Intruder

I actually went out with the intention of getting a cold cathode light, but I couldn't find anything good enough at Fry's. I'll go to a different place tomorrow and I hope I can find something better. I figured that the cold cathode light itself is very thin. What makes it thick/bulky is the protective plexiglass tube and the power inverter which in some cases is in the same case as the "bulb". I will remove everything and have only the bulb. Then I'll mount it on one of the internal panels and I'll post pics.

I have not decided on the color though.
Should I get BLUE to match the color of my car, or get GREEN and be ALIEN!

R2Di2Dc2Do

blue always looks nice

Intruder

Let's see now...

I just got back from a shopping spree!
I got a blue cold cathode fluorescent light and a can of black spray. Now I'm going to spray the panels visible through the vent and install the light. I'll post pics later...

UPDATE:
Here's what I bought:

The spray can and the light...


What's inside the box:


A close up of the inverter:

Intruder

I started working on the light... and decided to take a few pics I think you might want to see.

This is the light - ON - it's bright..



This picture was taken with the FLASH OFF.



This is my power supply. Currently supplying 12V and it looks like the light is drawing about 0.5 Amps.



And here's the box...



No flash.



This is my favorite pic. This is at 8 Volts. The light is dimmer and looks just like I wanted.



I'm going to mount a potentiometer on the back of the enclosure, so I can adjust the brighness later on... although I may not have to lower the voltage after I paint the interior black - it will be less reflective. We'll see...

MisterT

just make sure it is a flat black. My 2 ED 12's in a sealed box are so loud that the rear deck is vibrating really bad! It's to the point where it is obnoxious! I got out and the license plate was moving like crazy! I don't care about noise from the outside though. You can see the roof (sunroof included) just vibrating to the bass when cranked. I just have to do something with that rear deck though. I know there are going to be vibrations throughout the car, but the really loud ones seem to be coming from the rear deck needs to be taken care of. Just think, tomorrow is Monday and you definitely are going to be looking forward to Monday (perhaps the first time in your life). Hopefully it will be in. That light is very bright. I think it would look pretty cool. Now you have to make your "theme" blue---blue calipers, blue wiring and hoses under the hood. I want to do mine blue (calipers, etc.) The wires for my ground kit are blue too. Although the 4 gauge wire going to the distribution black is blue too, but clear blue. Let us know how it sounds.

MiStErT

Intruder

I definitely will!

Vibrations, hmm... My license plate is vibrating without a sub! I can't imagine what's gonna happen after I put the sub in the trunk. I did not have enough Brown Bread to finish the trunk, so after installing the amp and all, this will be on my top priority list.

The light is really bright. I don't like it at full brightness right now, but I may change my mind later, so I'm going to install a pot. to regulate it.

I have so much work left to do, but I feel like I have to wait till I get the sub, put it in, test it, and THEN finalize the box. It's pretty much done. It's all one piece now. All that's left is gluing everything together and sealing the joints. The hard part IMO will be covering the box with carpet. I have no idea where to start! Is there a tutorial on this somewhere?

Intruder

SPEAKER WIRES:
DRIVER to TERMINAL - 10 gauge
TERMINAL to AMP - 10 gauge

AMPLIFIER WIRES:
AMP to BATTERY - 4 gauge
HU (4V PreOut RCAs) to AMP - X gauge

Fill in the blanks, please!

Intruder

standard RCA "Kables"...

MisterT

Just use a good set of RCA cables. I used the one in my amp install kit and it works fine. My home audio system uses expensive $40-60 4 ft. cables, which I wouldn't think is necessary for car unless you have more money than you know what to do with. Knuconceptz has the best prices on all of your wiring needs. Now I sound like a Knuconceptz rep, but they are significantly cheaper than local shops and other web sites (crutchfield, sounddomain, etc.). You can probably get a good 20 foot RCA cable for around $20 or so dollars to run to your crossover and use shorter cables to run to your amps from your crossover if they are in close proximity.

MiStErT

MisterT

i am assuming 6 meters is 20 feet or close to it, but knuconceptz has them for $13.50. You can also get dual RCAs depending on your set up (like if you are running from your head unit to two amps and crossover isn't in the picture, except a built in one in the amp). The RCAs go up to $40 for a 6 meter, but the one I use is equivilant to the one for $13.50 most likely. That is a great price as most places charge around $20 on up for the same grade that they have for only 13.50. Of course, shipping and handling is around $5, so if you need any thing else, get it in one shot.

MiStErT

Intruder

Thanks for the tips.
I will try and find the stuff locally. I saw wires at Home Depot and some of them looked like the ones on Knuconceptz. I guess I can buy at least the power wires from Home Depot. Well, I'm going to compare prices anyway. I'll shop around and if I don't find high-grade wires at prices lower than Knuconceptz I will shop online from them.

I'm itching already! I can't wait for the mailman to deliver my stuff!

Intruder

I thought the Avionixx 500M has an internal crossover. Is it NOT good? Do I need an external crossover?

MisterT

No, I would just stick with that then (use the amp's built in crossover). I was thinking you may have had an amp for your highs too, and needed a crossover. Also, a lot of amps these days come with built in crossover and bass boost controls to give it the amount of umph you are desiring, unless you are like most people when a lot is never enough, sound familiar **cough** Blue Ledz I admit I am the same way. First it was just to do it, then you want to turn heads.

MiStErT

Intruder

Ugh, no package yet...

MisterT

I know it must be killing you. With me, I was without subs for some time when my SoundStreams crapped out, so I was used to no bass for a while. Also, they EDesigns were in the process of redoing their line up entirely, so a lot of pics were prototype pics and they were taking orders, but not shipping. A guy here was waiting a month, so I figured I would be waiting at least that long. I emailed them to get an ETA since I live in an apartment and before they could respond, I came home from work and they were there at my front door. They ship in white boxes with no lettering on it to advertise what you receive which is a good thing when living in an apartment complex. I was pleasantly surprised. Like they say, good things come to those who wait. Off the subject, but my dad got a new i mac from Apple computers (the half of a basketball looking one with a DVDR/CDRW drive, 100gig hard drive, 1 gig of ram<which is insane!>, an all in one printer/fax/scanner, and speakers. It was like torture on him. First the speakers came in. A couple of days later the all in one printer came in, and the computer literally came in last of all the things shipped to him. Talk about S.O.L. That computer kicks *** with its flat screen that is a wide screen as well. I can't believe the power in that little unit. It will blow away my 2.26 gig computer with 256 megs of ram. I do have better speakers though<whewhoo!> I have the three piece Boston Acoustic set up from my previous Gateway. They sound nice too!

MiStErT