Wiring Questions

stephensmia · Post by **stephensmia** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:03 pm

Hey guys I was reading an artical about wiring and it said something about using the fuse box to power extra dvd players and tv's. How dose that work.

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:17 pm

this may not be the best way but you can wire your remote turn on into the fuse panel if you have a factory head unit. i have done this on 1 car because the owner didnt want me to tap any other wires.

stephensmia · Post by **stephensmia** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:23 pm

ELABORATE please. how is it done. I'm new to all of this

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 1:49 pm

in other words on some cars when i dont have a good remote lead some where close or the owner doesnt want wires cut i just run a wire into the fuse panel. tap a fuse that is only active during the acc position or the on position. and use that as a remote lead

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:50 pm

Yeah you can use the fuse box for remote lead, but there are better ways to do it. (like splicing into another wire). As for powering other TVs, or dvd players. I wouldn't try it. Any time you add a second component like a tv, cd player, or dvd player;you up the current that is being pulled thru the fuse block. If you go to far it can melt the fuse block, even start a fire. A perfect example was the work truck we had at Shaw AFB. They hooked a UHF radio, and a VHF radio to an open slot in the fuse block, and it almost caught on fire. We had to pull it out, and take a wire brush to it, and clean out all the melted plastic, and then hook one of the radios directly to the battery. We were lucky we caught it when we did, or it might have caught on fire.

Bwcad1 · Post by **Bwcad1** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:52 pm

remote lead is the only thing i would do it with thanks for the saftey warning jeremy ps gimme a call tomorrow! got some stuff to discuse!

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Sun Dec 18, 2005 8:58 pm

Not a problem

Robert Wollenberg · Post by **Robert Wollenberg** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:45 am

You're going to tax the sytem regarless of where you tap the wire. If you catch a wire behind the radio, that power is coming from the fuse box anyway. The only difference would be whether you catch power before or after the fuse at the box. Example. Radio fuse. Whether you tap at the fuse or anywhere along the wire itself, you're still taxing that circuit all the same. The difference at the fuse box is, if you tap the incoming side of the fuse, you're bypassing the fuse and taxing the wires to the battery directly. No protection from overload unless the radio itself is protected and that still won't do anything for the wires heading back to the battery should they be overloaded. I like to tap all my wires as close to where I'm hooking the equipment up, if possible. Mostly for cosmetic reasons. At least for basic stuff. If I'm doing anything "higher end," I'll usually run all my own wires to the battery and make my own fuse block for audio/video components. Whether you're running your own wire to the fuse block or taping into one somewhere along the way, the most important thing to keep in mind is how much of a laod you're placing on that circuit. Usually the fuse for the radio is around 10 amps. Never replace that with a higher amp fuse. Then you're definately asking for trouble. Now, if you're not using the internal amplifier on a deck you're installing, it's current draw is going to be reduced. You could then connect several things to it as long as you don't exceed the 10 amps the fuse is rated for. Does that make sense? It's early in the a.m. and should be getting to work.

Peace. :happy048:

smoker · Post by **smoker** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 5:10 am

yea if your going to tap into a fuse going to the "dead" side of the fuse is the safest way.......just pull the fuse and see which side has power with the key on and that will be the supply side.....if you have blade type fuses they have taps that slip over them and give you a .25 male disconnect but i dont really recommend them as they tend to ream out the tabs that grab the fuse.....we had an 00 siverado in that those were used on and the thing had trouble shifting and all kinds of stuff....turned out that the fuse taps had reamed out the tabs that grab the fuse where someone (not us we were just trouble shoooting) had tried to add something and the fuse would not make good contact now....instead you can get fuses that have a pigtail on them for exactly what you are trying to do..

Robert Wollenberg · Post by **Robert Wollenberg** » Mon Dec 19, 2005 7:16 am

Yeah, those can be pretty handy. I don't like the taps the smoosh in behind the fuse or jamming the wire in behind the fuse. Other things I've done in the past is find a hot spot in the fuse block that doesn't have a fuse in it and make you're own. make grind the plasic off a male quick disconnect and connect a short piece of wire to it to plug into the fuse block. On the other end of the short piece of wire connect a female quick disconnect. Take the wire you're wanting to connect to power and put another quick disconnect on it. A blade fuse will plug into the two quick disconnects giving you a level of protection without doing anything funny to anything. Wala, instant fuse holder.