hey guys, i'm just a beginner with electronics, and especially car electronics.... and i'm havin a problem with the underdash neons i installed... i'd appreciate any help

here's the setup-
i have a switch on my dash with a ground wire going to the frame of my car and the input power wire is spliced into the wire going to the cig lighter on the dash... the outoing power wire is going to a controller for the neons, and the output of that goes to 2 neons spliced together....

now, when i flip the switch, the power light on the controller goes on right away BUT it takes about 10 seconds before the left neon will turn on and then like another 30 seconds after that before the right neon turns on... once they're on though, they don't flicker and work perfectly fine

also, if i turn the switch off and then back on, they turn on right away... even if i wait a couple minutes before i turn it back on... the problem seems to only happen when i turn them on for the first time after starting the car up

i've read that usually means a weak connection somewhere, but i can't see any.... could having too many things spliced into that 1 wire going to the cig lighter be causing the problem? right now i have the 2 neons and a small external satellite radio connected to it...

any ideas?

 

is your ground connected to bare metal? or does the contacts have paint on em? check that first

 

Neons take a few seconds to "heat up" The LED's are instant but "neons" need a few...
Mine did that too. They also aren't as bright when first turned on, right?

 

it connects to bare metal... actually it's wrapped around a bolt that's screwed into bare metal

and i haven't noticed it not being as bright, but i never really payed attention to that either, so it could be.. i'll check tonight