Help! I'm not rebuilding an engine here... This should be easy but I can't figure it out.

I have a 12 v power supply and 2 led strips. I'm trying to figure out how to attach the LED strip wires to the battery pack. Each strip has a red pos wire and a black neg wire. I can't for the life of me see how they attach.

Also what the heck is the little plug thing coming out of the power adapter for?

See pics- if anyone can help me I'd be so grateful.

 

There's a red and black wire coming out of the battery pack. Cut and splice them accordingly.

 

Where are these going?

I've never worked w/ LED's before, but if it was me I'd cut the plug and attach the red wire to the red wire and black to black.

Is there a switch somewhere where you'll be able to turn them off?

 

So I should cut that plug thing off the battery pack? There'd be no way to switch then off and on. I hadn't decided where to put them yet, but most likely somewhere around the center console between the seats

 

I'd take a step back before you do anything and think about what you want to accomplish, and where you want them. Now's the time to add a simple switch if you wanted to do so. But it really should be as simple as black wire to black, red wire to red. I'd head to radio shack and buy a simple switch to include in the install (just cut the red wire somewhere and attach each cut end to the switch). Plan out what you want before doing anything else.
I don't KNOW your set-up, but if I was in your position I'd cut the plug, leaving some exposed wire to hook it back up if I needed to, and connect the color coded wires to test. Then, I'd plan out exactly what I wanted to do, mount the lights, and run the wires back to the appropriate location for the battery pack, and figure out where I wanted to install a switch along the wires. Good luck.

 

that looks tricky. might want to try a different approach. i got some 15 led strips off ebay for $2. you can cut them if you want less lights, i just left them and put them under my dash on each side. i connected the wires to the wires in the pillar on the pass side that connect to the dome lights. its the same wire hookup you would use for lighted door sills.(attached below the pic)

 

Well, that didnt go so well. I've really made a mess now, and I'm probably going to have to go crawling back to my graphics/lights place to get it fixed. I ended up pulling off the console in the middle, and saw that the wires that run to the switch that connects to my footwell neons was right there. I thought i could just unwrap the electrical tape, splice these wires in, and I'd be good to go. When I unwrapped the elec tape and touched the wire ends, the LEDs lit up. So somewhere in the middle of trying to figure all this out I ****ed up my neons. They will not come on anymore. I put everything back exactly like I found it and still no dice. I was thinking maybe I blew a fuse? But that's yet another thing that's way over my head. no clue how I'd be able to tell. I don't want to mess the lighting up anymore than I already have.... Ugh. this **** shop is gonna charge me an arm and a leg to fix this just because they can... Hate that place. What a mess.

 

I'm confused as to why you're connecting them to a battery pack to begin with? Should've just spliced them into the dome lights. Or if you wanted to be able to turn them on and off, then wire a switch in between the power and the lights.

Now you think you blew a fuse in the lights you already had? How about some pics of what you already have, and how you have it connected. Maybe someone can figure it out, before you get raped by a shop.

 

I would have loved to splice them into the domes- don't know how.... Clearly this is not a strong area for me and I should've left it alone.

 

that pdf file i posted has the directions to wire lights to the dome circuit. of course they will come on and work just like the domes do. or you can turn the dimmer **** up and turn them on.

didnt know you already had some footwell lighting. i might run a couple more of the strips for my rear footwell areas just to light up the entire floor. i would check all your fuses good. were those battery ones a different voltage?

 

When in doubt, just ask for help before hand to make sure you're doing it right. It's actually just a really simple splice, as shown in that PDF. Just think of it as a + wire and a - wire. If you go to wal-mart or radio shack, you can also buy a little set of connectors/splices/etc if you're not very handy with a soldering iron.

 

How can you tell if a fuse is blown?

 

And do I look at the fuses under the passenger side panel or under the fusebox in the engine compartment ?

 

If you were messing with wires under the center console, then i'd guess that whoever installed you other lights tapped into the 12volt accessory plug wires under the center column?!? If that's the case, the fuse for that is under the hood in the fuse box there. Look at your owners manual for "fuses" (for some reason I am thinking it's page 62, or maybe it's fuse number 62?!? I know its a 20amp yellow fuse). Look for the fuse called "12 volt accessory armrest" or something like that. You'll see in the manula that the two accessory plugs are on seperate fuses and they are labeled accordingly in the user's manual. On another note, please don't tell me the only thing holding your wires together is electrical tape only after twisting them together???? If so and you had them installed somewhere, never go there again...... They should be installed with wire connectors, then electrical tape, or soldered an heat shrink wrapped.

 

Thank you! It was indeed a fuse- neons fixed. And you were right about which one and everything. So thank you thank you.
And yes, they had stripped (and although very neatly and carefully) just wrapped em together and taped them / no sign of connectors or anything else.

 

ya, you might want to at the least use some crimp connectors. the connectors i used to tap into my dome wires at the top of the pillar were the ones that you run the wire straight through one side, then butt your new wire into the other side, and use some pliars to squeeze the blade through the wires and flip the clip closed. ( those are hard to describe) of course, soldering is always better

 

And this was someone that you had paid to do this? At least you got the fuse figured out. As was mentioned, the crimp connectors are very easy to use if you're not handy with a soldering iron, and it just makes everything look cleaner.