Footwell Neons

[Ron Burgundy]

Just want to clear this up so it doesnt need to be asked again.

These neons are the ones that i have installed in my footwells, they give a very bright blue glow, and this site is the cheapest place to buy them:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=15241927680&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=51686

They are wired up to the back of the cigarette lighter with me, one lead to positive and one to negative. They come with a switch, so can be turned on or off !

They can also be wired to any 12v source, for example the back of the cd player, or the boot light.

Please do not ask what neons people use, as there are many variations, such as led tubes etc etc. These are in my opinion the best value for money choice.

Hope this is of some help to people.

I can provide pictures of how they are installed and what they look like in the night if necessary.

Thanks. Liam

[B4PJS]

If ya go into halfrauds ya can get LED pods that are REAL bright for like 30 quid. wired up the same (cigar lighter)

[partridge_88]

If ya go into halfrauds ya can get LED pods that are REAL bright for like 30 quid. wired up the same (cigar lighter)

cigar lighter ay, someones makin some moolah to be able to smoke cigarillos

[B4PJS]

cigar lighter ay, someones makin some moolah to be able to smoke cigarillos

nah, jus started smokin them when i was bout 8 n i h8 cigarettes cos they are jus ****e. can only afford bout 1 - 2 singles a day (70p each) so i dont mangle my finances (I am a student)

[Ron Burgundy]

lmfao, thing is in halfrauds i'd rather save £27.50 and get these ! as my mate has the halfrauds ones, and they are no different.

infact i prefer mine, as the led's produce single beams of light, which you can see as dots on the floor, not a glow. the neon produces an even glow !

Much prefer neons if i'm honest !

[B4PJS]

check this out n see if ya like em
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c213/b4rny/DSC00583.jpg

[BarinaSXIpurthOZ]

i think mine look better
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/WA04SXi/P1010048.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f95/WA04SXi/P1010026.jpg

[partridge_88]

if you do this does it mean your cigarette lighter is now useless i.e you cant charge your phone n all

[BarinaSXIpurthOZ]

no it still works in mine, i have 5 in my car so i have a dissribution box hiddan away and the power comes from the ciggi lighter were i removed the insolation. Power still for all

[rob_hawke]

do the the neons from ebuyer come with everything to fit them??
adn r they easy to fit, as im crap at stuff like that! lol

as they sound a bargain!!!

[BarinaSXIpurthOZ]

any neon tubes are easy to fit. Just make sure your peddels dont hit em.

[Ron Burgundy]

they are very easy to fit. i had never done it before, and it took me 20 mins !

Yes they come with everthing you will need. i will post a mini tutorial for these if needed. they really are soo easy and people think its much harder than it is !

Its def worth it, i even done them in my mates clio for him. £2.49 plus Vat plus postage ! works out at about £5.50 but still a BARGAIN

[rob_hawke]

would u be able to post up a mini tutorial mate?
would like to have a go at fitting them to my car!

cheers

[partridge_88]

please please post a mini tutorial liam with the switch included i dont have a clue what to do. with pics of the connections iff poss mate. also does ur ciggy lighter still work and did you fuse the neons

[Ron Burgundy]

I didnt fuse the neons, as the ciggy lighter is already fused. and i placed the switch on the left of the bottom of the footwell. ill show you some pics when i can get some up.

I'll do a mini tutotial now.

Liam.

[partridge_88]

cheers mate ive had some lying about for months but im scared to do it like

[Ron Burgundy]

i have just realised mate. My car is at the bodyshop to get spoiler done, lol. I wont be able to get new pics, but i can talk a step by step guide, and use the old pics i took when doing mine.

Ok.

1. Remove the gear surround by pressing the sides and lifting upwards. This will then easily lift up and out of the way, so you can see the gear shaft. Push your hand under here towards the giggy lighter and push it upwards with the coin holders. This should pop out quite easily, leaving you with a gap where the lighter was andthe ciggy lighter and holder in your hand with the connection leads running from the lighter through the hole and out of sight.

2. Remove the Screws located at the bottom of the centre console to the left of the right footwell, and the right of the left.

They can be seen here for the right footwell. NB there is one screw either side of the condsole.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0073.jpg

3. Pull the black connector attached to the back of the ciggy lighter off. This is a poistive and negative 12V supply for the lighter. You will need to test which is which by trial and error. NB this will NOT damage the neons.

The black thing looks like this
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0071.jpg

4. When you have figured which is pos and neg. Push the leads into the back of the ciggy lighter holes, where the thin metal connectors from the black box push into. Then push the black box back over into the ciggy ligher. This will make sure that there is a good connection. Be sure that you have not strippsed the wire too much, and the positive is touching the negative etc, as this will short circuit it, and blow the fuse.

You can see my yellow (positive) and black (negative) wires attached to the black box here.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0072.jpg

5. Run the wires you have just attached to the back of the lighter into the inverter for the neons. place this out of the way under the ciggy lighter box. I attached mine with a bit of double sided tape to the inner side of the console surround, so it was not in the way of the gear shaft.

6. Place the switch out of the way and run the leads out of sight. My switch was placed here:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0073.jpg

(its the black thing at the corner of the plastic surround)

7. Attach the neons to the top of the footwells, be carefull as they are very delicate, and must not be bent, as they will break !

8. Tidy the leads from the neons under the plastic and out of sight, and attach them to the inverter under the giggy lighter. This is quite fiddly, and may need the neon wires to be extended by stereo speaker cable.

9. Replace the ciggy lighter into the hole, and push teh gear surround back where it originally was, and admire your work !

[Ron Burgundy]

Sorry it was rushed, and there are probably spelling mistakes, lol. Those were the best pics i could find on my pc, i will take better ones when i get my car back if needed.

Its not that hard to do, i did it without any tutorial on my own in 20 mins. Its just very fiddly, and you need to be carefull that you dont smash the neons when taping them up.

GOOD LUCK !

[partridge_88]

whats the invertor for the neons? the white block thing on the end of em?

im still confused mate .

i have two neons with a white block on the end of em and the switch has a black yellow and red wire

thats all i got

[Ron Burgundy]

ok, what neons do you have?

Basically you should have 2 neons. A switch. and a blak box 3 inches long and inch wide called the inverter.

The neons run off 12V. so you need a 12V supply to connect them to.

I'll so a diagram :)

[Ron Burgundy]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/neons.jpg

This is how it should look connected up.

And the 12V supply is the positive and negative connection at the back of your ciggy lighter that you are connecting the bottom wires to.

Hope this explains a little better.

The diagram is for the neons that you get off that website. or ebay. or any 12v cold cathode kit.

[partridge_88]

ayyyy i avent got one of them invertter thingies! dodgy **** on ebay didnt give me one nowonder it looked so damn complicated

looks like i need some off ebuyer how much r they

[partridge_88]

great and now ther out of stock.

oh well ill have to wait. cheers liam

[Ron Burgundy]

no problem mate. maybe you dont need an inverter for the neons you have. post a pic up of them with all the things you had. might be able to tell if they will work without an inverter ! as you may have led's or something.

anyways, they are pretty cheap on ebuyer, so wont break the bank mate. gd luck

[partridge_88]

this should be put in tutorials mods

[Ron Burgundy]

Partridge88 did you manage to get your neons installed?

[partridge_88]

out of stock on website mate and i aint payin 15 quid on ebay

[Ron Burgundy]

my mates want them off that site aswell, lol. i had to wait till they were back in stock when i wanted some. seems that they are very popular, i can see why at £2.49 !

anyways. good luck installing them when you get them. it really is easy electrically mate, hardest part is hiding the wires out the way when they done !

[C03RSA J4CK]

Hey
i Just bought them neons you said to get and they have come with a weird plug on the end of it. i dont see where that goes. i tried in the back of my cd player but cant find anywhere where do it put it. ps i havent got a cigarette lighter becuase i done a TOMTOM sat nav conversion.

[Ron Burgundy]

Hey
i Just bought them neons you said to get and they have come with a weird plug on the end of it. i dont see where that goes. i tried in the back of my cd player but cant find anywhere where do it put it. ps i havent got a cigarette lighter becuase i done a TOMTOM sat nav conversion.

ok the weird plug that they gave you is to link them to your pc ! you need to cut this off !

post a pic up of them and i'll show you where to cut ! they are a light coloured grey/white thing about an inch wide yea? and theres two of them ? yea.

well when cut off this leaves you with a red and yellow wire, that simply connect to any 12V source !

liam.

[SpeedX]

havnt read all the posts in here so forgive me if im missing someting.

the footwell lights I use are just some LED strips from car crazy (local car shop) they are £8 a strip but are sooooo thin and flexible and are just perfect hehe! also m ine are wired into a remote reciever by my amp in the boot (just a bit of speaker cable goin down the front behind the glovebox)

[Ron Burgundy]

havnt read all the posts in here so forgive me if im missing someting.

the footwell lights I use are just some LED strips from car crazy (local car shop) they are £8 a strip but are sooooo thin and flexible and are just perfect hehe! also m ine are wired into a remote reciever by my amp in the boot (just a bit of speaker cable goin down the front behind the glovebox)

guessin thats a 12V source then mate !!

they can be wired to any 12v source, eg boot light, remote cables, cd headunit, ciggy lighter. whereva is easiest !

[SpeedX]

indeed, i only done mine from the amp for convinience, and put another inline fuse in, and because I have 4awg cable to the amp and its only a monoblock running 1 sub it dont need 4awg cable (future proof hehe)

[Ron Burgundy]

well exactly mate, whateva is more convenient !

i used ciggy lighter as it was nearest source to footwells for me, as i didnt wana remove current head unit, and ciggy lighter was easy enough !

you only need a very basic electrical knowledge to be able to do this !

[Foz]

I dunno this all neons ave invertor but the 1's off ebuyer are designed 2 go inside pc so that cud be y they ave invertors! Not sure if that is right jus a quess

[Ron Burgundy]

I dunno this all neons ave invertor but the 1's off ebuyer are designed 2 go inside pc so that cud be y they ave invertors! Not sure if that is right jus a quess

the inverter is to change the 12V a.c. to a current that the neons are suitable with. this 12v is the same as what a pc would power it with, hence how they are compatable in a car !

[Ben88]

hi, barina, u sed u had 5 sets of neons and u take the power from ciggy lighter. you mentioned something about a distribution box, where would i be able to get my hands on one of these please? thanks.

also ive heard cig lighter does not work once neons are installed into the back of cig lighter but something can be bought to make it work again. anyone know what it is?

:)

[partridge_88]

mine still works, its not replacing the power just drawing extra power

[Ron Burgundy]

it only doesnt work if you disconnect it. what most people do is just connect the neons to the back of the lighter. and a distribution block is simply something that will allow you to add multiple connections from one link.

probably be able to get it in halfrauds, or any diy or electrical shop.

[alan]

how long the wrie on them? im thinknig of button some on the backseat footwells :P but i cba to make the wrie longer :P cuz i want the switch like next to the other one

[Ron Burgundy]

the wire is quite short mate. but can be extended with speaker cable

[alan]

ill think about it there are mighty cheap

[Ben88]

ahhh cool thanks. and also liam, jus to say great work on tutorial!

[Ron Burgundy]

ahhh cool thanks. and also liam, jus to say great work on tutorial!

welcome mate. people are put off on how hard they think it looks, but its really simple. aslong as your carefull and have little electrical knowledge its easy.

[alan]

i thuogh be hard but like took 10 mins. just finding pos and neg that took the long part :)

[Ron Burgundy]

yep. lol.

[Munkie]

What do you use as a switch ?

[Ron Burgundy]

What do you use as a switch ?

a switch is included with the neons. if you get the ones in the link. i know it doesnt say that there is, but i have bought a few sets, and they all come with it built into the wiring.

they are a bargain

liam.

[Paul_SRi]

just ordered some :thumbs:

[Munkie]

is that the ones on ebuyer ? like £2.50 or something ? and do they pop straight to any 12v ?

[Ben88]

yes, liam is talking bout the ones of ebuyer, at 1.99 EX vat. they DO pop into any 12v source :)

hey liam, u mentioned that the wires are "quite short" how short is that? is it long enough to reach the footwells from ciggy without any extension?.

[Ron Burgundy]

yes, liam is talking bout the ones of ebuyer, at 1.99 EX vat. they DO pop into any 12v source :)

hey liam, u mentioned that the wires are "quite short" how short is that? is it long enough to reach the footwells from ciggy without any extension?.

they are the ones that i have, and i havent extended them at all. its a very close fit, but the just about reach without any extension. i think the lead is like 14" long, for each neon, which isnt that much, but just enough if you wire it to the ciggy lighter.

yes they are 12v. and i have had 2 sets, and had 3 for mates, lol.

[Ron Burgundy]

sorry, forgot to add, the neons come with adapters for the pc. these will need to be cut off, like this:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Neons.jpg

[alan]

there my neons :P they are really tight fit u have to stick ur hand in and tug and pull to get the wries in the box but its worth it :D

[Ron Burgundy]

there my neons :P they are really tight fit u have to stick ur hand in and tug and pull to get the wries in the box but its worth it :D

yea. they just about make it.

[nellie131]

what did you guys use to fit the tubes in the footwells?and where abouts did you put them?

[partridge_88]

what did you guys use to fit the tubes in the footwells?and where abouts did you put them?

i used sticky pads better to use cable ties.

on the metal bar that runs along

[Nutkin]

i got neons in ym footwells. i didnt put them in drivers as i thought it be too dangerous if they got in way of pedals. but to counter i put one under each seat so it shines out the back and front for read and front passengers. im gonna put some up the back side now too so the read lights up :D. i also used a toggle switch with a safter flip ontop looks the best.

[Marc SRi]

just got my second set of lights through yesterday for the footwells, the last set i got replaced the boot light which i think looks amazin now at night just having your whole boot glowing blue lol. so gonna get this set of neons wired up this weekend, but im running them right off the battery rather than the cig lighter.

[Ron Burgundy]

just got my second set of lights through yesterday for the footwells, the last set i got replaced the boot light which i think looks amazin now at night just having your whole boot glowing blue lol. so gonna get this set of neons wired up this weekend, but im running them right off the battery rather than the cig lighter.

honestly mate, its much easier using the back of the ciggy lighter, as its already fised for you, and its in th eperfect place for hiding the wires, and is easy to do.

good luck ;)

[Nutkin]

when i tried my lights in the read it didnt light up but did in the front not sure why if you can guarentee these will work then i might run some wires under the spare tyre park to power a load of neons :D

[16v_black_corsa]

jus wired my footwell neons up

blew a fuse 2 lol

gunna get some more now for under seats as i put a spare switch for if i wanted to add

[kik]

Anyone know where I can get one of these inverters from please? Blown mine up ffs!!

[Ben88]

dammit why does ebuyer never have the blue cathodes in stock!!!
also liam- do u hav any pics on the bit about the gear surround. bit unsure about which bit u need to remove and how it should look once removed. thanks!

[Ron Burgundy]

jus wired my footwell neons up

blew a fuse 2 lol

gunna get some more now for under seats as i put a spare switch for if i wanted to add

fuses are cheap enough mate. dont wory, ive blown two. lol.

[Ron Burgundy]

dammit why does ebuyer never have the blue cathodes in stock!!!
also liam- do u hav any pics on the bit about the gear surround. bit unsure about which bit u need to remove and how it should look once removed. thanks!

it is the gear surround first. which is removed by pulling upwards. then its the whole surround of the cig lighter. including the coin holders mate.

[Ron Burgundy]

Anyone know where I can get one of these inverters from please? Blown mine up ffs!!

just buy the cheapest set of neons on ebuyer.co.uk, they all come with them mate, about £2.50 i think

[16v_black_corsa]

i had some cos i once bought some n igot the mine blade fuses instead of normal size lol

turned out lucky i gess

[elofty]

been out of stock for weeks :( Im still waiting but i refuse to pay the high prices on ebay when their alot cheaper on ebuyer (im after a dozen sets or so)

[Sharyn]

U can also wire them upto the map reading light and use that as ur on off button - or wire them upto your interior lights (when u open the door) and it only lights up when u open the door. Had these in the corsa and they wer great - light up loads - much better than leds. Im now getting pink ones as the blue doesnt match my colour scheme! lol

[Sharyn]

BTW Marc (MJR) used to sell these - and it came with a photoguide on how to wire it up to the interior lights.

[MJR]

Yep I sure did, sold them for roughly £10 all in and even got one pair sold for £28 on E-bay, how chuffed was I :D (that was a couple of yrs ago)

I still have the guide I made for them, if anyone wants a copy of my amazing guide, I can send it through e-mail for a small charge of £9.99.

LoL aye rite, seriously if anyone wants a copy (for free of course LoL) let me know,

MJR

[Ron Burgundy]

Yep I sure did, sold them for roughly £10 all in and even got one pair sold for £28 on E-bay, how chuffed was I :D (that was a couple of yrs ago)

I still have the guide I made for them, if anyone wants a copy of my amazing guide, I can send it through e-mail for a small charge of £9.99.

LoL aye rite, seriously if anyone wants a copy (for free of course LoL) let me know,

MJR

paste it into a thread mate, would be a great help, as neons are a cheap mod, and lots of people want to do it, but are afraid.

i have done a small tutorial, but it was quick so a proper one would probably be a great help ;)

Ive had two pink sets, and two blue, i keep smashing them tho, argh, lol. i'm too rough !

[Ben88]

yay ebuyer in stock. ive bought my self a set. they got something like 30,000 in stock.
2 questions: i cant get the gear surround off, just to make sure; isit the bit that the "leather" is covering on the gear stick as in this pic :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0072.jpg

pretty much just about where the yellow wire is touching? it wont come out, am i not pushing the sides hard enough or something? isit quite stiff?




also on liams tutorial it says:
2. Remove the Screws located at the bottom of the centre console to the left of the right footwell, and the right of the left.

i removed the screws but it didnt really do anything, the panel doesnt come off or anything isit just to give u a bit of space to thread the wire thro or something?


cheers guys!

[White_wolf]

you can get wheel arch lights for £39.99, ok sounds bit costly but they are flexiblee and great. On my old car - the escort i put two on the roof liner wired to the internal light bulb connections - propa good when you opened door and whole of rear interior lit up blue, also while on the roof liner they're out of sight too. Havnt got any pics no more but worked a real treat.


only think is the i used small screws to hod them up, so if ya catch or rip them off them u do get left wi small holes

[Ron Burgundy]

yay ebuyer in stock. ive bought my self a set. they got something like 30,000 in stock.
2 questions: i cant get the gear surround off, just to make sure; isit the bit that the "leather" is covering on the gear stick as in this pic :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y264/liam0606/Photo-0072.jpg

pretty much just about where the yellow wire is touching? it wont come out, am i not pushing the sides hard enough or something? isit quite stiff?




also on liams tutorial it says:
2. Remove the Screws located at the bottom of the centre console to the left of the right footwell, and the right of the left.

i removed the screws but it didnt really do anything, the panel doesnt come off or anything isit just to give u a bit of space to thread the wire thro or something?


cheers guys!

i found the best way to remove the gear surround, is to press the sides in the middle inwards. it kind of pops out then, its pretty stiff the first time.

also the screws come out, so that you can tuck the wires up and around them, as they are in the way of where the wire goes round. ;)

[Ben88]

ive got some of these neons fitted now and if i wanted to add some more in my car, how would i go about this? isit possible to just cut the wire between neon and inverter and attach the new wire onto that? but then will the power be shared - ie dimmer neons?

[Webzta]

Nice tutorial, definately should be stickied or something.

I did this last night, took 20mins... I Used some purple neons... but I plan to order some blue and change out, due to the color not being overly effective.

really simple + effective mod, cheap, and you can't see the cables =)

[Ron Burgundy]

Nice tutorial, definately should be stickied or something.

I did this last night, took 20mins... I Used some purple neons... but I plan to order some blue and change out, due to the color not being overly effective.

really simple + effective mod, cheap, and you can't see the cables =)

Yup :)

Nice touch isnt it especially for the price

[Ron Burgundy]

ive got some of these neons fitted now and if i wanted to add some more in my car, how would i go about this? isit possible to just cut the wire between neon and inverter and attach the new wire onto that? but then will the power be shared - ie dimmer neons?

I would attach a new inverter to the original power source, as this will ensure that they are all the same brightness, plus you will have two switches then :)

[Jason]

was just wondering how i would attach these via the amp?

[Ron Burgundy]

was just wondering how i would attach these via the amp?

positive 12V source as the power in, and then just ground the negative mate ;)

[Ben88]

and put a fuse in?

[Ron Burgundy]

and put a fuse in?

Edit * power lead Should already Be fused, so is headunit :)

[Jason]

huh, if u run it off the amp surely it will be fused? when u say 12v power source, is that the power from the battery or the REM wire?

also how would u fuse the neon wires?

[Ron Burgundy]

huh, if u run it off the amp surely it will be fused? when u say 12v power source, is that the power from the battery or the REM wire?

also how would u fuse the neon wires?

basically you have the amp powered by 12V off the battery yes? And there is obviously a fuse in this wire.

For it to power the neons, all you would need is to attach the positive end of the wire from the inverter, to the 12V source, i'm guessing the remote lead would work fine. And then the - end of the inverter lead to any earthed point. That should power the neons.

You dont need to fuse it, it could be done if you really wanted to, but hardly any point. as the headunit and the power lead are already fused ;)

[Jason]

god i have look at all search threads ano every1 justmentioned positive and negative, but which of the ebuyer neons wires are positive or negative, im frustrated

[darkside]

best way is build a relay box very easy to do that way you can use the remote feed so neons switch on and of with system.
all you need is a relay a small plastic box and a 4 terminal spring junction this gives u a + in a - in remote in and remote out as the head unit only gives 300-600ma on the remote out this saves over-taxing the headunit by in effect giving you a 10 amp remote switch which will feed anything you want

[Ben88]

yellow = live

[darkside]

jason is there a black and white or they both same colour

[Jason]

i dunno now cos my mum has chucked my neons in the bin cos she thought they were useless, i have just ordered a couple more :/

[Ben88]

LOL!!! checked them in the bin?
luckily they aint expensive

[trixta]

pretty good place is wire live from neons to the light around the cigarette lighter, so they come on with side lights and brightness can be adjusted using display brightness control :D

[Ben88]

pretty good place is wire live from neons to the light around the cigarette lighter, so they come on with side lights and brightness can be adjusted using display brightness control :D


are you talking bout the yellow led around the lighter? thats good idea (no ciggie lighter on mine tho :( ) or do you mean the headlight switch?

[trixta]

no the bit around the lighter. If you take it out then you see the wires that goes to the actual cig lighter and on the side is the live for the light. Use the normal cig lighter earth

[trixta]

got em, put em in, but they dont look too bright to me??? I had some LED ones in there and they seem brighter...Havent seen them in the dark yet so I may be wrong but they just dont look loke they gonna be that bright.

[Ron Burgundy]

got em, put em in, but they dont look too bright to me??? I had some LED ones in there and they seem brighter...Havent seen them in the dark yet so I may be wrong but they just dont look loke they gonna be that bright.

they take a few mins to get up to full brightness i think.

And they look a lot brighter in th edark :)

[cayton]

yeah they take a while to get to full brightness, also they do look pretty pathetic untill its really dark! Also if you change your bulbs in the interier light to the same colour as your neons it makes them seem alot brighter some how

[trixta]

went out last nite and fill those footwells nicely!! to change the interior bulbs its 501 fitment isnt it?

[Ben88]

i cant seem to get the cover off lol. any pics on WHERE to pick at wiv a screwdriver? :D

[trixta]

i took the whole part off then the cover comes off easily.. or u just stab at it with a screwdriver from the front (i.e the part you can see when youre sitting in the seat) cos there is a little gap

[cayton]

yeah its a 501 bulb

[trixta]

ok thanks a lot

[Ben88]

any tried these?
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/43089
they seem to be quite cool. flexible and so wa planning on maybe running them down into the rear seats or something maybe.

are they just as bright as the neons?

comments plz

[TommyCivic]

2bh they look chavvy and tacky

[Ben_skyrme]

wheres the fuse in the ciggy lighter? and which fuse do i need to replace it? i got a feelin im guna blow it when tryin fit me neons:woops: lol and which is the live wire into the back of the ciggy lighter?

[C_H_R_I_Z]

Quick question, do you HAVE to have the inverter box thing when hookin them up to your ciggy lighter?
cheers.