wiring?

[wakebum2507]

ok so i have a radar detector, and today i bought a wiring kit, so the dangling curley wires wont hang down, instead they will be tucked away using the wires in the kit. the problem is, since our cars have spade fuses, how can i wire it, and what should i wire it to so it shuts off when the car shuts off?

[UDLOSE98]

Re: wiring?

you will have to extend the wires possibly under the hood, to the bottom of the car or to your fuse box ont he drives side. Find a keyed source, you will probably have to strip and crimp on some new ends to the wires as well.

[landj]

Re: wiring?

I have my cd player plugged into one of the acc connections on the driver's side fuse box. Crimp a spade connector on the end of the wire and it will slip right in and you should be able to figure a way to fish it under the bezel somehow. Test it to make sure you have one that turns off with the car, "acc" or "accessory" or something like that.

[wakebum2507]

Re: wiring?

what do you mean crimp a spade connector. how do i do that?

[landj]

Re: wiring?

A spade connector... hmmm, how do I describe it. One end of the spade connector is a flat rectangular shape (the "spade" end), approximately 1/4 inch wide by 1/2 inch long and 1/16 thick. The other end is tubular shaped of various diameters depending upon the intended gauge wire it is to be crimped to and approximately 1/4 inch long, possibly with a plastic insulating covering. The whole connector is approximately 3/4 inch long. The "spade" end resembles a "blade" on a fuse, which makes it ideal for inserting into the socket in the fuse box, either in an empty slot intended for an accessory, or along side one of the fuses (again be sure it is somehting that comes on with the key). You want it to be fused, so take out the fuse and test it to see which is the hot side when you have the key in. Insert the little spade crimp connector (after crimping it onto your wire) into the non-hot side of the fuse and place the fuse back in place.

EG:                       |----------------- +12 V to radar detector
                      | ~ |
  +12 V --------------O   O ----------------- to accessory

where the "|~|" represents the fuse, "O   O" represents the 
fuse socket and the "|" represents your spade crimp connecter
and the dashed line represents the wires/connections.

You can buy them at the wonderful import store "Walmart" (insert political-economic comment here) in the automotive section or any other place that you can find that sells 12volt stuff. They even sell the special crimping pliers, or just solder them on. The crimping pliers really makes a nice connection compared to using a regular pliers. (soldering is even better).

check out www.the12volt.com for more practical stuff on car electronics.