I have a question that I am having a hard time finding the answer to. I have installed many amps in the past and haven't ever placed a fuse on the remote line but am considering it now.

I ran across and article somewhere that says you should fuse it in the case in grounds out somewhere, so it doesn't blow out your stock radio (which is what I'm connecting to in this case). I already know the wire I'm tapping into which is the window/antenna (yellow/green) in the stock amp harness in my TSX and I don't want to damage the stock radio if this line shorts out.

The current draw on the remote line according to my amp manual is 2 mA. What kind of fuse do you have to get to protect that line? Do they even make fuses that small? Before reading the manual I bought a 500 milliamp fuse 250v GMA type fuse to use, but I don't think it is the right kind. Somehow I am getting the feeling that the fuse I bought is for AC.

Can anyone offer any input on what I should do?

TIA
-Andre

 

wouldn't it be easier to just run your remote turn on wire into your fuse box??? i just tapped into the radio fuse... autozone sells those add-a-fuse adapters...

 

The 500ma fuse will be fine and it is a good idea.

jeff

 

Why not tap an entirely different source, I would think a cig lighter might be a better idea, in terms of not shorting out anything important, and something that already has a fuse?

 

fuse box works. so would the cig lighter. as long as its switched power. but if youre interfacing with the radio anyway then theres no reason to not use the correct amp turn-on wire behind the radio. running from just any switched power can cause popping through your speakers (or subs, whatever is on the amp) either when turning the car on/off or the radio on/off.

also, it cant hurt to fuse it. if you cant find 500ma, then a 1a should do just fine.

 

Cig lighter and such will be fused at 15 amps or so. very high for what the draw is on the remote wire.

 

Thats where I amost always tap my remote wire...

 

I was thinking that too but I can't find a fuse small enough that will go into the add-a-fuse unit cause it only accepts the mini blade kind.

 

I actually went back to radio shack and returned the 500 milliamp fuse and holder I bought since they couldn't tell me for sure if it was good for an automotive application. I read somewhere that there are different fuses for ac and dc power. The back of the fuse packaging said that it was for household appliances, so I didn't know if that mattered. My expertise in that area is limited so I just returned it.

I went to three different install shops in my area and they all told me that they don't fuse the remote turn on even with a stock radio. Something told me to keep checking.

I journeyed over to best buy (the place least likely to find and answer of all the places I visited) and the installer there said that when they tap off of a stock radio they always fuse. They don't fuse when they are using an aftermarket headunit as that line is already fused in the radio.

So basically I decided to get a 1A glass fuse from Murrays Auto and will place that on the antenna wire in the car. The glass fuses are the only ones that I could find with that small of an amp rating so that is limiting my options.

I thought about the cig lighter as a source but I don't want the amp on when the car is off so I don't have the amp draining my cap and battery.

I did think of throwing a relay in the mix and use the remote line off the stock amp to power the relay coil and use the cig lighter as the common line for the relay. I think that would be overcomplicating things. Kind of like the way I am over complicating this reply...LOL

 

See? were not ALL bad installers
although ill admit 90% of all bby/cc installers dont know shit.

 

^LOL...yeah they did right be me this time. There have been some other times I have asked some general questions that they weren't even close to being able to answer.

 

I've never heard of fusing the turn on lead. I've installed many amps to stock & aftermarket HU's & never had any sort of problem. So until I do, I'll stick to what works for me.

 

i have never heard or read that you need to fuse the remote wire. i took my car to audio express and they wired mines to my ON position on my ignition. they also put in a bypass switch so i can control the power to my amp. basically, with a flip of a switch, i get the sub to turn on when i want. sorry if this is irrelevant but i thought up of this neat idea and just got my system installed today

 

I know a lot of people haven't heard of this, but just think about this for a sec....(Assuming a setup with a stock radio)....what if that remote grounds it self out somewhere by accident, all that extra current is going to come back up the line and bite the radio? Now that antenna line that I'm running off of gets fried and I have no remote line, no radio reception either. Now some people might say that the remote line doesn't pull a lot of current, that is true when it is working and not shorted out. When the thing shorts or grounds out it is going to pull a lot more current than normal.

I just ended up putting a 1A fuse on the line and placed a switch on it so I can shut the amp off if I want.

 

I just remembered that I needed to vent. What a PITA to install that stupid remote wire at the amp. The console was a whore to get out and the amp wire I needed to get to only had very little line exposed to tap into. Very f-ing tediuos if this not what you do on a daily basis.

And to top off all of the nervousness I seemed to kill the backlight on my drivers seat heater switch and moonroof switch somehow. Maybe I gave them too hard of a squeeze during the install. Seems to be somewhat of a common problem I'm gathering from some other threads on the subject.

 

"what if that remote grounds it self out somewhere by accident"

A properly routed, wired & terminated remote wire should never do this in it's lifespan.

 

i added a switch to my remote line too. one of the greatest ideas i had.

 

I hear you, but neither should any wire in the car for that matter, but there are fuse boxes all over the car. It is just a part of me being paranoid, I like that extra feeling of protection.