Cigarette Lighter Wiring

[rebelquietly]

Hey I'm new to any sort of automodding and I wanted to install a strip of LED's where my feet go. I have the strip its in a clear plastic tube but it is powered by the cigarette lighter. I dont want to have a big ol' wire coming from my cigarette lighter so I want to hardwire it in by cutting off the male connecter on the LED that goes into the cigarette lighter. My question is how do i get to the wiring for the cigarette lighter. I have an 02 Civic coupe lx. Thanks for any replies

[Ricochet]

Take out the cig lighter fuse from under the dash, wrap the + wire around one of the fuse prongs, and stick the fuse back in. Take the - wire and ground it under a bolt somewhere.

[Geeko]

... interestingly ghetto.

alternativly, you can get a couple of wire splicers from Shady-o-Rack or somewhere, and splice them into the + and - wires from the cigarette lighter. they are designed to tap an additional wire into another wire without cutting the first wire.

this thing.

just call your local RadioShack and ask if they have any 64-3052s in stock. if they do, you're in luck. get them and use them, and you're done.

or, you could go his route. interestingly ghetto.

that should be a bumper sticker. "My Car is Interestingly Ghetto"

[Ricochet]

It's only ghetto if it hardly works and is noticeable.
I've hooked up most of my accessories through the fuses like that because it works fine, nobody can see it, and someday if I want to take those things off it's all easily reversable..

[Geeko]

your definition of ghetto is debatable in this circumstance, although it's obviously a quantitive term. electrically speaking, what you are doing is not a sound wiring option, and should only be considered for short-term or emergency use.

however, obviously, no one is inspecting your car to see if it's up to any code, so what you do is up to you. still, i prefer to have everything either soldered and shrink-wrapped, or at least crimped with proper connectors... it doesn't have to be any more permanent (i've got a power distrobution block with power pole connectors, and a veriety of power pole to other type of power connection adapters), and it is a safer alternative. takes more effort, though.

whatever works for you, my man.