Neon Under Glow Long Board

In this Instructable I will show how to Install a neon under glow system for your long board. (Be seen when riding at night, and look good doing it.) Overall material cost approx $30

For this project you will need:

Materials
• One long board of any make or model (short boards can also be used)
• Two LED light strips, I used Antec accent lighting strips http://www.frys.com/product/7086661
• One battery pack, I used a 6AA in series for total 9v output with standard alkaline (http://www.adafruit.com/products/248)
• Solder
• heat shrink tubing
• If neither your battery pack or LED strip come with a built in disconnect switch you will need to purchase one. You can find an array of these at most electronics supply stores such as sparkfun and adafruit. 
• Double sided tape

Tool/Equipment
• Soldering Iron
• wire strippers
• heat gun
• Sander or hand file

The battery pack I used did not have an integrated cut off switch (on/off switch). Luckily the Antec LED's had an inline cut off switch so I used this. First thing to do is cut the switch from the wire and solder it to the output wires of your battery pack. Most battery packs will have color coated output wires (red for positive, black for ground/negative) as will your LED's. Note: LED's are not unidirectional in terms of current flow and thus will not work if you switch the red and black wires.

To fix the switch to the side of the battery pack I simply used double sided tape.

This step is to wire the two LED strips in parallel. If you are setting up your system for a short board you would not need to do this step as one LED strip would be enough to run the length of the board. Most standard LED strips can also be cut to length at designated points along the strip indicated by a scissor icon. You can also use one long strip and cut it to the length of your long board in the same manner. I used two because I already had these lying around from a previous project.

This step is optional. I chose to integrate single wire inline plugs between the battery pack and LED strips. This was so that I could easily detach my battery pack when I am not using the lights (day riding for example). If you don't mind the extra weight you can simply solder the wires aft the cut off switch directly to the LED wires.

To reduce excess wire, lay the set up out on your board and mark where you want your connection to be. (I used a silver paint pen seen in the picture above)

This step is optional as well. In this step I sanded the battery pack to better match the profile of my board as to eliminate any chance of an overhanging edge that could be caught with your foot.

Now you're ready to install your system on the board. I used double sided tape on the back side of my LED strips as I do not trust the factory adhesive that come pre-impregnated on them. For the battery pack I used velcro with adhesive backing (so it is removable). If you are going with the permanent battery pack option you can use double sided tape for the pack as well.

Turn over your board flip the switch and admire your work! (Happy Riding)

I noticed the batteries tend to vibrate within the battery pack when riding over uneven pavement. To minimize this you may want to put felt or another material in the pack to fill the excess space and dampen the vibration.