Hey guys. I'm interested in wiring up a second power outlet to my 85 trans am. most of my expertise... or atleast, my knowledge, is relative to engine-tech rather than electrical, so i have very little clue of the best method to proceed in.

I'm not concerned with where the power outlet is mounted -- i'm not sure if I'll even leave it accessable (may just make it so the radar detector is permently wired in or something, don't know yet). All i do know is i want to wire it to a switch so it can be turned on and off, and i'd like it to be able to work with the car turned off (like the current power outlet / cigarette lighter)

Point me in a direction...

Thanks guys,

 

the easiest way would be to chop the plug off the end of your radar, run the + wire to one contact of a switch, run a wire from the other contact of a switch to the battery, and connect the - wire of the radar to chassis groudn.. make sure you get as switch rated at enough to power the radar detector (i think mine uses like 0.8 amps)

 

Ofcourse, that method would involve putting a hole in the firewall, would it not? (to run the wire to the battery?)

 

Actually, an easier way would be to tap into the cig lighter wire with a switch & then to the radar detector.

It's crappy but, it might help you get what I'm saying..

 

That's more along the lines of what i was originally thinking about. There's not going to be any negative ramifications from that action? Just splice in some extra wire before it gets to the cig lighter and i'm good??

 

and make sure you have some kinda fuse on it! belive me, having your car burn up sucks.....

 

When I had one, I tapped into the IGN wire to the radio so it would turn on & off with the car so i didn't have to have that plug in my cig lighter.

Radar detectors really don't suck alot of power so there's no need to worry about fuse blowing. Just think tho, if it's plugged in the cig lighter or hard wired, it's still drawing the same amount of power either way. Just make sure you make good connections (like using a solder gun & shrink tube if you can). Even if you just twist the wires together, at the least, use shrink tube over electrical tape (IMO.. it's just a better way to do wiring in a car).

Eternal, I agree with you on the fuse except for the fact that he would be tapping into the ACC fuse, it's already a fused line.

 

so if i go ahead and use this method, would i experience any problems with running, say, a 165 volt power inverter off of the cig lighter?

 

Are you sure you don't mean 165 watt inverter ?

I'd doubt there would be any problems running an inverter from your cig lighter with a radar det. going as well. The old BEL one I had used like 950mA if I remember right (or remotely close to that), roughly the same power it takes for the base of a cordless phone or a gameboy to work.

 

true, it doesnt use that much juice, but there still is 12 volts in the wire.... I guess it depends on where you put it, I would put it just above the mirror (if its small enough) and run the wires through the trim down the the power source, which in that route, can rub against a ground, and short, and cause damage....

 

Ya, 165 watts. It was 1 am when i made the post. hehe. Ok, next time i have some time i'll do that up and report back. Thanks for the tips guys.