I always have my satellite radio and radar detector hookup up to my cigar lighter, but the other day the fuse blew out. no big deal i thought, so i replace the fuse and plug just the radio back in. Everything was running fine for about a day. the fuse then blows out again..wtf. so i replace it. this goes on another 4 times. after running out of 15amp fuses i throw a 20 in there...same thing, it blows. anyone ever have a similar problem? also does anyone know how to hardwire the satellite radio directly to the radio or battery...not really sure how that works.
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Fuse keeps blowing!!
- Thread starter crazyj
- Start date
striker2
Official CEG Vendor
the only reason a fuse will blow is cause you have a short somewhere. check the wiring for the cigar lighter. i bet the wires got pinched somewhere and are shorting together. if your lucky you can find it and just put some electrical tape on them.
Or possibly your sat radio or radar detector are messed up...? Also a little bit of advice for you, a fuse rating is there for a reason... not to protect the components being plugged so much as the wiring powering those components. A fuse rating is there because that's what the wire can handle... put a bigger fuse in, wire gets hotter, which can potentially lead to melting and fire.... so always replace your fuses with a fuse that's meant for it... The fuse is a safety, it blows so your wiring doesn't fry, which means you need to check the wiring and the components hooked to that wiring. (usually a local car install shop will give you fuses if you ask for them, probably cheaper than buying them from a store, or you could go to a junk yard and just start pulling fuses left and right)
I would start by un plugging everything and testing the wires with a multimeter, test the cig plug and see if you have continuity, if you do it means the wires are pinched or shorted out, if not, and the fuse didn't blow when you put it in (with nothing plugged into the cig socket)..... it may mean one of your components is messing up... If that's the possible case, put them in someone elses car and see if their fuse blows, may help to make sure they have a 15amp cig socket as well, otherwise you may not be able to recreate the issue...
I would start by un plugging everything and testing the wires with a multimeter, test the cig plug and see if you have continuity, if you do it means the wires are pinched or shorted out, if not, and the fuse didn't blow when you put it in (with nothing plugged into the cig socket)..... it may mean one of your components is messing up... If that's the possible case, put them in someone elses car and see if their fuse blows, may help to make sure they have a 15amp cig socket as well, otherwise you may not be able to recreate the issue...
yea if it blows once, replace the fuse, it it goes right out again, means you should find out the problem as just plugging more fuses in ( especially bigger ones) is just going to make what ever issue you had possible worse. I kept was blowing them before on my Grand Am , had to run over all my wires and something had kinked and frayed one of the wires to my Amp and it was shorting it out. Sucked going over all the wire looking, but better then a Car B Q from to big of a Fuse.
kscontourkid
Veteran CEG'er
one thing...plastic connectors...DONT USE THEM! if you have any quick crimp connectors in the wiring that is probably your problem. learn to solder (sp) or look online for wiring techniques that do not use crimp connectors.
one thing...plastic connectors...DONT USE THEM! if you have any quick crimp connectors in the wiring that is probably your problem. learn to solder (sp) or look online for wiring techniques that do not use crimp connectors.
I use crimp caps and butt connectors on a regular basis... Usually someone only has a problem with them when the do it wrong... or get cheap ones...
Kinda off topic, but this could be a possible solution. Does anyone know of an auxiliary power source? I ask because i too have a satellite radio and want it to turn off once i shut the car off rather than doin it manually.
You could use the radio turn on which is a switch 12V+ source or go to an accessory ignition circuit. You could even use a relay if you wanted to...
Ya, i had thought about the radio, but i wasn't sure if i could just tap into a specific auxiliary output. You wouldn't happen to have a diagram or something to that effect displaying the descriptions of the wires would you? If i were to split the radio power source, would there be enough power for both?
thanks
thanks
Ya, i had thought about the radio, but i wasn't sure if i could just tap into a specific auxiliary output. You wouldn't happen to have a diagram or something to that effect displaying the descriptions of the wires would you? If i were to split the radio power source, would there be enough power for both?
thanks
The radio should get most of it's main power from the constant power wire, the accessory shouldn't really draw all that much, I've used it as turn source many times, usually sat radios don't draw that much amperage, it should say on the cig plug adapter how many amps it draws, usually under 5 amps if it's a newer unit. Depending on what radio you have in there, you may be able to use the amp turn on or power antenna wire if you want it to be able to be turned off if you turn off the radio and still have the car on...
I hardwired my satellite radio. Just clipped of the cigarette lighter plug and hooked up the wires to one of those fuse adapter things.