I just bought an xm reciever for my 97. I have already ran the antenna behind the dash and have it mounted on the roof. My question is, is it possible to cut the cigeratte lighter plug off and hard wire it somewhere to a line that goes off with the ignition? Normally I wouldnt ask and just go ahead and do it but the wires are bigger than the ones that I am used to hardwiring. Thanks for any help, I would really like to do away with that wire as well.

 

Yes, you can cut them off, but then you lose the ability to use the lighter (or outlet) for anything else. Realisitically, though, the wire size makes no difference in this case; the lighter is probably on a 20a fuse, and your receiver will probably draw (maybe)4 amps. The other comment I would make is that the lighter is probably hot all the time, so the receiver would be getting power all the time.

Why not find a switched lead to tap in to? This way, you won't have to turn off the receiver every time you turn off the ignition.

 

I'm assuming you mean the xm receiver has a power cord that plugs into a cig lighter socket?

What receiver is it?

If you are referring to the receiver's power cord that has the lighter plug you want to cut off, DO NOT DO IT! Different receivers use different voltages. The regulator that provides this voltage is built into the plug. Giving your unit 12v. instead of the 6 (for example) it requires means a fried unit. Let us know what make/model receiver you have, and we can give you options.

 

Good point inbred, I did not think of that. It is a Delphi Roady 2 and it says on the box that its 6 volts, so I guess I have to keep the lighter plug. Can I get an aux. lighter socket and wire it to the fuse box to a line that only comes on with the ignition and run it behind the dash? I just bought a aux. cig. lighter but the wire is too short to run to the fuse box. Could I wire it to the hot wire for my stereo head unit?

 

why not just add another cig. lighter behind dash so its hidden

 

I just bought another cig. lighter. How would I add it in. I was wondering if I could wire it in with the power wires for my stereo that way the reciever would turn off with the ignition. Could this be done?

 

Just cut the lighter cord on the power supply going to your XM unit and splice it into the cig lighter. Just make sure you have the polarity correct.

If there is nothing in between the CIG plug and the XM unit then the unit probably has a voltage regulator in it. If does have something between the lighter plug and the XM unit, just leave it there and splice the cord into the cig lighter. This way you maintain usage of the cig lighter and can power stuff without having that god awful lighter plug.

All the actual plug does is make the contacts to the lighter socket. There is nothing magical in there.

I do it all the time. Its the quick and easy.

 

i just installed the sirius unit in my 05 KR. cut off the plug. one wire to a ground, actually the bracket that supports the radio head unit and the other i tied into the wire on the plug on the back of the radio that has power with the key on and then for the delay when key is turned off. that gives me power to the sat unit until i open the door. just like the radio. has not fried yet.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I ended up splicing the cig. lighter that I bought at Radioshack into my hot wire for the head unit and grounding the other wire and it works perfect. I left all the wires including the lighter behind the dash so no wires hanging and I am a happy camper.

 

if i remember tomorrow i am going to take the plug that i cut off strip back the wires and check the voltage when it is plugged into the cigarette lighter.

 

everything is designed differently. I have no idea what the input voltage for any sirius units are, but I know for certain that giving 12v. to an xm roady is bad. Very bad. The plug in question is similar in shape and size to that of a cell phone car charger. These types of plugs have the regulators built into them.

 

12 vdc into the adapter and 12 vdc out. thats for my sirius anyway. dont know about xm. guess i got lucky never even thought about them modifying the voltage in the lighter adapter. also checked the ohmic resistance going thru the adapter and there was none.

 

Okay, I have this thing kicking and I am loving it almost more than I love my mom. The only problem I am having is that this internal fm mod. stuff is getting old.....FAST. I have an aftermarket Pioneer DEH-16 and it has 2 pre-out rca jacks. Is these what the pie adapter that I hear about is plugged into and the other end to the roady 2? If not, I will just reinstall the factory as much as I dont want to, just to use the cassette adapter. My dad has one of them plug in the cigerette lighter, hang off the dash, eyesore fm mods. and imo the internal one on my roady works better than that. Also, if I cant use a pie adapter does any one have a decent mod. in mind that is actually worth the money? Thanks again.

 

You can use the direct adapter that hardires your Roady2's modulator directly into the antenna port of your head unit. This will give you much better quality than the wireless modulator, but there will still be a backround hiss during silence that is unavoidable through modulation

roady 2 direct adapter:
http://www.myradiostore.us/fmmodulat...t-sa10112.html

The PIE adapter won't work with your head unit; the RCA's on your head are outputs that would go to an amp if you had one. Unless there is an aux input on your head (which I don't think there is), you're stuck on modulation. There are many PIE adapters out there; they are specific to each head unit. If your stock head unit has the aux input (I'm not up on all the details of the adapter and which will work with the PIE), that will give the best quality possible. The direct adapter though will give much better performance than the wireless mod. Suppose I should've reccomended this earlier, as it also comes with a female lighter plug for hardwiring your power cord. Sorry bout that.

 

Thats okay, thanks for the help, I ordered the inline mod. a little earlier after looking at the back of the head unit and seeing that the rca jacks say "to amp". I should have looked into it earlier as well, but that lighter will come in handy when I put a reciever in my wifes car.