Neon! Oh crap...no neon.
 

Finally got around to installing my grill neon. Took along time to do...but that is besides the point.

I got it all wired up, flipped the switch, and they both turn on...but after a split second one of the neon tubes went out...and started smoking. So I say, self....thats not good :roll:

So now for my question. Both of the wires coming off of the neon are the same color. So I assume that the polarity doesn't matter (like it does for cathodes). So did I have them backwards....or does it not matter for neon.

My other guess is that when I was separating the two wires, I may have clipped the insulation on both (wires were 20-22 gauge) causing it to short?

Basically what I am getting at, is when I go and get a new bulb, does negative and positive matter...

Thanks for the help.

YES!!!!!!!!!!! there is def a pos and neg for neon. here is the test. IF you have the Cig adapter get a test light and plug it in. Us the test light and see what wire lights up. that is your power and the other is your ground.

wiring 101 my friend :lol:

Thanks :evil: :roll:

any pics of what u burned?

are you sure one of the wires doesn't have a white stripe on it? that would be positive.

No pics of what burned. These were the neons that have the transformer on them...that was smoking pretty bad. I was really mad, so I haven't really looked at the neon much now, so I am not sure if it "looks" any different.