REM to Fuse?

[04cavalier]

i am trying to install an amp and my rem coming out of my deck is bad, i was wondering if i could just run the rem to a fuse like the running lights that is only getting power when the car is on, i have heard this is a bad idea but i dont know for sure the other idea i have heard is to run it to a battery and put a toggle switch on but i dont want i toggle switch showing? any ideas and help is apprechiated.

[PaulD]

just make sure the circuit you tap off of is not multiplexed or you will blow the multiplexer. Easiest way is to just run a wire from a +12V source off of the fuse block that comes on when the car does.

[batvette]

Originally Posted by 04cavalier

i am trying to install an amp and my rem coming out of my deck is bad, i was wondering if i could just run the rem to a fuse like the running lights that is only getting power when the car is on, i have heard this is a bad idea but i dont know for sure the other idea i have heard is to run it to a battery and put a toggle switch on but i dont want i toggle switch showing? any ideas and help is apprechiated.

Well you could put the toggle under the dash somewhere..... or look at a wiring legend or schematic for your vehicle for a wire in the vicinity from a circuit that is hot in run or acc'y mode....

though if you want to do it RIGHT one way is the remote power adaptor DEI manufactures, I assume they still do. You put the sensor on the line or speaker level output from the head unit, (I think it needs only 3-4v) and it works like a more sensitive, intelligent relay. They should still be less than $20. They can be daisy chained if you have processors or multiple amps to quiet the turn on/off sequence as well.

I don't recommend the running lights scheme simply because this assumes you'd want the amp turned on whenever the vehicle is running/ign switch is on.

Like late night, side of a dark cold highway, car doesn't want to start, battery is dying, just another crank or two and maybe she catches, maybe she doesn't and you freeze to death....

And you're getting turn on pop from the amp turning on before the head unit/without it on at all.

For everyone else who might read this, it's a good thing to note most head units only support a couple hundred milliamps average, am amp at the most in their remote output circuit. It's easy to fry it with more than two loads, use a Bosch type 12v relay if you've got 2-3-4 amps, a processor, maybe a fan or two.... I like to use a relay with anything more than one amp.

There's also a way to use your cigarette lighter and a relay to make a latching circuit for a valet switch for your system. It's in David Levy co's old relay handbook. Let me know if you need it I can give you the details.
So your cigarette lighter turns on your stereo. (you push it in once and the relay stays latched until you shut the car off! You can also do a similar thing for anti-theft) However for reliability don't do this unless your lighter hasn't been used. Old crusty ones make bad contacts.

[PaulD]

I use relays on my auto turn on circuit too, for just this reason

[batvette]

Originally Posted by PaulD

I use relays on my auto turn on circuit too, for just this reason

Pretty extensive system you have there, I assume you are in some state resembling "finished" since the last cardomain photos?
Have you had any problems with:

All that amplification overtaxing the Honda's alternator output?

The Midbass floor pods phasing with the kickpod mids? Seems to me they'd have to be crossed over real low and/or detuned to avoid condflict with the mids it almost negates the benefit.

(not being critical, just thinking as I almost went a similar route in my Corvette some years ago, was going to put those slim Illusion Audio Neo 8''s or even 10's in the front floor, which is nearly the firewall. Front stage:





I wasn't getting the output of the 6.5's to keep up with the rest of the system and it needed it as horns, particularly that close, are LOUD. Every option I considered left me with the probablilty I 'd never be able to conquer a phasing conflict in the lowest vocal ranges. Had I gone that route from the beginning and found a way to mount the horns further away (Consulting with Eric Holdaway and USD audio found he had some luck in C4 Corvettes mounting horns firing up at the windshield, a workable alternative but I believe it would always have to be tuned on the verge of "squawking" as horns are prone to do) I could have made the tens work.

(the Vette still sits in my driveway, daily driving a Honda Passport with a solid "KISS" system- one a/d/s P840 wired 4x120 into a pair of 15's in 4+ cubes sealed and 6.5" soundstream exact components in custom 'glassed kicks) Passport/Rodeos have a 60 amp alternator, I've had my fill of $500-1000 custom wound alts.)

[PaulD]

the CRX has a 140 amp alty and a kinetic 1800 battery. I ran into some deadends and took out the scan 12M mids and W205 DVD player to put in my daily driver (01' Accord). The tweets are in the box right now. The midbass sits up too high over the carpet so it's hard to get the feet in there for the pedals. Those midbass are actually designed to play with a horn tweet, they normally come in JBL cabs. I am sure they would keep up with the ID horns.

A guy named Patrick Bateman has been working on horns and making them sound better (less honky). He was rebuilding a dash so they would fire into the windshield like a defroster does. Haven't seen/heard the results