Alright so as of right now I dont have any accessories in my car aside from my radar detector... soon though Ill be putting in a new stereo system with amps/subs etc. I was looking into this to make the wiring a little easier, what do you guys think about stuff like this?

http://www.americanmuscle.com/power-pack-6-pdu.html

I also want to know if that thing would be suitable for me to plug in my radar detector. Right now, I have it on a "spare" (a blank) fuse slot in the passenger kick panel fuse box. The slot that it is on allows my detector to turn on and off as the car does... I guess what Im asking is.... the accessories that I run through that Power Pack up there... will those always be on, or will they turn off when the car does as well?

 

So nobody has anything that can help out?[&:]

 

Bump.. No one with electrical knowledge?

 

It didn't look too bad, until I saw the price. It's solid gold, right? To turn off when the key is off, you have to wire it into the ignition side, not straight to the battery.

Personally I'd do it myself and forget this thing but I do electrical work for a living. You'll probably still be running as much wire with or without this.

 

The web page at that link you gave says, "The Power Pack 6 allows you to select individual circuits to be either manually switched on and off, or powered on and off with your Mustang's ignition" so the answer is that they will be always on or turn off when the car does depending on how you wire them.

 

My mistake lol, I didnt even see that part until you mentioned it and I went back and re-read it.

And yeah dirtydeeds, I figured that was kind of expensive but it just seems alot better than trying to tap into power wires and splicing everything. I intend to do guages once I go FI, Ill have a full audio system, nitrous (maybe), my radar detector, possibly some other lighting for under-hood/trunk or whatever, and probably a few other things that I cant think of atm... I just thought it would be easier to wire them all to something like that rather than trying to find empty fuse spots and/or splice into power wires for the radio or what have you.... Another thing I was thinking of, was getting a spare battery, and making a custom compartment for it in the trunk, and getting one of these power pack things and running all my accessories and audio off that.... would that work?

 

I wouldn't spend the money on it as dirtydeedsinc stated above....you still will need a lot of wiring and everything on its own may introduce less interference than when put to a common unit. JMO

 

How would you reccommend doing it then? (BTW, thats not sarcastic, thats a genuine question. [8D]) Theres a few things I am no good at, one of them is electrical stuff.... I can find my way around, but thats about it. When it comes to wiring stuff I generally leave it to the professionals but I am wanting to learn.

Would you suggest wiring everything to the battery with a seperate power wire for each thing, or by trying to do it through the fuse box? I refuse to do the whole wire splicing deal, because Ive seen too many "ghetto rigged" wiring jobs burn vehicles down, so its either through the fuse box or the battery... but even then, Ive seen some nasty looking setups with wires hanging all over the battery and stuff... and eventually this car will turn into a garage queen/show car... so the engine bay will need to look as clean and simple as possible. I wouldnt mind spending the extra money for this thing if its going to keep things simpler and more aesthetic, Ive just never had any experience with car electrical setup before... so thats why Im asking!

 

You can run low current items into the fuse box. Really no need to run extra power wires to the battery for that. Or you can tap into a hidden power wire. When I had my F-150 I had my radar detecter spliced into the dome light. Very little of the wire showed and it turned on and off with the car. Just remember to add an inlile fuse to it to protect your electrical system just in case.

For things like your audio system, I would suggest running power wire directly to the battery. You may or may not have a capacitor. Thats your choice and really depends on how big of a system you get. Whenever you introduce electrical circuits into your audio system it may cause intereference. Again, depending on your goals for your audio system that may or may not matter to you.

A second battery is an option that some audio enthusiats use. Just remember that when you add a second battery that you need to recharge that battery as well as the battery used to start your car.

 

First, forget an extra battery. To keep it charged you'll have to run more wire and may need a bigger alternator to charge 2 at the same time. This unit you're looking at may do a cleaner job, but that depends on where you hide it. You might be able to find something better/cheaper at a car audio store. The wiring you're looking at doing is actually really simple. You need a fused hot (+12VDC) wire on one side and ground on the other. You could also probably find a fuse box at a junkyard and make it look factory. With the junkyard part you could also get a cover to go on it depending on what you rob it out of. For what you're wanting to power, I'd recommend coming off the battery to a relay powered by the ignition switch when it's on. This all sounds harder than it actually is.