I Want To Hard Wire My Xm And My Radar Detector To The Cigarette Outlets In My 2002. I Have Two Outlets And Probably Would Wire 1 To Each Of Them. I Was Wondering If This Would Be A Potential Problem With Draining My Battery? Im Thinking That As Long As Everything Was Turned Off When I Got Out Of The Vehicle I Would Be Fine. Anyways Thanks.

 

I've never seen a radar detector that drew more than one amp, and I can't imagine the receiver is more than an amp or two, so you'd be perfectly fine connecting them both to the same circuit. Indeed, the only potential issue is the possibility of draining the battery (although I don't imagine the current draw is very much on those...) You could also tap into the switched power source for the head unit and use that to trigger a relay for the other detector and receiver... that way when you switch the truck off, it kills the power to the units.

 

I See, Thanks For The Advice. I Would Like To Tap Into The Power For The Head Unit. Thats A Good Idea I Didnt Think About That Before. But If I Wanted To Connect To The Cig Outlets I Can Just Splice The Wires In Correct?

 

If you tap into the power for the head unit, you probably don't want to power the detector and receiver directly off that wire as the feed is pretty limited to start with and there usually isn't a whole lot of extra capacity on that circuit. Using it to trigger a relay would be the best way.

And yes, tapping directly into one or both of the power points will work just fine. Both are rated for 20A, so the little bit of draw for either unit won't cause any problems.

-Joe

 

Thanks Again, Ill Let You Know How It Turns Out. I Just Hate The Plugs And Wires And Im Trying To Get A Nice Clean Look Goin You Know.