connect stuff to battery

I would like to connect my radar detector directly to my car so it does not take up a plug... how do i do this?

If your car has a cig lighter which turns off with your ignition, go to to the back of the cig lighter and access the wires behind it. Use a multimeter to test for the wire which is giving 12v. Their will almost always be 2 wires their which means the other one is ground. You will use these two wires. Now, cut off the cig lighter plug on the radar and you will be left with two bare wires. Look inside the plug youcut off to see which wire makes contact with the fuse. This will be the wire onto which you will insert an inline fuse holder. You can buy this at radioshack. Get a max 3 amp fuse and use it inside their. Wire that to the 12v wire behind your vehicles power socket and wire the other one to the remaining ground wire. You will need a wire stripper, electrical tape and some crimp connectors. Of course the proper way is to solder but I guess you dont have to in this case. I was a little vague here but I hope it helped you a little.

Before you connect your radar to 12 volts make sure thats what it uses,otherwise kiss it goodbye. Most newer models are reduced to 6 volts.Cris

Yeah that's true. Some do need 5 volts, but most of the lower end units need 12 volts.

csnut18 wrote: If your car has a cig lighter which turns off with your ignition, go to to the back of the cig lighter and access the wires behind it. Use a multimeter to test for the wire which is giving 12v. Their will almost always be 2 wires their which means the other one is ground. You will use these two wires. Now, cut off the cig lighter plug on the radar and you will be left with two bare wires. Look inside the plug youcut off to see which wire makes contact with the fuse. This will be the wire onto which you will insert an inline fuse holder. You can buy this at radioshack. Get a max 3 amp fuse and use it inside their. Wire that to the 12v wire behind your vehicles power socket and wire the other one to the remaining ground wire. You will need a wire stripper, electrical tape and some crimp connectors. Of course the proper way is to solder but I guess you dont have to in this case. I was a little vague here but I hope it helped you a little.

also check to make sure your cig lighter turns on/off with ignition. some vehicles like most ford/chevy models have a constant cig lighter. If your cig lighter is just constant use the back of the ignition on the back of the radio or go straight to the fuse box and find an ignition source.

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No but if his cig. lighter does have constant hot, then when he turns the car off, the radar detector will stay powered thus draining the battery over time. I have a cavalier so what I did was mount the detector right below the rear view mirror. Then I ran the cord up to the roof, over to and down the driver side A pillar. I removed the cig plug and gounded the ground wire and ran the power to an ignition fuse.