12v to 6v for Sat. radio?
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=43834
Printed Date: July 04, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Topic: 12v to 6v for Sat. radio?
Posted By: carguy411
Subject: 12v to 6v for Sat. radio?
Date Posted: November 26, 2004 at 3:07 PM
the new add on satelite radios use a cig. plug that dropst the voltage from 12v-6v. now if i wanted to hard wire this to the car how can i drop the voltage saftely and easily
thanks
Replies:
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: November 26, 2004 at 10:45 PM
if you are asking, 'how do i hard-wire the cig lighter adaptor to the car's acc power wire in the dash, without the actually cig lighter jack being there?,' then that's simple. i know many will suggest a female cig lighter receptical to accept the male cig lighter, but just forget it and get out the solder gun. go to radio shack and buy a fuse holder made to hold the type of fuse that is already existing in the cig lighter's tip: https://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F004%5F004%5F000&product%5fid=270%2D1238 as the fuse should be or is a 5x20mm 1amp(1000mAh) 250V fuse, and solder the postive fuse lead to the board along with a black negative lead to the ground on the board, reassemble the adapter and slide it behind the dash, take you 10minutes tops. this is for XM i'm guessing, as the Sirrius add-on radios feed and run off of 12V, while the XM's are 6V. of course, this is assuming you have the cig lighter that came with your car adaptor kit, you were somewhat vague in the explanation. i'm thinking maybe you're asking, 'how do i create a board to drop the voltage from 12V to 6V without the aid of the original car adaptor?' anyone out there agree, disagree, i hate the idea of having a huge cig lighter male adaptor/female receptical behind the dash, seems cheesy.
Posted By: dxav
Date Posted: November 29, 2004 at 12:15 PM
Inside that lighter plug is either a voltage regulator (IC) or a voltage divider (2 Resistors). You will need to imitate that circuit to be able to hardwire it to the vehicle. Very easy to do, may be a little tedious w/o prior DC electrical experience.
DXAV
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 09, 2004 at 6:32 PM
im doind sirius but i also did XM with that cig. plug and i like that idea of just taking it apart and resoding right on the board seems like the obvious and easiest way to do it. i was thinking of this whole complex thing to do.i guess thats y people always say Keep It Simple Stupid!!!
thanks guys
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: December 09, 2004 at 9:29 PM
here's what the thing should look like finished, after the leads are soldered and the in-line fuse holder is attached. this is an XM 12-6V cig lighter adaptor. 
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 09, 2004 at 11:59 PM
kool thats looks like the way to go
the only question is it that easy to identify which one in the pos and neg when i open it and solder the new one to the board
thanks for the pic
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: December 10, 2004 at 7:30 PM
sure thing, it's easy to identify the positive and negative terminals on the board. the positive is where the fuse lead wire is soldered, and the negative ground is where the side pinch spring is soldered to. when you disassemble the thing, unscrew the cap and set aside. pull the spring and metal nipple out of the thing, they probably will just fall right out. then pull the thing apart, carefully, don't break the thing. you'll see the fuse still clipped in place on the board to clip, pull it away. then desolder the clip from the board, this is the Positive+ that you will solder the in-line fuse holder wire to. then desolder the black lead on the board which is attached to a bent piece of metal for tension when it is placed inside a cigarette lighter- this is the Negative -. solder the thing together, re-assemble, thread the wires through the cap end, and screw the adaptor back together, and it will look exactly like the one i have posted here. i would post a better picture, but you are limited to a 30kb picture size, if you'd like, i could email a larger, better focused photo of the finished product against a background that is easier to view the adaptor. let me know how it goes for you...
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: December 10, 2004 at 11:26 PM
here ya go, just a little better, too bad i didn't document the installation of the in-line fuse as i went on with the process. 
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: December 10, 2004 at 11:31 PM
Posted By: stavy customs1
Date Posted: December 13, 2004 at 2:05 AM
Buy one of those adapters that converts your cig lighter into 2 females and cut it in half. Goto the ignition or other good 12 volt source and solder that female cig lighter adaper there then plug the xm cig lighter in there and voila its hidden. Just run the wire up and thats it
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Best Buy Installer
Posted By: carguy411
Date Posted: December 13, 2004 at 8:05 AM
ok i did it on fri. i opened it up and resoldered everything
couldnt have been easier.thanks alot guys for your help
Posted By: brianrwebb
Date Posted: December 13, 2004 at 5:37 PM
hey sounds great, i might actually get some self satisfaction. anyway, i feel it is an easy procedure, that's worth the effort. if you do what the previous member said and buy a dual female cig lighter, it's a lot of sh*t for nothing, now you've got all this crap behind the dash, granted, its not a scientific experiment gone wrong, but it looks like a mess and its bulky, and more importantly, you can buy an in-line fuse from radio shack for less if money is the issue; if it isn't, then sheer laziness keeps a person from performing the task of modifying the cig lighter adaptor. great feeling of accomplishment, too! 
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