Thread: M2-ATX ACC line instead of IGN?

The words "accessory" and ignition" are most often synonymous

They both mean a line that goes high (12v) when the ignition is turned from the off position to any other position

theres some difference betwen them,ignition is the wire that feeds 12v to the engine components thats way even on crank position you still have poweron ignition wires.accessory wire is to feed all the accessorys on the car,like radio power windows cigarette ligther etc..... thats way the accessory on the crank is not powered to give more current to the starter and the engine components.my advice on this.use the accessory if your power supply is capable of surviving crank,and the m2atx is capable i think.because if you want to use your carpc with the engine off well you can put the key on acc just like with your radio,that way you have the accessorys powered engine components off.now with ignition you have accessory and ignition,meaning all the engine components are draining the battery too.if you dont care about this,you can use either one.i use acc.about your issue i think the m2 has some delay to shutdown the pc,my opus has 10 sec.and this can be change by a set of jumpers.

NOTE:sorry for my english.

Thanks to the both of you - and now worries about your English - it is better than most of the folks online these days

Well, it sounds like the ACC line is okay from what ya'll are saying, and you are right, it does have jumpers to configure, but I thought that in Mode 2 (which is what mine is in) it would go to standy after 5 seconds and shut down 2 hrs later. I think I'll go to mode 1 for now to shutdown...

You should use ACC instead of IGN.
At ACC, only radio and less power hungry devices are on.
At IGN, all electronic devices (fuel pump, ecu, ...) in your car is ON.

Well, fuel pump/dash light don't need to be on for an hr if you are using your pc that long. You get the picture.

Silly question then... where do most people get ACC signal? I've heard from the 12v outlet? fuze box? somewhere else I don't even know of yet?

My Jeep has a blue wire off the stereo adapter that says "power antenna" and some schematics call the wire "amp on"... seems to work except it'll reboot on start AND shutdown. odd...

Originally Posted by Bmrbch

Silly question then... where do most people get ACC signal? I've heard from the 12v outlet? fuze box? somewhere else I don't even know of yet?

My Jeep has a blue wire off the stereo adapter that says "power antenna" and some schematics call the wire "amp on"... seems to work except it'll reboot on start AND shutdown. odd...

I get the ACC from the Dash. In mine its the Red Wire on the Harness that Says IGN.

Camino - If I want the ability to have my PC turn on with Remote Start (using a remote starter, so I am not turning the key like a regular start up) where would I get the signal for that? I don't think the ACC gets the signal with remote start. I can confirm later with a multimeter.

Originally Posted by Bmrbch

Silly question then... where do most people get ACC signal? I've heard from the 12v outlet? fuze box? somewhere else I don't even know of yet?

There are a number of places to get a 12v switched line.
If your cigarette lighter or power outlets are only on when the vehicle is on, that's a great source.
Many headunits have a ignition switched line.
Most fuse panels have extra circuits that are ignition switched that could be used.

My Jeep has a blue wire off the stereo adapter that says "power antenna" and some schematics call the wire "amp on"... seems to work except it'll reboot on start AND shutdown. odd...

That would be a remote wire and is a likely candidate for your IGN or ACC line.
The only way to know without a doubt is to use a multimeter to measure the voltage on that line with the key off and then the key on. It should be 0v with the key off and ~12v with the key on.

Hope that helps!

cant you rig up the m2 so that it turns on from different sources? meaning say you have it hooked to your head unit remote wire (so it does NOT turn on when you hit remote start, because the ignition is still technically off) but you can also hook it to an accessory wire on the remote starter so you can still turn on the computer with your keychain whenever.. even if the head unit is off

no?... confusing?

Not confusing - but I'm not sure where the accessory wire is on the remote starter. I'll have to look around for that.