Cathodes

[Grandam1999V6]

So, I've been looking around the net for a few days about stuff to do to the GA, and one thing I really want to do is put in cathodes in the GA as a Winter/Spring project.

The GA is Emerald Green body with gold interior...Im looking at putting reds in- being the best to accent the car color, but dont know if it will look good in the interior. :???:

I was thinking of buying (from ozium.com) 2 12" for under the driver and pass sides of the dash, a 4" for under the HVAC knobs, either 2 4" or 2 12" under the front seats and/or a 15" on the rear deck, and a 12" or 15" in the trunk.

Here's my question(s)

1) I want to wire the interior lights (except the trunk) so that they work in parallel with the dome light. where if I switch the dome light to DOOR- the CCFLs will turn on when a door is opened, and if I turn the dome light to ON- the CCFLs will turn on--all hooked up to a 3-way switch so I can turn the CCFLs off, on w/out the dome, or on with the dome. I think this would be a lot better than just hooking them up to a switch. Im sure this is possible, but I imagine that if I wire them all up to the dome light wire that I would easily blow the fuse. WOULD THIS HAPPEN IF ALL WERE WIRED TO THE DOME??? I havent been in the GA to look at the fuses to see whats in it since I got back from vacation yesterday and its too cold, lol. And for the trunk light I want to use the CCFL to light it up when the trunk is opened instead of the dome light, and I know that all I have to do is pull the dome out and use its wires to power the CCFL transformer.

2) How hot do the cathodes get, those who have them installed in their cars? The site says they get hot, does that mean burning hot or just a little warm?

3) Can anyone post pics of their cathodes in their cars? Im interested to see how everyone did theirs and how it all looks.

I think thats it.

[ga5speed02]

IMHO I would go wiht green CCFLs as the accent color. i dont know how red would look with the gold interior and green paint :)

[Grandam1999V6]

IMHO I would go wiht green CCFLs as the accent color. i dont know how red would look with the gold interior and green paint :)

...yea thats what I was thinking about last night, but wanted to see if anyone else agreed. :)

[Dave C]

I would second the choice of green cathodes... Green & Red = Christmas Car :)

Overall, it sounds like you have thought out your installation fairly well, and I'd like to make a few suggestions from my experience to help you.

I don't really like the idea of using the dome-light circuit as a switch, because it is easy to install a separate switch even if it is just sitting hidden under your seat and not mounted in the center console. Then you wouldn't have to run wires into the headliner, and if you damage something (not expected, but trust me it happens) then you won't need to buy a whole new dome light module.

I also don't like the idea of putting a light in the rear deck. If my knowledge is correct, any neons/CCFLs in line of sight are illegal in Ohio. With that, you will get a much better reaction from people if they can't see that you have done anything, and then when you're driving around at night you can be like, "hey, check this out." aka take the time to hide all components and wiring, aka if you're going to do it, do it well. (sorry about the rant, I just like to encourage people to make it look good because they will be more satisfied)

I'm not familiar with the dash of the pre-'99 models, but you may wish to consider installing an LED instead of a 4" tube in the center cubby. I know in a '99+, it would be really hard to mount one of those tubes in the tray under the HVAC knobs, but it is super-easy to install an LED there (you just drill a correctly-sized hole), that's what I've done. (one 1500 mcd 60 degree red LED is plenty bright)

One more idea, I've also thought about replacing the trunk light with a CCFL, but instead of removing the current light you could install a double-throw switch (I think this is what it is called). This would make it so you could switch power from the custom color look to the factory setting (likely brighter and easier to find stuff in your trunk). With this switch, both lights would use a common ground (aka just splice the ground wires together), but the positive power wire would be split and switched from one light to the other.

Here is another option you may be interested in: I'm using this how-to to install courtesy lights in the bottom of my doors that shine on the ground, and will likely wire up some courtesy lights for the front floor space, as GM cheaped out on the '03-'04 models and didn't include them: http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72763

you should stop by the oznium.com boards to find out if they get hot and to check out pictures... remeber when people take shots of their lighting, the camera aperature will stay open longer to get enough light to develop the picture, meaning the pictures will probably look a lot brigter than real life (I've witnessed this when taking pics of my own car). I have a couple of the standard length CCFLs from oznium under my front seats and haven't had a problem with them.

[tenspeed]

Im looking at putting reds in- being the best to accent the car color, but dont know if it will look good in the interior. :???:

Assuming that it would be dark when they are on, I would go with the red because it doesn't effect your night vision and it's the "cheapest" color on ebay. It also matches your gauges.

I was thinking of buying (from ozium.com) 2 12" for under the driver and pass sides of the dash, a 4" for under the HVAC knobs, either 2 4" or 2 12" under the front seats and/or a 15" on the rear deck, and a 12" or 15" in the trunk.

The usual sizes are 4 and 12 inch. There might be other sizes available but they are not as common. Check ebay too. Ozium is a seller so you might get them for less there.

1) Im sure this is possible, but I imagine that if I wire them all up to the dome light wire that I would easily blow the fuse. WOULD THIS HAPPEN IF ALL WERE WIRED TO THE DOME???

A duel tube draws .65 amps. A single tube draws .43 amps. Start adding them up plus the draw of the dome and map lights to get the total.

And for the trunk light I want to use the CCFL to light it up when the trunk is opened instead of the dome light, and I know that all I have to do is pull the dome out and use its wires to power the CCFL transformer.

I have four neons in my trunk. Two 18 inch near the speakers and two 9 inch by the third brake light. I painted the front half white which "hides" them during the day.

I don't think one will do the job - plan on more, at least two or four across the speaker deck.

2) How hot do the cathodes get, those who have them installed in their cars? The site says they get hot, does that mean burning hot or just a little warm?

The tubes and inverters have plastic cases. How hot can that get?

[Dave C]

one more note, you should probably install a separate fuse at or near the junction where you tap into the alternate power. you can buy these add-a-fuse holders at AutoZone, etc, one I recently purchased was $2.50, plus a few dollars for some 2 Amp fuses. to calculate the size of fuse you need, you'll have to determine the current going through the added circuit. a series circuit of LEDs can be approximated at 20 mA = 0.02 Amps, oznium.com states that each CCFL converter/transformer uses 0.7 Amps (generally two tubes are hooked to each), and I recently went on streetglow.com to get an idea of current drawn by their neons, but the information varied erratically with tube size (enough that I didn't trust it) so I used my digital multimeter to test my (4-5 year old) 15" red neon and it drew around 0.15 Amps.

this should be done in case a short is created. with the power rating for the wires and other things you'll be installing, they might still be fried without blowing the larger fuse that the circuit is on. therefore, you should install a smaller fuse that will blow before there is any damage to the circuits you've installed. aka if you run power off the cigarette lighter, it is on a 20 Amp fuse. if you are installing LEDs then lightweight wires you may use for installation could burn up much before a 20 Amp current is reached.

[Gagt518]

IMHO I would go wiht green CCFLs as the accent color. i dont know how red would look with the gold interior and green paint :)

x2

[Dave C]

Jim does have a few good reasons to use red...