Ok, as you can see in the pictures below, i just got my cold cathodes today and im dieing to get them in the footwells to see how they look. Ordered the chatodes from www.case-mod.com If someone with wiring experience or someone who has already done this mod could please help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

Here is what i want to do: Put one cathode in each of the front footwells and wire them both into where the dome light is wired.

Questions: How do i know which of the two wires comming out the end of the cathode is positive and which one is negative since they are both white colored wires???

Do i need to cut the little plugs off the ends of the wires comming out the end of the cathodes???

What Size Gauge of wire will i need to get so i can run the wiring all the way to the to where the dome light is connected.

Idk, i just need to know exactly what i gotta do.

 

It has been recommended not to mess with the white side because the voltage is high and changing lengths will cause the voltage to change so the brightness will not be the same. The white wires just plug into the inverter, and they can only plug in one way so you dont have to determine which is postive or negative. Its the wires from the molex connectors you have to worry about.

Second, if you have an old power supply you can cut off one of the molex connectors and use it to tap the dome so you can plug in and remove easily. That is what I did.

Another thing, you cant or it will be VERY hard to use 1 cathode for both sides. I dont know of anyone that has done it. The wires are not long enough to leave the inverter in the middle and mount the cathodes.

 

I extended one of mine, keep the end white plug, and use 16ga wires to expand it. It will make the light output a bit dimmer though.

 

So basically i have to connect both white ends of the cathodes into the inverter which is the blue box in the pic and then the red and black wires plug into the other side of the inverter comming out of it. I would then need to cut the red and black wires towards the end of them and then get some 16 Gauge wire and connect it to the ends of the black and red wires and then tap into the dome light with the other end of the extension wire correct??? I dont care if the lights are a little dimmer cuz i dont want them super bright. Do they loose that much output or not much????

I just now understood how the cathodes wires are not long enough to put one on each side, SO HOW WOULD I DO THAT THEN, i thought the 16 gauge extension wire connects to the black and red, no???? Or is that 16 gauge extension wire supposed to connect into the white cathode wires and then get some other type of extension wire to connect to the black and red???? I WANT TO GET THEM IN SO BAD, but this is my first time doing a mod like this. Need assistance ya kno.

 

there was a thread long time ago about the install of these.....search for it but i duno where to start..try typing in cathodes..

 

WOW, thats no help.

 

wow do a search

 

wow i just did a search and found a thread wit 6 pages, and thats the one im talking about

try doing a search jesus..

and for the fact i did do this mod but i dont want to bother explaining it for you

 

you can use 16ga to extend on both ends, cut the white wires in half, and then splice a new wire to each one and connect it back to the original plug and remaining white wire. You also use 16ga to extend the pos/neg wires as well.

 

Hit up http://www.oznium.com/forum/. The site and forum does mods with computer cold cathodes into cars among underbody stuff. Oznium sells cold cathodes for really cheap, and the owner of the site is a great guy who ships his stuff the next day and makes personal calls when there's problems with the order. (He also rocks a custom red Highlander on hydraulics!)

If the white wires aren't long enough, you'll need to buy another inverter. I'd actually suggest getting another set of cold cathodes and keep the two extra tubes as spares because they're chepaer.

 

Yeah it is supposed to get dimmer when extended. I figured for $3 more I could put another set of 2 on the other side plus it is brighter.

 

post #35 in the thread.....cmon i got this one out of typing "Cathodes" u spelt it right so...........

never knew bout the dimming.......arg..

 

i dont want it to be very bright anyways, i just want both cathodes to give a nice suttle lighting effect in the footwells. If its that badly dim after doing it that you hardly see any light in there, then ill just get new cathodes, but whatever its worth a try.

 

If the twelve inchers turn out to be too bright, you can get six inchers from oznium.

 

or you could just throw a dimmer switch in there and have control over it.

 

I think two 12" cathodes are just right

 

Aight hit me up dvsxlt247 and let me know how it came out. And for some reason I cant see your pics.. I think Im gonna order my cathodes as soon as you get yours going and if your satisfied with the lighting.

 

if i use a wire tap to tap into the wire for the dome light, and i dont do it right and take the wire tap out, will the original dome light still function even though it will have a small opening in the wire????

 

yes

 

Yes

 

Ok, good news, i was able to extend the white wires comming form both cathodes and i also extended the black and red wires that go into the inverter. I taped into the dome light wires and wala, it worked like a charm. I also want to let you all know that the cathodes are not any dimmer what so ever at all. There exactly the same brightness as they were before i extened the wires on them so i think there are some INFORMATION corrections that need to be made on this mod. Im porbably going to make another post that explains everything about doing this and whats fact and whats fiction because i have heard 10 different stories about this cathode mod as far as the cathode not being fully lit or dimmer etc so im gona correct alot of those things other have mentioned. I'll post pics later tonight.

 

I personally have tried to extend the wires between the inverter and the cathodes but from all the googling I did, they suggest against it.