Cigarette Lighter

[moneyshotz]

Hey guys. I wanted to know if anyone has done this yet. I have a MP3 player w/ a 9V car adapter and I've been using it in the adapter right underneath the E-brake.

So what I'm thinking of doing is if theres a way to splice into the wires of the adapter and connect it somehow to my car adapter so that I wont have that many wires running around.

[nda0602v6]

Its pretty easy to do. You first need to make sure which wires are (+) and (-) on the MP3-Player's car adapter. The easiest way is to take apart the cigarette lighter plug on MP3-Player's car adapter and look to see which wire is attached to the "center" spring loaded pin; that's going to be your (+). The other wire that's attached to the "side" metal tab on the cigarette plug of course will be your (-).

You then have a couple different options on where to get power from. The easiest would probably be tapping into the wires behind the cigarette lighter. You'll have to remove some of the center consol to gain access to the wiring but when you do, you should see an Orange and Black wire going to your car's cigarette lighter. Orange will be (+) and Black will be (-). Another option on where to get power from would be to remove your headunit and tap into the stereo's wiring harness. On the stereo harness, tap into Orange wire for (+) and Black wire for (-). Note that either of the 2 Orange wires will always be live so be careful not to ground them out when tapping into either one of them or you'll pop the fuse.

[moneyshotz]

would it matter that the power source from the car is 12V? and my mp3 player just needs 9V?

[moneyshotz]

would it matter that the power source from the car is 12V? and my mp3 player just needs 9V?

[nda0602v6]

Your MP3-Player's car adapter plugs directly into the cigarette lighter right? That's your 12volts. Maybe the adapter steps down the volts to 9 afterword

[moneyshotz]

if I don't use the adapter and make a power source..is there a way to step down the voltage form 12V ot 9?

[moneyshotz]

also wanted to know if theres a way for it to shut down when I turn off the car so if I forget about it I dont lose the car battery

[nda0602v6]

If you want the power to cut off when you turn the car off then don't tap into the car's cigarette lighter wiring (orange and black).

Instead, use the "Yellow" wire on the back of the stereo. The Yellow wire is Positive (+) and is switched on and off from the ignition. For ground (-), tap into the Black (-) wire behind the stereo as well. This won't hurt your radio or over load it because an MP3 player isn't going to draw hardly any power.

All I can say about the 12v to 9v issuse is you're going to have to take apart the cigarette lighter plug on the MP3 Player's adaptor. There should be a screw of some sorts holding it together. When you get it apart, look to see what's all in there and let me know. There may be some ciruitry/coil inside the plug that "steps down" the voltage to 9volts. Or it may just be something as simple with the wires soldered directly to the metal tabs inside the plug and a light (some plugs like that have a light).

This is a very easy thing to do. Let us know what you find out when you take it apart.
Nick

[moneyshotz]

Ok. I will take a look later. Would it be bad if I ran 12V to my mp3 player instead of 9V?

[slow]

yes, you will burn it up with 14.4 volts vs the 9 it needs

simple solution, get a female cigarette lighter socket, wire it up to the yellow radio wire, or the fuse box, (fused of course) and put that behind the dash, plug your mp3 power source into that, and just have the wire come out under the console.

that is what i have done for many installs.

clean, and no modifying of your electronics.

Ryan

[moneyshotz]

yes, you will burn it up with 14.4 volts vs the 9 it needs

simple solution, get a female cigarette lighter socket, wire it up to the yellow radio wire, or the fuse box, (fused of course) and put that behind the dash, plug your mp3 power source into that, and just have the wire come out under the console.

that is what i have done for many installs.

clean, and no modifying of your electronics.

Ryan

I tried doing this but now I get a lot of whining engine noise. Is there somewhere else I can plug the ground of the female adapter?

[nda0602v6]

Where is the ground you are using now? Relocating the ground somewhere else should help get rid of the whining noises. Try using the Black wire behind the cigarette lighter, or the Black wire on the back of the stereo harness or just ground it to a screw/bolt under the dash area somewhere.

[moneyshotz]

right now im using the one behind the stereo harness

[speedy-v6-camaro]

Get your signal wire away from any positive power wires. That should take care of the whining.