Good "hot" 12volt sources

What are some good "hot" (turn on with the car) 12 volt sources? I have a 94 taurus.

ignition and cig lighter (in most cars).

Let me guess -- you are going to tap in to them for neons? I recommend running a fresh wire from the battery so that you eliminate the risk of frying stock components

i concur

I am running my foglights and radar detector off of my remote wire from my hu. I dont want to run those off of that wire like I am doing. So I need to find other spots. If I plug something into my cig lighter i.e. neon light it will stay on until I pull it out.

Brandon wrote:

ignition and cig lighter (in most cars). Let me guess -- you are going to tap in to them for neons? I recommend running a fresh wire from the battery so that you eliminate the risk of frying stock components

what he said.

if you are going to run them of some thing that turn on when the car does then i would run them off a relay or some thing like that.

kta wrote:

I am running my foglights and radar detector off of my remote wire from my hu. I dont want to run those off of that wire like I am doing. So I need to find other spots. If I plug something into my cig lighter i.e. neon light it will stay on until I pull it out.

powering off the hu...::sigh:: cig lighters, ::sigh::

Hey TypeRBass how about you drive on over to Orland Park and show me a good got 12 volt.

The best 12v source is seriously the battery. Put a fuse on the wire and connect straight up to that...

and personalyl I would rather have a constant power and a switch to turn everything on and off.

I have a 94 Taurus also - and the cig lighter is actually a constant power source(I used it briefly until I ran a direct wire). I had 6 cathodes running off of it for a while though with no burnouts, although I agree with the rest and say a direct wire would be best.

all can vouch with me on this, never ever tap into cig wire, only bad things come of it

Just curious what these bad things are from the cig adapter. I have 2 cathodes, one (short) neon and my radar detector all into the cig lighter. If it makes a different the cig lighter adapter is gone. I cut the wires right before it and then spliced, since I don't smoke and don't need the lighter anyway.

besides blown fuses (which would happen only if you're lucky), you can damage everything on that same circuit. If there is anything vital on that circuit for your car it can become unsafe.

Why is the cig lighter adapter different than anywhere else?

electronics work on circuits. THe different circuits are protected by fuses. If you short out a perticular circuit, anything on that said circuit has a possibility of being damaged. This is where the fuse HOPEFULLY blows and protects everything (if the fuse blows, the power cannot continue in the circuit and everything stops). If you add on to this circuit and what you add on fails in some way, it may cause damage to anything on that circuit before the fuse can blow. That's why this is generally frowned upon. Put your lights on their own circuit and fuse and be safe.

Gotcha. Thanks!

One thing no-one has thought of yet. but you can run another relay off a relay. So when say your running light relay(s) click on, the other relay will be switched on too and that will open then flow of electricity to your neons, that way your not putting the big load of a neon on it, but your only adding a little amperage maybe as small as one or two LEDs would need.