So I am trying to hardwire my V1 using the add-a-fuse method. I have used this before with other vehicles, but it's been a minute since I last did one.

I got the add-a-fuse, using 3amp for V1 and a 5 amp slot in the car (the one at the bottom of the fuse box, as reccomended by others, forget the exact slot.

I soldered the wires together (V1 kit and add-a-fuse kit come with different connectors) and nothing happens. No power. Checked the fuses and they are fine. Tried other spots and still nothing works. Key is in ignition and turned, unit is on. fuses are good....

I have 2 of everything (2 V1's, 2 add-a-fuse kits) and have tried swapping everything out.

Any ideas? I don't want to wire to the clock and I'm hoping that I am just missing something obvious....

 

Did you connect a ground wire?

 

yes

 

A volt meter or test light works wonders. The top of the fuses have a metal tab that allows you to check for voltage. This would be a great place to start. Never assume that it has voltage until you check it.

Stan

 

Are you tapping fuse 36?
See also:
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/fusetap.html
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/v1.html

 

i would check the ground again.

perhaps you need to flip the wires around. between my 7500 and
V1, i think the wires were flipped.

 

success! It was the ground (i think). I rechecked everything and this time it worked. it was like that scene in X-mas vacation....thanks to alll

 

Glad to see everything worked out for you.

On a side note, where can one buy an add-a-circuit ? I leave for a trip on wednesday and would love to hardwire my radar detector before I leave.

 

I picked one up At Advance Auto (but you buy separate fueses there, still cheaper than the one I picked up at wal mart a while back) and wired it up on my lunch break last week (hey I really wanted the power socket back lol) best part is I still had time to get and eat a sandwhich

 

honestly you dont even really need that tap. what i did was soldered
a 3A fuse in series (these fuses never blow anyway unless you dip the
cord in water or something), placed the wire into the female fuse holder
and pushed the fuse into the socket over the wire.

 

More adverse effects of sniffing hydro...now you're recommending people dip live wires into water!?!

 

or you can be like octaneguy and lick the bare wires and see wat happens.

 

lolol yeah I know I could do what you did kenchan but for the price, I figured I'd just do it the right way lol. But I've been to a couple places n haven't found anything, so I may just splice in an in-line fuse and do what you did and be done with it. Having the socket there to use will be worth it...

 

Wake/MCS
Sorry it took so long to find this
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/fusetap.html
I recently found this item at NAPA. It was about twice the price there and was a little different in that it had to be inserted only one way to get the polarity correct. Mine only worked with the fuse's pointing down so I could not use position #36.
Steve

 

Thanks for the response. Has anyone used one of the 2 empty slots for this?

Also, I think I'm just going to rig it like kenchan did. Seems to be too expensive at local stores to be worth it and I leave on Wednesday so it won't get shipped on time. Don't want to be dealing with anything related to the car once I get back from my vacation lol...

P.S: Anyone tap into the clock for power? I'm kinda wanting to put the detector up there so its out of site and just hardwire it via the clock. Any ideas?

 

im not worried about the price and i have add a circuit in my parts box
all the time. imho, it's not even worth using it. the consumption is so
small.


random thought:
im running a V1 in my G but a 7500 on my MCS... damn these 7500/8500's
are frikken annoying cause they beep but doesn't tell me where the signal
is coming from. :impatient

i think it might be time i retire this one to my civic and get another V1.

 

When I add the add-a-circuit, do I splice the V1 hardwire kit before or after its inline fuse?

 

If you use the add-a-circuit, you don't need the inline fuse that comes with the V1 hardwire kit, since the power wire for your V1 will be fused right at the power source (which is the best place for the fuse). Just be sure that the fuse that you install in the add-a-circuit to power the V1 is rated low enough that the fuse will blow before the wire burns (a 1-amp fuse is all you need to supply the V1 anyway).

There's only eight inches of wire between the V1's hardwire adaptor and its inline fuse, though, so if you need more length than that, you can keep the inline fuse (or just cut out the inline fuse altogether and connect the cut ends together with a butt connector).

 

Thanks for the link JW, success is mine!