How can I hook these Blue Neon rings up?

[unclet]

I just bought a pair of 10" Blue Neon speaker rings.    When I opened the box I realized they were meant to be plugged into a car's cigarette lighter to get power.   I would like to use these indoors and be able to plug them into a normal wall outlet.   The box says it will work with 12V DC or 110V AC.    Does this mean I can cut off the cigarette lighter part and connect the wires to the 12V line from a PC's power supply to get power and it will work?  If not, what do I need to do get these things plugged into a wall outlet socket?

[Kevin Mullins]

Does this mean I can cut off the cigarette lighter part and connect the wires to the 12V line from a PC's power supply to get power

Yes.

As for plugging straight into the wall...... I would assume they should have come with a "wall wart" power adapter of some sort.

[mountain]

Look on the packaging or label and try to figure out how much current they draw. Then locate a wall wart rated as such. All you have to do id wire the output of the power supply to the input of the rings. You should be able to find one on eBay.

Good luck

[_) (V) (-)]

You could also judge the draw by looking at the fuse that should be installed in the lighter plug. If it's a 5 Amp fuse, you should get a power supply that will handle that kind of power. (Good rule of thumb is 66% of the fuse rating)

I think I'd avoid connecting this type of lighting to the computer's power supply, or at least test it carefully first. It may cause interference to the other devices. I've seen some light tubes do wacky things to monitors especially.

[unclet]

I would use a spare power supply for this so nothing else would be connected to it.  I will have to check the rings more closely for details.

Not sure what a "wall wart" is .....  The only thing which is in the box are the rings and a cigarette adpater.

[mountain]

A wall wart is the little black module at then of most power cords for smaller consumer electronics. Take a look at your cell phone charger. The little module that plugs into your wall is converting you houses 120volt AC to a DC voltage to charge the cell phone battery. More often than not, the electronics to convert this voltage is put into a wall wart to keep the size of the product smaller.

The rings you bought are designed for a car and do not need this. They run off of 12 volts DC. So, you need to locate a wall wart that converts 120 volts AC to 12volts DC. You need to make sure you get one rated for the current draw that these rings will pull.

Hope this helps.

[unclet]

How can I determine the "current draw that these rings will pull"?  There is nothing in the box or on the box which indicates the draw.

I did find this extra plug adapter thing which was used to recharge the battery in a kid toy, but the toy got demolished so this is extra.   I can plug this right into the wall outlet so hopefully I can use it to power the Neon rings.  So, can I splice the wires from the Neon rings to the wires from this plug?  If so, then does it matter which of the two wires from the Neon rings gets connected to which of the two wires from the plug thing.

Picture of the adpater is attached ... obviously

[mountain]

It't hard to say what the current draw is. The charger you have pictured is only 200 milliamp. Way to small.

One last way to check would be to see if the cig lighter plug incorporates a fuse holder. Look to see if the cig lighter plug unscrews or comes apart some other way. If there is a fuse, you can get a good idea of the current draw based on cykoMFs earlier post.

The only other way I would recommend using them would be to use the computers power supply 12 volt output. Make sure that is is rated well above what you  need for the computer components though. If not, you will more than likely shorten it's life span. Protect the rings with a fuse as well.

[Crowquill]

You also might check into something like THIS.

That way you wouldn't have to cut anything. I'm not sure what current it would rated for. I'd think they'd be decently high.

Somewhere in the packaging or paperwork it USUALLY states what current (amperage) it uses.

I've seen these things a lot on spinners of car accessories at bigger gas stations/mini-marts.

[unclet]

I already found some of these on Ebay .... but the amerage is not as high as I think I would need.   I had a friend try to explain this to me a bit.  There is nothing in the box contents which states how much amperage the rings draw.  I need to wait to call the help desk on Monday to ask and see if anyone is smart enough to answer that question. 

The link you recommended did not state the amperage available either so it is hard to tell what kind of these things to buy.

Now, I did look in my garage and found some spare adpaters.  See picture.   You will see the amperage rating on them, so I am not sure whether I could splice the wires to one of these instead of buyin something like in your link.

I also attached a picture of the neon ring hardware.  You will see the cigarette lighter adapter which goes directly into the black box (controls brightness, etc..). Then a black RCA-like plug goes from the black box to the female molex connectors, which can be connected to the male molex connectors of the ring.

[mountain]

There is a fude in that cigarette lighter plug. The wires look pretty small as well, a good indication that these things don't draw too much current.

The larger adaptor in your picture is rated at 3.4 amps. I am sure that one will work.

[unclet]

One end of the 3.4 amp adaptor can be plugged into the wall.  The picture attached shows the other end of it.   There are 5 prongs in it and a metal outer casing, so I doubt this thing is going to have two wires only.   Which of the wires inside would I use to connect the neon rings?  How can I tell which wires to connect basically?

I realize the cigarette lighter adapter had two tabs on either side and one metal tab at the end of it.   I think the two metal tabs on the side are negative and the one metal tab and th tip is positive (could be wrong though).  Anyway, would it be possible (just for testing whether this works), to hold two wires against these tabs to see if the neon blue tubes light up or not.  I mean, instead of snipping off the cigarette lighter just yet, would it be possible to test the neon light by plugging in the 3.4 amp adapter and holding two wires from it against the cigarette lighter?


Also, instead of cutting off the cigarette adapter just yet, would it be possible to hold two wires against the metal

[Kevin Mullins]

Can you give us a closeup of the black box that came with that kit?
Is there any "ratings" on the back/bottom side of it?
Are there any other spots for a plug to plug into it?

Anyway, would it be possible (just for testing whether this works), to hold two wires against these tabs to see if the neon blue tubes light up or not. 

Sure..... but I think the smallest adapter you have in that pic should do fine . (1.2A)
Those rings shouldn't draw that much current.

The box says it will work with 12V DC or 110V AC.

That right there tells me there should have been an adapter with it, or at least a place to plug one into that black box. 

BTW - The 12VDC from a pc power supply should still work fine to run thoughs also.
I have a small (120watt) car audio running off my jukebox pc's power supply and it works fine even when crankin' it up. So those rings couldn't possibly draw more current than that.

[unclet]

Look at the last two posts I made.  One shows the ratings on the 3.4  amp adapter and the other shows the connector which is at the end of it (the other end of it is a standard wall plug).  There is nothing else which gets plugged into it.

As for the neon ring black box .... there is not adapter which plugs into that either.  One of my other pictures (posted eariler) shows all the hardware and is laid out which shows how it all connects together.  On the box, it states the 110V adapter is not included in the box.  I guess I would have to buy this separately.  I would rather just splice wires to the adapters I have lying around.

Now, if I use the 1.2 amp adapter I have (shown in the pic I posted earlier), then there are only two wires there so that should be easier.   You indicated I could test the neon rings by holding up these two wires to the cigarette lighter adapter just to test if it truely lights the rings.   However, if I take the two wires from my 1.2 amp adapter, then would it matter which wire touches the cigarette adapter tip and side metal parts?  I mean should wire1 touch the tip or should wire2 touch the tip?  I do not want to "blow up" my neon rings by attaching the 1.2 adapter wires incorrectly.

Also, how will I know whether the 1.2 amp adapter works.  Ok .... obviously I know if the rings light up then it works, but do I have to worry about the rings getting too much electricity and starting a fire or something?

[Kevin Mullins]

Look at the last two posts I made.  One shows the ratings on the 3.4  amp adapter and the other shows the connector which is at the end of it (the other end of it is a standard wall plug).  There is nothing else which gets plugged into it.

I realize nothing else got plugged into THAT black box. I was only talking about the black box that came with the lights.
You would have to use a multimeter to figure out which of those five pins were your power leads. (I personally wouldn't mess with that one just yet)

On the box, it states the 110V adapter is not included in the box.

Now there is the missing piece of information. Wouldn't it be nice if they at least showed you what kind of adapter it was supposed to be?

However, if I take the two wires from my 1.2 amp adapter, then would it matter which wire touches the cigarette adapter tip and side metal parts?

If it were JUST a light, then I would say it wouldn't matter.
But since it's running through that box I would verify which one is positive and which one is negative on the two wires from the power supply first. (with a meter)
Typically the tip of the cigarette lighter part is the positive and the side tabs are the negative.
 

Also, how will I know whether the 1.2 amp adapter works.  Ok .... obviously I know if the rings light up then it works, but do I have to worry about the rings getting too much electricity and starting a fire or something?

They will only DRAW as much power as they need. (current)
So as long as the voltage is correct, then just make sure the power supply isn't getting unusually hot or anything. And keep the fuse inline between the power supply and the light box.

[unclet]

Ok, I got the neon rings to light up with 1.2 Amp box.   I decided to buy a cigarette lighter  extension cable (see picture).  I cut off the cigarette lighter part from this extension cable and attached the wires to the 1.2 Amp box.   I made sure the negative wire of the extension wire was attached to the negative wire of the 1.2 Amp box (same thing with the positive wire as well  ).  I then simply plugged in the 1.2 Amp box into the wall and plugged the male cigarette lighter from the neon rings into the female cigarette lighter extension piece.  Turned on the power to the neon light rings and they lit up perfectly.

[mountain]

Fantastic! 

[Kevin Mullins]

Awesome...... 

[fjl]

wow, knowing ohms law would really help here. Not sure what amount of current that ring draws. How about a picture of it?

Anyways, if it uses 12 volts then you can connect any 12V DC power adapter(aka wall wart/power supply) to it. The only problem is if the power adapter can support enough current for it. If the adapter is less than what is required then the neon light will either not light up or light up but kind of dim. Nothing can really get damaged here. You just have to look out that the power adapter doesn't overheat. This happens if the current required is greater than what the adapter can support. But it will take a while to overheat.

You can always use a volt/amp meter to check the exact amount of current it draws.

So you could have simply tested each power supply and see what happens. Would have been easier I think.

[unclet]

Well, I have everything taken apart and packed away for later.  I am almost done gathering parts for the cabinet and then I can start making it.  I will post pics of the jukebox cabinet when it is done of course.