Thread: Easiest way to tap a 12V accessory line

Im guessing that you drive one of the big three since you said "I'm running all my equipment off the cigarette lighter" The easiest way to get acc is at the fuse block for most American cars. It would help to know what kind of car you drive, year, make, model, trim level.

fluffy- Running everything from the cigarette lighter... How's that holding up?

I'm at the same point. I don't want anything shorting out.

cproaudio- I would also like to know how to connect my LCD to the acc wire.
I drive a 1995 Nissan 240sx

thx
-Rob

I'm driving a 93 honda accord SE. I've been running the LCD, Garmin GPS 35, and laptop charger off the Cig lighter for some time now. I'm not close to the 10 amps I would need to blow the thing with that. Untill I got the garmin GPS I had a 70 watt inverter powering a USB hub in there and THAT put it close the the maximum amperage, but I never blew a fuse. I'm damn glad to get rid of that inverter, It made so much noise in my stereo system.

I have not made any aftermarket modifications to it save a new head unit and my car computer.

ohh I read the question wrong. Thats why I thought you drive an american car. For Most Hondas you can find the ACC terminal on the top of the fuse block in the kick panel.
r2o4b0sx, for the 240SX, you can catch the ACC on the back of the cig lighter. The radio/shifter bezel is all once piece and pulls easily. Start at the bottom of the shifter and pull your way up. Once you pull it off you can access the cig lighter wire.

Heres what i did in my 98 Civic , i ran down to Autozone and bought a tapping fuse, got back to the house, consulted my owners manual for the accessory fuse, pulled the fuse out, loaded it and the appropriate fuse to protect my carputer and just plugged it back into the original slot. No messy tapping, and it doesnt void your warrenty

Originally Posted by binary.h4x

Heres what i did in my 98 Civic , i ran down to Autozone and bought a tapping fuse, got back to the house, consulted my owners manual for the accessory fuse, pulled the fuse out, loaded it and the appropriate fuse to protect my carputer and just plugged it back into the original slot. No messy tapping, and it doesnt void your warrenty

That sounds like a very good idea. I'm perfectly comforable pulling cable with a cable snake. What gauge wire should I use?

I did that too .. I used fuse taps to power my lights, carputer trigger, dvd player.. screen. It works very well. And about that hiding cables?...just grab your manual and learn how to take the panels apart . First time it took me forever to figure it out. Now I can take apart my entire car and put it back together with no problems.

I recommend for a number of reasons that you put a tap (with fuse) on the battery post.

And run that to power your accessories.

Now if you want it set up so that the Ignition Switch kills the power, then get a BIG relay...similar to one that drives a starter solenoid. And let the relay do the work.

Your ignition switch was not designed to have a lot of juice running through it...you will probably see shortened life span.

The relay doesn't pull much power, but it can handle a much larger load on the working end.

Most cars have an accessory spot on the relay panel or what have you, or find some accessory (like the radio) that only works when the key is on, and tap that power...that is how I wired my radar detector in the overhead console.

I agree with DodgeCummins on this one. just as a rule of thumb automakers put in fuses and wire gauges that are a little over than what they need and really shouldnt be pushed more than that.