse and placed the fuse in the open fuse spot in the box, i then connected the led wire from the switch to the 2 power wires from the angel eye ballasts (red) and the other ground wire (black) from the ballast was grounded to the car. and now my angel eyes turn on when ever i flip the switch.

this may be helpful and it may not be, if it is at all remotely, let me know and i can give you more detailed instructions

[zoom zoom maz6]

you dont send both the power and ground to a switch. you send power directly to it and have the switch on the ground side. thus when the switch is turned to off...... the ground is dis-engauged and the circut is broken thus killing power. in the picture drawn the ACC product is not grounded..... if that was your plan you would have an electrical system under your car with no grounding a nice fire hazard. also it would never have turned on as you would have cooked the fuse and been done. as power would have gone though the switch and back to the ground.

speaking as someone who has electricuted themselves more than once...... if you arent ready to do this, def pay someone. soldering and wiring can either make you or literally burn the car to the ground.

as for power, you can run right off the battery, I perfer using the ACC relay out of the fuse box as then it is disengauged when the car is off. You can also use any cabin 12V source such as the cig lighter if that is easier access for you. you can splice into the FP for power, but it is an important component I try to avoid splicing into at all costs. then run your ground on the switch side of the item and make sure it is grounded secure. I mainly use body grounds...... as the shorter the ground wire the better.

[ATL2.0L]

you dont send both the power and ground to a switch. you send power directly to it and have the switch on the ground side. thus when the switch is turned to off...... the ground is dis-engauged and the circut is broken thus killing power. in the picture drawn the ACC product is not grounded..... if that was your plan you would have an electrical system under your car with no grounding a nice fire hazard. also it would never have turned on as you would have cooked the fuse and been done. as power would have gone though the switch and back to the ground.

speaking as someone who has electricuted themselves more than once...... if you arent ready to do this, def pay someone. soldering and wiring can either make you or literally burn the car to the ground.

as for power, you can run right off the battery, I perfer using the ACC relay out of the fuse box as then it is disengauged when the car is off. You can also use any cabin 12V source such as the cig lighter if that is easier access for you. you can splice into the FP for power, but it is an important component I try to avoid splicing into at all costs. then run your ground on the switch side of the item and make sure it is grounded secure. I mainly use body grounds...... as the shorter the ground wire the better.

if you were referring to my post with the sending the power and ground to the switch, thats not what im talking about, but as for you point of tapping into another 12V source, that is a good option. many people use this approach if they are not familiar with electrical and dont plan on installing a switch, i just dont know how well that will work with an entire underglow system . . .

like zoom zoom said, if you are not familiar with the electrical, read up on it some more or have it done for you. the angel eyes on my car was my first electrical mod and was not a big one but became a pain and took waaaaayyyyyy longer than it should have (from an 30min-1hour mod into a 2 day process) with many blown fuses since i hadn't worked with it before and ended up getting some wires switched, etc. but im at work but ill find and post the link of the thread i used as a reference to my electrical (you can just skim to the part where he wires the eyes to the switch, you can skip everything else . . .)

[zoom zoom maz6]

if you were referring to my post with the sending the power and ground to the switch, thats not what im talking about, but as for you point of tapping into another 12V source, that is a good option. many people use this approach if they are not familiar with electrical and dont plan on installing a switch, i just dont know how well that will work with an entire underglow system . . .

like zoom zoom said, if you are not familiar with the electrical, read up on it some more or have it done for you. the angel eyes on my car was my first electrical mod and was not a big one but became a pain and took waaaaayyyyyy longer than it should have (from an 30min-1hour mod into a 2 day process) with many blown fuses since i hadn't worked with it before and ended up getting some wires switched, etc. but im at work but ill find and post the link of the thread i used as a reference to my electrical (you can just skim to the part where he wires the eyes to the switch, you can skip everything else . . .)

No I was refering to the image 1 post above yours.

its all 12 volt current, it will work fine with most, but if the draw is too much on things such as the cig lighter, it will pop the fuse.

much easier to fix than setting the car on fire.

right now I have Flex-o-lite 220s, 2 pro-sport gauges, and my PLX wideBand all attached the ACC relay no problem. the relay is just a door way and closes when the ignition is cut. the signal wire to the relay tells the relay to open or close. you could cut it out of the equation entirely, but it would then not cut power when the car signal wire(that opens and closes the relay) trys to cut the path or open it.

you could do it w/o the switch and wire it to the ACC as well...... however, then the under glow will be on everytime the ignition is on.

this weekend I will be wirng the AC compressor the exact same way in the S13..... and splice pre-fuses on the ACC relay...... then I will have a switch turn the compressor on and off manual. original was pinned out wrong and instead of playing with the dam harness and digging for the missing link, Im going to just add a panel mount switch for the compressor.

[mach1steve]

i didn't read all of these, but here's the simplest description

powersource ---> relay coil ---> switch ---> ground

powersource ---> relay contacts ---> lights ---> ground

and if you didn't get that, please save yourself the headache and have someone do it for you...

[mach1steve]

No I was refering to the image 1 post above yours.

its all 12 volt current, it will work fine with most, but if the draw is too much on things such as the cig lighter, it will pop the fuse.

much easier to fix than setting the car on fire.

right now I have Flex-o-lite 220s, 2 pro-sport gauges, and my PLX wideBand all attached the ACC relay no problem. the relay is just a door way and closes when the ignition is cut. the signal wire to the relay tells the relay to open or close. you could cut it out of the equation entirely, but it would then not cut power when the car signal wire(that opens and closes the relay) trys to cut the path or open it.

you could do it w/o the switch and wire it to the ACC as well...... however, then the under glow will be on everytime the ignition is on.

this weekend I will be wirng the AC compressor the exact same way in the S13..... and splice pre-fuses on the ACC relay...... then I will have a switch turn the compressor on and off manual. original was pinned out wrong and instead of playing with the dam harness and digging for the missing link, Im going to just add a panel mount switch for the compressor.

no offense bro, but you only half get how this all works... read my post...

[PurrfectAngel]

My diagram is correct but it is for a 3 prong switch, I will edit it to make it clearer though.

Usually the switch that comes with the kits has two power wires, one with an inline fuse. The wire that has no fuse to the accessory, wire with inline fuse to the + terminal and you attach a ground wire from the lights to the - terminal. The long and the short of it, what Mach1steve said.

[mach1steve]

My diagram is correct but it is for a 3 prong switch, I will edit it to make it clearer though.

Usually the switch that comes with the kits has two power wires, one with an inline fuse. The wire that has no fuse to the accessory, wire with inline fuse to the + terminal and you attach a ground wire from the lights to the - terminal. The long and the short of it, what Mach1steve said.

the lights do NOT touch the switch...

the lights are connected on the power side to the switch contacts in the relay...

what's the point of having the relay if you're just gonna ground it through the switch?

[PurrfectAngel]

When I drew that diagram I forgot I had another accessory on my 3 prong toggle. It was right just not for this. I edited the diagram.