Tying in new constant power lead
Tying in new constant power lead
I purchased an add on usb/mp3 processor for my pioneer aftermarket head unit, and I need to tie in a new constant power lead for the unit. I was going to splice the power lead for the head unit and tie into that, as the mp3 unit only has a 3A fuse, and looks to be 18 gauge wire, so it obviously isn't going to draw much power. The installation instructions specifically say not to do a splice of this sort however.
Where is a good place in the car to tie in a new constant power lead? I'm not too keen on going through the firewall with a tiny wire such as this, are there any good spots inside the car for this?
Where is a good place in the car to tie in a new constant power lead? I'm not too keen on going through the firewall with a tiny wire such as this, are there any good spots inside the car for this?
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 670
I purchased an add on usb/mp3 processor for my pioneer aftermarket head unit, and I need to tie in a new constant power lead for the unit. I was going to splice the power lead for the head unit and tie into that, as the mp3 unit only has a 3A fuse, and looks to be 18 gauge wire, so it obviously isn't going to draw much power. The installation instructions specifically say not to do a splice of this sort however.
Where is a good place in the car to tie in a new constant power lead? I'm not too keen on going through the firewall with a tiny wire such as this, are there any good spots inside the car for this?
Where is a good place in the car to tie in a new constant power lead? I'm not too keen on going through the firewall with a tiny wire such as this, are there any good spots inside the car for this?
Connections
Important
! Use this unit in other than the following condi- tions could result in fire or malfunction.
— Vehicles with a 12-volt battery and negative
grounding.
! To prevent short-circuit, overheating or mal- function, be sure to follow the directions below.
— Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery before installation.
— Secure the wiring with cable clamps or ad- hesive tape. To protect the wiring, wrap ad- hesive tape around them where they lie against metal parts.
— Place all cables away from moving parts,
such as gear shift and seat rails.
— Place all cables away from hot places, such as near the heater outlet.
— Do not pass the yellow cable through a hole into the engine compartment to con- nect to a battery.
— Do not shorten any cables.
— Never cut the insulation of the power cable of this unit in order to share the power to other equipment. Current capacity of the cable is limited.
— Use a fuse of the rating prescribed.
! IP-BUS connectors are color-coded. Be sure to connect connectors of the same color.
! Place antenna cable as far away as possible from the other cables to prevent noise.
! Black cable is ground. This cable and other product’s ground cable (especially, high-cur- rent products such as power amp) must be wired separately. Otherwise, fire or malfunc- tion may result if they are accidentally de- tached.
! Do not connect anything other than the USB
portable audio player/USB memory.
! Plug the terminal of the USB portable audio player/USB memory firmly into the connector to connect, otherwise this unit may not work properly or an error may be displayed on the head unit.
Cord function may differ according to the pro- duct, even if cord color is the same. When con- necting this system, be sure to check all manuals and connect cords correctly.
Important
! Use this unit in other than the following condi- tions could result in fire or malfunction.
— Vehicles with a 12-volt battery and negative
grounding.
! To prevent short-circuit, overheating or mal- function, be sure to follow the directions below.
— Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery before installation.
— Secure the wiring with cable clamps or ad- hesive tape. To protect the wiring, wrap ad- hesive tape around them where they lie against metal parts.
— Place all cables away from moving parts,
such as gear shift and seat rails.
— Place all cables away from hot places, such as near the heater outlet.
— Do not pass the yellow cable through a hole into the engine compartment to con- nect to a battery.
— Do not shorten any cables.
— Never cut the insulation of the power cable of this unit in order to share the power to other equipment. Current capacity of the cable is limited.
— Use a fuse of the rating prescribed.
! IP-BUS connectors are color-coded. Be sure to connect connectors of the same color.
! Place antenna cable as far away as possible from the other cables to prevent noise.
! Black cable is ground. This cable and other product’s ground cable (especially, high-cur- rent products such as power amp) must be wired separately. Otherwise, fire or malfunc- tion may result if they are accidentally de- tached.
! Do not connect anything other than the USB
portable audio player/USB memory.
! Plug the terminal of the USB portable audio player/USB memory firmly into the connector to connect, otherwise this unit may not work properly or an error may be displayed on the head unit.
Cord function may differ according to the pro- duct, even if cord color is the same. When con- necting this system, be sure to check all manuals and connect cords correctly.
The installation manual of my head unit, which is a pioneer deh-8600 states:
"Never feed power to other equipment by cutting the insulation of the power supply lead of the unit and tapping into the lead. The current capacity of the lead will be exceeded, causing overheating".
This combined with the warning from the usb adapter that you have quoted have kind of scared me off from splicing the two leads together. Chances are nothing would happen, but if I were to kill the head unit, I'd be looking at the neighborhood of $1200 to get a current day head unit with similar capabilities to the one I'm using currently.
"Never feed power to other equipment by cutting the insulation of the power supply lead of the unit and tapping into the lead. The current capacity of the lead will be exceeded, causing overheating".
This combined with the warning from the usb adapter that you have quoted have kind of scared me off from splicing the two leads together. Chances are nothing would happen, but if I were to kill the head unit, I'd be looking at the neighborhood of $1200 to get a current day head unit with similar capabilities to the one I'm using currently.
^^ They're just covering themselves legally/liability wise. I've tapped plenty off the +12v that powers the HU. You should be fine with a simple mp3 player.
BUT, if you still want a beefier +12v, then take it from the large wire cluster in the ignition harness. They're about 10awg. The constant is a blue wire.
BUT, if you still want a beefier +12v, then take it from the large wire cluster in the ignition harness. They're about 10awg. The constant is a blue wire.
Thanks for the help guys, chances are I'll just splice into the lead on the head unit for simplicity. The reason I picked up the mp3 unit in the first place was because the motorized face place was starting to bind pretty badly, necessitating physical abuse on the faceplace to get it to open. It seemed a lot cheapier/easier than repairing a 6+ year old head unit, and the pioneer dex-p99rs replacement that I've been eyeing on would be a tough sell to the wife a month or so after forking out $2300 for new rims and tires.
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