Picked up a sound activated neon tube tonight

[mrsteve]

Okay I have wanted to put some neon in my explorer ever since I got my system. Tonight I went out and got a 15" sound-activated neon tube. Installation consisted of pluging it into the cigarete lighter thingy, although I plan on hard wiring it tomorrow. I went out to see how it looked once it got really dark and the tube honestly lights up the entire cargo area and the rear seat area! It's awesome. You can adjust the sensitivity so that when the bass hits it lights up. The louder the bass the brighter it gets. The tube was $40 and has a lifetime warranty. I mounted it right on my sub box and the sound is not changed. With the cargo cover closed the neon looks awesome. It looks like some alien thing. There is blue light coming from all around the sides of the cover. Just thought I would let you all know that the neon stuff is awesome, but just like the audio stuff, I am addicted to the neon now. I am gonna go back next week and get 2 more tubes for under the dash.

 

[JTang]

Hey Steve,

What is hook up like?

Jon

 

[mrsteve]

There are 2 hook up methods. First you can just plug it in to the cigarette adapter, but the cord is only 8 feet long. So I had to cut off the adapter pug and extend the wire with some extra 12v wire I had lying around. Then reconected it to the plug and I was finished. The only problem is that if you wanna turn it off you gotta pull the plug out which can be a pain with the tiny ashtray area. I am going to rewire it to a switch this week. I will take the ground wire and ground it somewhere the take the power wire run it to a switch and hook the switch up to a 12v source. I think I am going to hook it up to the radio fuse so that I can only use the neon when the stereo is on. Pretty easy I think. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Alec]

So does the tube "hear" the bass and light up according to the sound? All you have to hook up is power. That's cool. I thought the sound activated neon lights required wiring to the stereo. Can you tell me the brand of the light?

Thanks.

 

[mrsteve]

Yeah there is no wiring into the stereo system. Really too easy huh?!? It's StreetGlow brand neon. http://www.streeglow.com

 

[JTang]

Oops. Above that should be:

http://www.streetglow.com

The "T" was missing...

Jon

 

[Alec]

I noticed.

Anyway, I'm gonna figure out if it's too gaudy. I'll probably get one though. My parents are going to think I'm nuts.

 

[RFR2212]

Mr. Steve--How well does it actually work? I love the idea, I was just skeptical when I first saw em.
Thanks,
Pete

 

[mrsteve]

It works really well I think. You can adjust the sensitivity of the light. I have mine set so that it only goes off when the bass hits. The rear seats don't really get lit up but the entire rear cargo area does. I think it is cool. I do think that people can go over-board on that type of stuff though. Undercar kits, headlight neon, etc. I am satisfied with it. And it is guarantedd forever, except broken glass. I think I may go get another tube for the box and then I will really light it up. Thanks for correcting the link.

 

[JTang]

Alec-

If you're unsure about the neon tubes, then I'd say go for the "Hott Wires" neon wiring they have. I've seen that in action, and it's really cool. It's not as bright or big, but it gives a cool understated look, and you can mount it just about anywhere. I was thinking about putting it in where it was activated by the dome lights, so it would only come on when the doors were opened. That way at night I could have that lighting up stuff like the door jams, under the dash and stuff. I'm hoping that we can use it on the headlight neon tubing too, just to give a "brighter" appearance with the white neon in my headlights. Our lenses aren't the sealed type, are they? They want you to drill a hole and stick a little light in there.

Jon

 

[tac0meat]

ive got those dual 6inch mini neons mounted under my dash. they are awesome! puts a really cool blue glow at your feet. this weekend im getting some 20 inch tri-colored lava neons for my rear cargo area. going to mount them like Brian Green did:
http://www.explorer4x4.com/bgreen_woofer.jpg

 

[explorer93xlt]

I also just put four lighting run street glow tibes in my car yesterday i mounted 2 of them right on the back window sill and then i mounted the 2 15 inch tubes inside by bandpass box, the lighting tubs have a variable setting on the for speeds and also have the same feature as the sound activated one , they look great inside the bandpass box, and the geat part is belive it or not they draw a very very low current and give out a great deal of light. i simply tapped into my glove box light then ran the wires from their under the pannels then to the back of my truck, this is my truck check out the system.. http://home.att.net/~riccardis/Explorer1.html i did't have a chance to app the neon pictures yet because i just did it but they will be up soon