Hello all. I wanted my radar detector hard-wired into the car, since I hate that dangling wire, so I did just that. It took me 15 minutes total, including taking panels off and figuring out which fuse to attach the power wire to.
*If you clip off the cig. lighter part of the plug, you'll see two wires within the sheath. One positive, one negative. don't take for granted that red is power, because it isn't in all cases. I lengthened the wire using a 3' piece of speaker wire.
*On the side of the dashboard, there's a panel which will come off. Behind that is the metal part of the dashboard, which is grounded. Drill a small hole (if you have access to a drill) and drive a sheet-metal screw with the negative power wire wrapped around it into that hole. If you don't have a drill, just strip the sheath off of the wire about 4-5", and twist it together thru two holes.
*As for power, Honda has made this easy. On the back of the panel which hides the fuses, they LIST which ones are on as ACC, and not when the car is off. Two I found were 'stereo' and 'cigar lighter." I used the cig. lighter one. Just because it's accessible, I took out the fuse for the cig. lighter, twisted the power cable around one prong on the fuse, and stuck it back in. Of course, that's ghetto, but it works. :D
That's really it. Here's a pic.
:)
Ooo, I want to do something like this. That cord is driving me insane. It gets in the way of the shifter when the detector is where you have it in the picture.
Now, the cord that's connected to the back of the detector, do you just have that strung along the edge of your window? I remember reading something about using the wiring from the overhead light for power. I'd like to look more into that.
I did the same thing and stuck the wire into the radio fuse, too. :D
I actually mounted mine above the rear-view. It's very stealthy. Nobody ever notices it there, until it makes some sound. Then they're lookin' all over the place... "What the hell is that noise"??
I was going to put mine above as well, but that bumpy crap that is there for glare reduction wouldn't let my suction cups stick. :\
As far as the cord, you can tuck it into the headliner, and on the plastic trim on the A piller, you can pull gently and it'll pop right out. As far as using one of the wires for the lights, I'm not sure that those would be on only when the car is running.. maybe the sunroof power wire? :dunno:
I was thinking about drawing some power from the interior light, that way you wouldn't have to worry about running the wire as far or drilling any holes. A radar detector shouldn't draw to much power so I doubt that it would interfere with light
The only problem is that lights are always drawing power, so they're always "on." You'd have to manually shut off your radar detector each time. I like it this way, because it turns on when I turn the key.
yeah i had that thought, but i guess it wouldn't be to hard to get used to.
I was thinking that too, but I think I'd start forgetting to turn it on everytime I got in the car. Or I'd just get lazy. Jaydub's right, I think it's better to have it turn on with the car.
Also, taking the time to run it down to the fuse box only took me about 10 minutes. The plastic panel on the A pillar came off very easily, and I just ran the cable down there and into the dashboard. Eazy-peazy.
Why Don't you hard wire it to the cigarette lighter. That way it only comes on when you turn on the car. The cigarette lighter piece pops off by a couple of clips. I did this for a 3 lighter socket adapter. As for the bumpy stuff over the rear view, use some packaging tape over the bumps then the suction cups should be able to stick on the tape.
Because then I'd have to run the wire even farther. This is basically the same idea as hard-wiring it to the cig. lighter, except that I didn't have to crimp/cut any wires, and it'll take me 2min. to remove the detector and wire from the car completely.Originally posted by i-WERKS
Why Don't you hard wire it to the cigarette lighter. That way it only comes on when you turn on the car. The cigarette lighter piece pops off by a couple of clips. I did this for a 3 lighter socket adapter. As for the bumpy stuff over the rear view, use some packaging tape over the bumps then the suction cups should be able to stick on the tape.
nice tip jaydub, think ill be doing this my next paycheck (have to get a detector first).
I got a Beltronics Vector 940 and going to hard wire it soon. :)
Great website for radar detector test comparisons:
http://www.speedzones.com/
My Bel V940 did well, so its a good value in my book for $160 @ sounddomain:
http://www.sounddomain.com/sku/BELVECTOR940
Last edited by HondaMan; 10-16-2002 at 10:56 AM.
Yep, I've got a 940 too. It's the first thing I bought after driving the car out of the dealer's lot. I like it, it's saved my ass once. Remember they can't offer advance warning of laser, though. One time I was driving down the highway, luckily not too fast since I had other people in the car, and BAM! the detector started freaking out. Looked up ahead and there was a trooper pointing his laser gun at me.
It picks up radar really well though, and it's way cheaper than comparable detectors.
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