Cathode installation... couple questions

Just got mine in today. tested them on a 9v battery and theyre pretty brite.

The one wire needs to be wiggled a little to get the whole cathode to light up, the other is fine.

Im not sure as the best way to install these. Heat issues etc...

They are going under my dash (passanger and driver).

Whats the best way/place to connect them. Say using double sided tape, on the square end or on the tube itself?

What about wire ties?

How do most people install these?

I use to have UVs under my seats, but they were big and bulky and double sided tape wouldnt hold em up. These are real light...

What do yall use?

Phil?

Secondly, For power and ground...

My HU is wired to the factory harness but power and ground are ran to Distrobution blocks in the rear. Can I just use the unused power and ground in the factory harness for the cathodes? Do they need fused this way?

Do they need fused at all?

About mounting...I have mine ziptied to some wiring harnesses under my driver's side, and to some metal bar thing under my glove compartment on the right. You can use zip ties, double sided tape, velcro, etc.. Or any combination of those.

Cathodes are very light, so they aren't hard to keep up at all. I'd recommend zip ties if you have a place to mount them on.

Wiring -- anyone here will recommend to wire it to a switch. But if you don't do that I'm sure someone else can recommend something.

Fuses -- ALWAYS USE A FUSE! lol. Cathodes take very little power. Even a small fuse, like 5 amps, is more than enough.

Nothing needs a fuse... You should always use a fuse though...

Mount em with cable ties or something. You can tap into the wiring harness.

Don't worry about heat...

Get some pics up if you can

I asked about the fuse, cuz wouldnt the HU wiring harness be running to a fuse...? I figured that would be ok, what do yall think?

My Head Unit is grounded to the body of the car and powers running to the battery. So the Power and ground on the radio harness arent being used...

Oh and these come with a switch, just gotta put it somewhere...

i'm not sure why you want to use the stereo wiring harness for your neons and a distribution block to pwoer your stereo, but whatever floats yer boat...

you're probably right, the stereo wiring harness is already fused, but make sure it is before you go ahead and wire the neons without an additional fuse.

My HUs already wired, Alpine 9813. It needs 10 gauge power and ground wiring due to 27 RMS power output.

I used d-blocks to keep everything powerd in one spot and eliminate ground loops and noise.


Should I just buy a nicer switch than the one that came with the cathodes and fuse it, that way Ill be ready if I add some LEDs and 2/4 more cathodes later?

I want LEDS in the vents(4) and maybe some light in the rear of the car and other various places. No exterior though...

Will the switch that came with the cathodes be ok? I want all my lights to be on one switch, I dont want wires and switches everywhere. Plus I dont want to install this one if Im just gonna have to take it out later and have an eye sore somewhere.

Ok, use the factory head unit power and ground. That sounds fine. Wire up whatever switch you want, before you wire the switch though, check and MAKE SURE the factory head unit wiring is fused, if not just get a lil in-line fuse holder and a relatively cheap fuse (5 or 10 amps should be fine. (i'm using a 15 amp fuse for four LEDs and my fog lights.