Trying to hook up a power adapter under the dash to power my radar detector and GPS. I would like to find a wire to splice into so that when the car is on it gets power. The lighter/accessory power tap would be perfect but I can't get to the wires in the central console to track them back to the dash. Don't know the color of them either. Does anyone know of a place to tap into the power or where I can find the lighter/accessory power wires under the dash?
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The easiest solution would be to use a Littelfuse fuse tap like this one:
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or google "littelfuse fuse tap"
Pull the fuse for the lighter, plus the tap in, and then wire your accessories to the pigtail on the tap. When you sell the car, you can easily remove the tap and you won't have to cut any of the factory wires.
Cool idea, but I wouldn't count on it for high current applications where an intermittent connection could result in damage. A sudden off/on situation for a stereo power amp could result in some very unhappy speakers. The only way around this would either be to solder the connection, or use a properly designed crimp tool, something that's not so easy to find nowadays.
The barrel connection in the Littlefuse photo was crimped with a bad tool.
This is the right type of tool. There's a channel to cradle the connector, and a tooth on the opposite side to properly shape the crimp.
Where have you heard about the unreliability of these connectors???
I know many such items exist in industrial electrical supplies which thousands use every day; why not automotive?
Please give me your cite. Thanks.
dennis in nca
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I never said crimp connectors were unreliable, Dennis. I said certain methods of applying them were unreliable. I am the source of the data, and my data is indisputable: Many years in the mobile electronics business, performing installations and sometimes repairing botch jobs done by other people. The most common reason I saw for failed connections was improperly installed crimp terminals, even when they were obviously done with a crimp tool (often a badly designed one). The automotive environment is prone to vibration, so the goal must be nothing less than perfection when it comes to electrical connections. That goal cannot be achieved using the typical crimp tool we find at big box stores. Too many of them use a flat pressure point which does not shape the terminal correctly. The only reliable tool is the channel & tooth design, which is harder to find and more expensive. I don't know why. It can't be that much more expensive to make the right tools, assuming we're talking about the simplest of the tools (not the pressure-assisted compound versions used in industry).
I'd agree with your assesment. I spent over 20 years in a service department for a OEM mfgr. servicing machinery with hundreds of circuits (similar to a modern auto) as part of a numerical control system. One of the common faults was related to bad crimps and poor terminal screw tightening; grrrrr.
But I wasn't talking about the Littlefuse crimp (which could be repaired), but the concept of using such a device in place of soldering. Still looks good to me (non-Ludite here).
I'd agree with your assesment. I spent over 20 years in a service department for a OEM mfgr. servicing machinery with hundreds of circuits (similar to a modern auto) as part of a numerical control system. One of the common faults was related to bad crimps and poor terminal screw tightening; grrrrr.
But I wasn't talking about the Littlefuse crimp (which could be repaired), but the concept of using such a device in place of soldering. Still looks good to me (non-Ludite here).
dennis in nca =============
I have no problem with that plug-in thing, especially for the low-current purpose described by the OP. For something like a big stereo power amp, or (from my old job) a can't-fail thing like a police radio, I'd choose to splice into a wire using crimps, and cover them with heat shrink tubing. I suppose it could be argued that the plug-in thing has the same size blades as a fuse, but a fuse doesn't stick out in a way that could allow it to be snagged and pulled out. Sure, you could use wire ties (next best invention to duct tape) to secure the exposed wire, but I guess it's a matter of style. We used to pride ourselves in arranging our wires so they always ran along existing bundles. Nothing sticking out.
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