Best place to tap 12volts in car

[mrutkaus]

'95 v6 Mystique, where is the best place to tap high amperage 12vdc INSIDE the car? (for a ham radio)

Or what is the easiest way to run a couple of wires from the battery thru to the passenger seat area?

thanks

mike

[getsum111]

There are a few places through the firewall. I know there is a rubber grommet on the passenger side that many people use to run amp power wires through, that should work. There is also another grommet above where brake pedal goes through. Try those, sorry, I don't have pics, but you could check under the FAQ's under the Audio forum.

[CSVT_2004]

'95 v6 Mystique, where is the best place to tap high amperage 12vdc INSIDE the car? (for a ham radio)

Or what is the easiest way to run a couple of wires from the battery thru to the passenger seat area?

thanks

mike

BIG red wire on the bottom of the interior fuse box should be constant 12V inside the car. Should be right by the door dinger.... Multimeter it 1st though to double check. Either that or go to your battery, shouldn't take anything too heavy for your HAM radio. 12 gauge should be sufficient enough.

Just don't hack it up though since it is one of the main power feeds for your interior stuff.

[AliasJerk]

there is also a green wire under the dash closer to the brake pedal, thats your 12 volt ignition wire, I used that when running the wires to my leather power seats. its only active when your key is in the on position.

[shaggist]

I don't know what your ham radio power requirements are, but for safety's sake, I would consider drawing power directly off the battery to a nearby relay in the engine compartment, and then run your power-in wire through a proper fuse to the radio. By dedicating a circuit solely to your ham radio, you reduce the chances of messing up your other circuitry by drawing too many amperes through a wire not designed to handle that much current, and frying your wires. The relay could be controlled by your ignition switch, so that you only had power to the radio when the car was running, if that's what you want. Nobody needs to take chances with a car fire.

[mrutkaus]

Hey thanks for the info!

Mike

[BlackE1]

If your going to be installing it near the head unit you could grab the constant 12 from the head unit or even the 12 switched with ignition...
Shaggist idea is better, safer and correct way to wire it up.