Install coming up... but Power questions

I have been lingering on this forum for months, but this is my first post. I have searched on this subject and read much, but still have lingering questions (complete power/wiring moron, so keep-it-simple :) ). I know they are noobie in nature, but thought they might be appropriate in Power forum.

1. I have in my possession Opus 150 W. Does power from + battery terminal connects to red?, and black is ground?, and blue is remote? (guessing here)

2. What gauge wire are you using for those three wires (i.e. power from battery to Opus, remote, and ground)?

3. Does the wire from + battery terminal to Opus need a fuse? If so, what "strength" of fuse (oh boy, that sounds pretty imbecilic, sorry :( )

4. Where is the best place to connect the remote wire? Do you just pick a wire under the steering column and voltmeter it (which is a tool I don't have... yet)?

5. Next biggie, is how to power the Lilliput screen.
a. Do people run power to the screen from the Opus, and if so, where do you run the power line from on the Opus unit?
b. Can you run 12V of power directly from battery, if so, do you need it regulated and/or do you need a fuse?
b. Or, do people prefer chopping off the end of the AC adapter and running that to the back of a lighter or some other 12V power source under the steering column?

6. Wondering how people power external DC items like drives and hubs. I know that I can use an inverter, but can I use the Opus for this too. Specifically, I have an IDE to USB inverter cable for my DVD ROM drive and I need to power that conversion cable. I would like to use the Opus but where do I run power out from on the Opus unit and how do I connect it to the DC plug? Do I have to hack off the wall plug and connect wires? Or, do you fashion some sort of female receiving plug for the items male plug?

Well, painfully dumb questions have come to a close for now, I appreciate any efforts to help me out. Thanks.

Ok, going to answer selective questions, however, almost all of this is answered elsewhere.

3) Yes, unless you want to flame your car! How many amps... 150W / 12V = ~13 Amps. Most accessory power suplies use 20 Amp fuses. This would ok.

2) Gauge wire for 20 Amps. Run the black (-) wire to your car chasis. Should be as short as possible.

4) I'm planning on using a feed from the cigar lighter as this is switched. Also, the OPUS will not draw very much over this. To use this line, buy an add-a-circuit which enables you to connect directly into the fuse pannel.

5) Planned on running this off the Cigar lighter power from the same circuit as the OPUS trigger line is connected to. Obviously there will be a fuse in there as well. This for me is ok as it is rated up to 20 Amps and the Lilliput does not draw much. Also, see the Mod for auto power on for the Lilliput.

6) Would avoid using such devices ;-)

I can answer a few of these.

1) That is the usual wiring color scheme

2) Use something pretty thick (10 or 8 AWG) for the power and ground wires. The remote wire can be small, as it's only telling the opus to turn on. You can get by with 12 or 14 AWG.

3) 150W opus, you're looking at 10-15 amps of power. Go with a 20-30 amp fuse.

4) You can use the remote wire for your amp (if you have one), a cigarette lighter, the head unit antenna wire, or something you find under the dash

5) You can use the screen's 12V cigarette lighter adapter and wire that to the car's cigarette lighter wiring, or you can use the opus. The opus will regulate to 12V, so you can avoid the lilliput's in-line converter if you want to chop it off. Splice into the opus's "output" wires for this power. I personally will be using a radioshack "power outlet" wired to the car's cigarette lighter wiring, and the lilliput's inline converter.

6) This depends on the voltage the hub/etc takes. Assuming it's 12V, you might be able to splice into the opus. Otherwise, you can get a dc-dc converter (cigarette lighter adapter) that can be adjusted to varying voltages.

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Originally Posted by technopsych

I have been lingering on this forum for months, but this is my first post. I have searched on this subject and read much, but still have lingering questions (complete power/wiring moron, so keep-it-simple :) ). I know they are noobie in nature, but thought they might be appropriate in Power forum.

1. I have in my possession Opus 150 W. Does power from + battery terminal connects to red?, and black is ground?, and blue is remote? (guessing here)

2. What gauge wire are you using for those three wires (i.e. power from battery to Opus, remote, and ground)?

3. Does the wire from + battery terminal to Opus need a fuse? If so, what "strength" of fuse (oh boy, that sounds pretty imbecilic, sorry :( )

4. Where is the best place to connect the remote wire? Do you just pick a wire under the steering column and voltmeter it (which is a tool I don't have... yet)?

5. Next biggie, is how to power the Lilliput screen.
a. Do people run power to the screen from the Opus, and if so, where do you run the power line from on the Opus unit?
b. Can you run 12V of power directly from battery, if so, do you need it regulated and/or do you need a fuse?
b. Or, do people prefer chopping off the end of the AC adapter and running that to the back of a lighter or some other 12V power source under the steering column?

6. Wondering how people power external DC items like drives and hubs. I know that I can use an inverter, but can I use the Opus for this too. Specifically, I have an IDE to USB inverter cable for my DVD ROM drive and I need to power that conversion cable. I would like to use the Opus but where do I run power out from on the Opus unit and how do I connect it to the DC plug? Do I have to hack off the wall plug and connect wires? Or, do you fashion some sort of female receiving plug for the items male plug?

Well, painfully dumb questions have come to a close for now, I appreciate any efforts to help me out. Thanks.

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