Need 12V switched line near center console
11-17-2007, 08:07 PM
#13
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I'm totally confused... tried pretty much every fuse in the glove compartment fuse box and they are always hot.. regardless of ignition on (I have a ComfortAccess key and all of them seem to be hot even if the car is fully off/locked). 
11-17-2007, 10:44 PM
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Correction.. they are not all hot.. but if I use this piggy back tap I got, then the detector is on all the time regardless of the fact that the original fuse was not seeing power with ignition off.
I was expecting the switch (power on/off) to happen before the fuse is reached... but the only explanation for what I'm seeing is that the switch occurs after the fuse. This would explain why I see no power on the original fuse with ignition off, but replacing it with the piggy back tap results in constant power to the detector but same behavior (no power with ignition off) to the original circuit.
I was expecting the switch (power on/off) to happen before the fuse is reached... but the only explanation for what I'm seeing is that the switch occurs after the fuse. This would explain why I see no power on the original fuse with ignition off, but replacing it with the piggy back tap results in constant power to the detector but same behavior (no power with ignition off) to the original circuit.
11-17-2007, 11:31 PM
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A.) What I expected... would result in my detector not having power when ignition is off.
B.) What I believe is happening since with ignition off, my detector is powered on and my multi meter says there is no voltage across the bottom fuse.
C.) What happens if I reverse the piggy back fuse. The presence of the bottom fuse (the original) dictates whether the detector receives power and this is true when I tested it.
D.) I believe this option would work but then both fuses need to have the same rating as you would need both to pop under the same conditions. But I'd still have to buy some kind of fuse that I could tie into.
Man, and I thought I was going to spend a whole 5 minutes wiring this thing up. Maybe I should just ditch the concealed display and wire it up like everyone else via the sunroof control panel.
B.) What I believe is happening since with ignition off, my detector is powered on and my multi meter says there is no voltage across the bottom fuse.
C.) What happens if I reverse the piggy back fuse. The presence of the bottom fuse (the original) dictates whether the detector receives power and this is true when I tested it.
D.) I believe this option would work but then both fuses need to have the same rating as you would need both to pop under the same conditions. But I'd still have to buy some kind of fuse that I could tie into.
Man, and I thought I was going to spend a whole 5 minutes wiring this thing up. Maybe I should just ditch the concealed display and wire it up like everyone else via the sunroof control panel.
11-18-2007, 02:10 AM
#16
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My Ride: BMW E60 520d SE Saloon M47 2.0dTitanium Grey II, Grey−Dakota Leather, Visibility Package, Media Package, Through Load System, Lumbar support − fr seats, Automatic Air Conditioning−Advanced, High beam assistant, Hi−Fi Loudspeak
Model Year: 2006
What you are finding is perfectly normal and as designed. Fuses are normally always added on the route from the power to the electronics switching units, which is why you are finding them always hot. This is one reason why people have adviced you to take power from either behind the center or passenger footwell lighter sockets or the flashlight socket. These three have switched power and now since you have the wire going there you should be good in 5 mins (your original estimate)
Thanks for the info!
11-18-2007, 11:53 AM
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Success! Went for the passenger footwell cigarette jack.
For future reference:
Initial Notes:
- Fuse box didn't work as power seems to always be hot as the switched circuit is after the fuses.
Install Description:
- Escort 9500i radar detector installed in the upper windshield (right side of rear view mirror)
- Concealed display under ignition switch near driver's right knee
- Tapped power via passenger footwell cigarette lighter
- Only visible wiring is 2" between detector and the roof lining and about 3-4" of wiring behind concealed display
Details:
Mount plus getting to concealed display under ignition switch:
1.) Mount radar detector on windshield (where you want it)
2.) Leave yourself about 1-2" of play on the wire to make sure you can easily remove the detector if you need to
3.) Guide wire across windshield to driver's side a-pillar covering
4.) You can push the wiring into gap between windshield and roof liner
5.) At the a-pillar, you can take off the a-pillar cover but you don't need to, you can actually push the wirings between the a-pillar cover and the front windshield
6.) At the bottom of the a-pillar, there's also a gap between the a-pillar cover and the dashboard where you can hide the wiring
7.) Guide the wires along the left side of the dash and down underneath the dash (again, you can hide the wiring in gaps)
Hiding wires under the steering wheel (you can skip this if you don't mind just zip tying -- I wanted it cleaner):
8.) Remove 5 screws to remove the driver side footwell panel under the steering wheel. Note there are three snaps that hold the felt lining under the steering wheel to the panel - these just pop off. There's also two larger clips to the left and right of the three snaps and again, this pop off (pull down on the panel carefully).
9.) Lower the footwell panel and guide your wiring inside.
Concealed display:
10.) I velcro'd the concealed display underneath where the ignition switch is found -- this way I can see it while driving (a quick glance down) and no one else can --> law enforcement.
Getting wires to passenger footwell:
11.) There are two side panels (driver's side and passenger's side) on the sides of the center console. They look like long strips about 1" wide, and 18" long. These slide off. Just pull them back towards the trunk and they'll pop off (they are held on by clips).
12.) Removing these side panels should give you access to a few holes that go between the driver's side footwell and the passenger side footwell. I used these holes to route the power cable from the concealed display to the passenger side footwell. You can use a clothes hanger and duck tape the end of the cable to one end of the hanger. Then guide the hanger through and then pull through from the other side. I did this very slowly to make sure I didn't catch on anything inside the center console and do some damage.
Tapping into power:
13.) Once on the other side, I dismantled the glove box. First open the glove box and remove the pins on the door supports -- one is hydraulic and the other is just a nylon ribbon. The pins pop off using a flat bladed screwdriver to push sharp end of the pin back into the hole. Then close the glove box and look for 4 screws (2 pairs of 2 screws) on the bottom of the glove box near the silver bar which acts as the pivot for the door. Remove these. Then carefully reopen the glove box and it should drop down and out.
14.) Then I remove the bottom panel covering the passenger footwell. This is 5 screws: 2 are on the side and 3 are underneath the fuse box. At this point, note that the panel doesn't just come off. There are two clips holding part of the panel securely to the plastic at the bottom of the fuse box; one clip is on the left side and the other is on the right side. The clips are inside two rectangular holes. If you shine a flash light in there, you'll see how they come off. I used a flat head screw driver to push the panel back towards the engine and the clips freed themselves.
15.) Once the panel was off, you can see the back end of the passenger footwell cigarette lighter. It has two wires, green (+12v) and brown (ground). I tapped these for my power.
Re-assembly:
16.) Re-assembly is the reverse of how you took it apart. Note a couple things to watch out for during re-assembly: make sure everything fits back nicely otherwise you will hear creaks afterwards while driving. Make sure for the passenger side footwell panel, that you redo those clips and that it is snug. On the driver's side, make sure the 3 snaps are redone properly for the felt lining under the steering wheel and that the two larger clips to the left/right of these are snug. One important part I found later is there's a metal clip that holds the back end of the driver's side footwell panel. It looks like half of an ellipse, it's silver, and it's clearly visible before you took the panel off at the rear of the footwell. Make sure when you re-assemble, that this clip is exactly the way it was before disassembly. If you don't, you'll get rattles.
Took longer than I thought as I was really exploring trying various things out. I wish I had pictures but unfortunately, I did not take any. Some of the PDFs found on this message board are helpful but required the use of imagination as my car (a 2008) was different in many ways. I'd figure if I needed to do this all again, it would take about 30min or so.
Thanks to bruce_miranda, AlwynMike, and zen for the help! And also to the authors of other DIY posts on this forum.
For future reference:
Initial Notes:
- Fuse box didn't work as power seems to always be hot as the switched circuit is after the fuses.
Install Description:
- Escort 9500i radar detector installed in the upper windshield (right side of rear view mirror)
- Concealed display under ignition switch near driver's right knee
- Tapped power via passenger footwell cigarette lighter
- Only visible wiring is 2" between detector and the roof lining and about 3-4" of wiring behind concealed display
Details:
Mount plus getting to concealed display under ignition switch:
1.) Mount radar detector on windshield (where you want it)
2.) Leave yourself about 1-2" of play on the wire to make sure you can easily remove the detector if you need to
3.) Guide wire across windshield to driver's side a-pillar covering
4.) You can push the wiring into gap between windshield and roof liner
5.) At the a-pillar, you can take off the a-pillar cover but you don't need to, you can actually push the wirings between the a-pillar cover and the front windshield
6.) At the bottom of the a-pillar, there's also a gap between the a-pillar cover and the dashboard where you can hide the wiring
7.) Guide the wires along the left side of the dash and down underneath the dash (again, you can hide the wiring in gaps)
Hiding wires under the steering wheel (you can skip this if you don't mind just zip tying -- I wanted it cleaner):
8.) Remove 5 screws to remove the driver side footwell panel under the steering wheel. Note there are three snaps that hold the felt lining under the steering wheel to the panel - these just pop off. There's also two larger clips to the left and right of the three snaps and again, this pop off (pull down on the panel carefully).
9.) Lower the footwell panel and guide your wiring inside.
Concealed display:
10.) I velcro'd the concealed display underneath where the ignition switch is found -- this way I can see it while driving (a quick glance down) and no one else can --> law enforcement.
Getting wires to passenger footwell:
11.) There are two side panels (driver's side and passenger's side) on the sides of the center console. They look like long strips about 1" wide, and 18" long. These slide off. Just pull them back towards the trunk and they'll pop off (they are held on by clips).
12.) Removing these side panels should give you access to a few holes that go between the driver's side footwell and the passenger side footwell. I used these holes to route the power cable from the concealed display to the passenger side footwell. You can use a clothes hanger and duck tape the end of the cable to one end of the hanger. Then guide the hanger through and then pull through from the other side. I did this very slowly to make sure I didn't catch on anything inside the center console and do some damage.
Tapping into power:
13.) Once on the other side, I dismantled the glove box. First open the glove box and remove the pins on the door supports -- one is hydraulic and the other is just a nylon ribbon. The pins pop off using a flat bladed screwdriver to push sharp end of the pin back into the hole. Then close the glove box and look for 4 screws (2 pairs of 2 screws) on the bottom of the glove box near the silver bar which acts as the pivot for the door. Remove these. Then carefully reopen the glove box and it should drop down and out.
14.) Then I remove the bottom panel covering the passenger footwell. This is 5 screws: 2 are on the side and 3 are underneath the fuse box. At this point, note that the panel doesn't just come off. There are two clips holding part of the panel securely to the plastic at the bottom of the fuse box; one clip is on the left side and the other is on the right side. The clips are inside two rectangular holes. If you shine a flash light in there, you'll see how they come off. I used a flat head screw driver to push the panel back towards the engine and the clips freed themselves.
15.) Once the panel was off, you can see the back end of the passenger footwell cigarette lighter. It has two wires, green (+12v) and brown (ground). I tapped these for my power.
Re-assembly:
16.) Re-assembly is the reverse of how you took it apart. Note a couple things to watch out for during re-assembly: make sure everything fits back nicely otherwise you will hear creaks afterwards while driving. Make sure for the passenger side footwell panel, that you redo those clips and that it is snug. On the driver's side, make sure the 3 snaps are redone properly for the felt lining under the steering wheel and that the two larger clips to the left/right of these are snug. One important part I found later is there's a metal clip that holds the back end of the driver's side footwell panel. It looks like half of an ellipse, it's silver, and it's clearly visible before you took the panel off at the rear of the footwell. Make sure when you re-assemble, that this clip is exactly the way it was before disassembly. If you don't, you'll get rattles.
Took longer than I thought as I was really exploring trying various things out. I wish I had pictures but unfortunately, I did not take any. Some of the PDFs found on this message board are helpful but required the use of imagination as my car (a 2008) was different in many ways. I'd figure if I needed to do this all again, it would take about 30min or so.
Thanks to bruce_miranda, AlwynMike, and zen for the help! And also to the authors of other DIY posts on this forum.
11-18-2007, 01:53 PM
#20
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Originally Posted by zen' post='496029' date='Nov 18 2007, 01:35 PM
Some of the circuits i.e.flshlight, don't turn off until the car goes to sleep, apprx +/- 15 min. What about tapping the wire that goes to the outlet in the passenger footwell?