Powering CB

A

ARC

New member
Been reading threads on this topic for a couple hours now and rather than revive something old I thought I would start my own.

I want to wire in a manner that powers the CB when the ignition is in the ACC position rather than directly to the battery. Originally my plan was to splice into the cigarette lighter. This would be convenient as I will likely mount the radio nearby and would give me power as described above.

My concern is this May not be the best option. I know going direct to the battery will minimize interference, but I don't want me forgetting to turn of the radio killing the battery while it's parked.

I am an electrical noob so if anyone is willing to break down my options for me I would appreciate it. I plan to solder the connections and then use heat shrink. Also the radio lead has an inline fuse already.
 
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I tried to wire something into the back of the radio in my 5th gen and frankly, I wasn't able of comfortable with finding the acc power wire in that mass of connectors.

I finally bought a "fuse expander" which plugs into a fuse slot and gives you a wire to use. I used the KDSS fuse slot which has a fair amount of power available to it (and I don't even have KDSS! Though you can still use it with KDSS). It turns on and off with the ignition.

Only real downside is that you can't put the fuse bank cover back on because the fuse expander juts out about 3/8 of an inch, but just throw it in the glove box for reference.

Good thing is, it's easily reversible if you don't need it sometime in the future.

Now this'll work fine for a CB with a power output of 5 watts, but if you were to hook in a 50+ watt vhf radio, you really should go directly to the battery!
 
I wired mine to the cigarette lighter plug behind the dash. If you don't need it, use it. All you need are a couple male spade connectors, and you're done.
 
I did what many others have done, and as you have discussed, and wired off of the cigarette lighter power. I don't think there is any interference (or as I have seen, yet), and it turns off when the car is off!
 
KidVermicious said:
Go directly to the battery through a relay, and tap an ACC powersource to trigger the relay?

I have no idea if that would minimize interference the way you want.
Click to expand...

I have no idea if it would either, but it sounds fancy. I really need to better educate myself on basic electrical.

MStudt said:
I wired mine to the cigarette lighter plug behind the dash. If you don't need it, use it. All you need are a couple male spade connectors, and you're done.
Click to expand...

derpiful said:
I did what many others have done, and as you have discussed, and wired off of the cigarette lighter power. I don't think there is any interference (or as I have seen, yet), and it turns off when the car is off!
Click to expand...

Maybe I should do this first and if I have no problems call it good enough. Don't plan to use the CB that much. I do want to keep use of the cigarette plug though. I assume I can splice into it and power both.
 
ARC said:
Maybe I should do this first and if I have no problems call it good enough. Don't plan to use the CB that much. I do want to keep use of the cigarette plug though. I assume I can splice into it and power both.
Click to expand...

In that case you can use a couple quick splices and be able to retain it. I never use mine, and I already have two other 12v plugs up there.
 
MStudt said:
In that case you can use a couple quick splices and be able to retain it. I never use mine, and I already have two other 12v plugs up there.
Click to expand...

Where did you put your other plugs? I need at least one working one for charging phones etc.
 
Wire directly to the battery. Minimizes noise interference. CBs draw a minimal amount of voltage. It would take 2 weeks or more to drain a healthy battery below starting voltage
 
I think I'll try and pick up a mini fuse tap and run it off the ACC fuse. I'll tune and test. If there is an interference issue I'll rethink it.
 
In an attempt to further overcomplicate things, how would one go about having the buzzer
for the key-off-headlights-still-on also work for a direct-wired CB?
That would notify you regardless of the lights being on.
 
When I wired up my CB, I attached a spade-style connector to the black wire and stuck it under the grounding bolt behind the fuse box under/behind the dash. There are some other control modules back under there too. I then wedged the red wire in with the ACC fuse in that fuse box.

This may or not be the BEST way to do it, but it is A way and so far, it has worked for me.
 
vm_boy said:
When I wired up my CB, I attached a spade-style connector to the black wire and stuck it under the grounding bolt behind the fuse box under/behind the dash. There are some other control modules back under there too. I then wedged the red wire in with the ACC fuse in that fuse box.

This may or not be the BEST way to do it, but it is A way and so far, it has worked for me.
Click to expand...

Chase, did you ever have to tune your SWR?
 
I never tuned the CB/Antenna with the SWR. I haven't need to yet. Also, I ordered the CB mount from MStudt so I'll just wait to tune it once I get that installed. At the TTR meeting last week, one of the guys had one and was working on Brian's so I might see if I can just use that one at some point.
 
vm_boy said:
I never tuned the CB/Antenna with the SWR. I haven't need to yet. Also, I ordered the CB mount from MStudt so I'll just wait to tune it once I get that installed. At the TTR meeting last week, one of the guys had one and was working on Brian's so I might see if I can just use that one at some point.
Click to expand...

Shipped out yesterday! You can pick up a SWR meter off ebay for about $20. They're pretty nice to have around for the occasional checking.
 
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