[sbi]

When I plug the RD to the accessory socket, it turns on few seconds after the engine start and I like it.
So I hard-wired the RD to fuse #40 which is the Front Accessory Socket (where it was plugged until today). I used a fuse tap and I connected to the ground right underneath the fuse box.
But when I start the car, power is immediately delivered to the RD and it's not even stable, it's like turning on/off like 10 times in about 2 seconds and only after the engine starts it stables.
What the heck am I doing wrong? Is there a delay circuit between the fuse and the accessory socket?

 

[JIO]

I tapped into the bottom row, fourth spot from the left and used a 10 amp fuse for my Valentine 1. In your picture of the fuse box, it's the second blank spot to the right. It's a switched circuit and works fine. Your ground should be fine as it's where I also grounded to.

 

[DieselVQ]

Ah well shit, I did mine today. Didn't think there was still a need for hardwire threads but I would have done a DIY.

Looks like you're using a 20amp fuse. Does your add a circuit say anything about using 10amp fuses or less? I have an 8th gen so we have different fuse diagrams (probably) but find something that turns on with the ignition and tap into that.

 

[sbi]

I tapped into the bottom row, fourth spot from the left and used a 10 amp fuse for my Valentine 1. In your picture of the fuse box, it's the second blank spot to the right. It's a switched circuit and works fine. Your ground should be fine as it's where I also grounded to.

Thanks JIO. I'll give it a shot, although I did try an empty slot on the same row as I am now (two spots left to the one circled) and it the same thing.

Ah well shit, I did mine today. Didn't think there was still a need for hardwire threads but I would have done a DIY.

Looks like you're using a 20amp fuse. Does your add a circuit say anything about using 10amp fuses or less? I have an 8th gen so we have different fuse diagrams (probably) but find something that turns on with the ignition and tap into that.

The hardwire comes with a 2A fuse inline. So I thought it wouldn't matter which fuse I tap into, all I do is basically draw power, isn't it?

 

[econan1214]

What is it for, btw? To detect the police?

 

[centflahonda]

When I plug the RD to the accessory socket, it turns on few seconds after the engine start and I like it.
So I hard-wired the RD to fuse #40 which is the Front Accessory Socket (where it was plugged until today). I used a fuse tap and I connected to the ground right underneath the fuse box.
But when I start the car, power is immediately delivered to the RD and it's not even stable, it's like turning on/off like 10 times in about 2 seconds and only after the engine starts it stables.
What the heck am I doing wrong? Is there a delay circuit between the fuse and the accessory socket?

How about a detector that just plugs into the power adapter. I've had a detector for years with just the basic setup, no wiring. If you have a laser jammer device then that needs to be hard wired. There are plenty good detectors by Valentine, Whistler, Cobra..etc that do a fine job with the old cigarette lighter style power adapter. This is not a knock on what you are doing but just curious why all this work for a detector. Are you in a state where they are illegal? If so, would suggest to not have one.

 

[pilotbear]

I tapped into the bottom row, fourth spot from the left and used a 10 amp fuse for my Valentine 1. In your picture of the fuse box, it's the second blank spot to the right. It's a switched circuit and works fine. Your ground should be fine as it's where I also grounded to.

Ok first of all, not to try to bash the OP or yourself, but please fix your ground! You need to ground to metal, not plastic. Even if the bolt goes through to metal, you need to make sure you are grounding to the metal itself. This causes the majority of problems that we (myself and my husband) see in self-installations. Below the plastic where both of you grounded to the screw, there is a factory ground point. Remove the 10 mm bolt, put your ring terminal through it and bolt it back in.

Secondly, these radar detectors (I have an Escort) should require no more than a 2 amp fuse inline. When you use too big of a fuse you are risking the fuse not popping if the wire gets pinched/shorted.

Step 1: Fix your ground.
Step 2: Change your fuse to the appropriate size.

 

[sbi]

How about a detector that just plugs into the power adapter.

It does, but I don't want the cable hanging from the socket in front of my face. What's wrong with hard wiring it?

Ok first of all, not to try to bash the OP or yourself, but please fix your ground! You need to ground to metal, not plastic. Even if the bolt goes through to metal, you need to make sure you are grounding to the metal itself. This causes the majority of problems that we (myself and my husband) see in self-installations.

Secondly, these radar detectors (I have an Escort) should require no more than a 2 amp fuse inline. When you use too big of a fuse you are risking the fuse not popping if the wire gets pinched/shorted.

I have a 2A fuse as I mentioned above, plugging it to the fuse is just for power.

So you're saying that the ground is no good? I thought about it, but then said to myself "a ground is a ground"...but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[pilotbear]

It does, but I don't want the cable hanging from the socket in front of my face. What's wrong with hard wiring it?

I have a 2A fuse as I mentioned above, plugging it to the fuse is just for power.

So you're saying that the ground is no good? I thought about it, but then said to myself "a ground is a ground"...but maybe I'm wrong.

I agree on the cable hanging down. Pain in the butt. Hardwire is better in the long run.

A ground is not a ground. You need to ground to metal, period. Just ground to the factory grounding point which is literally right behind the screw you showed in your picture. Do this first and see if you're still having issues.

 

[drowned12]

My V1 is kinda hardwired. Went to RadioShack, bought a 12' straight phone cord and just routed it to my cig adapter. Plus, having the cig adapter power gave me a place to install my homemade mute button (I just glued it on top) where it's easily reachable.

And a "ground is a ground" I don't think is true. The ground I used for my license plate flipper is the metal bracket that holds the OBDII socket in place. Just stripped 2" worth of the wire, did a few loops around the bracket, and it's held up.

 

[lockeed]

Obvious bad ground. Re-ground and it'll work.

 

[sbi]

OK, so I used the 'other' ground - same thing. So a ground IS a ground apparently. Same exact behavior.

I tapped into the bottom row, fourth spot from the left

I also tried this slot and it's the same thing. All of them are constant on. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. How come the accessory socket comes on only after the engine is running but tapping to its fuse is not doing the same? I would really prefer to go into the fuse box and not tapping into a wire above the sun glasses holder.

Any idea?

 

[dansflhti]

I guess maybe the power to the acc connector is going through the ignition switch,or the ignition switch activates a relay and sends the power to the acc con.

 

[pilotbear]

OK, so I used the 'other' ground - same thing. So a ground IS a ground apparently. Same exact behavior.

I also tried this slot and it's the same thing. All of them are constant on. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. How come the accessory socket comes on only after the engine is running but tapping to its fuse is not doing the same? I would really prefer to go into the fuse box and not tapping into a wire above the sun glasses holder.

Any idea?

Wrong on the ground. I pointed out that you had something incorrectly done in your vehicle, and unsafe. Regardless of the issue with the radar detector, your ground was poor.

Now that the ground is fixed, the issue could be your fuse tap. It could be how your wire is connected to the fuse tap. No type of fuse tap is really that good, in general. However, the best one would be the kind that replaces the whole fuse and has spots for two. Without actually seeing the car, there could be multiple problems.

Best thing you can do is splice the accessory wire at the fuse box. Ignition is green, accessory is orange. Also, check your battery voltage.

 

[sbi]

Wrong on the ground. I pointed out that you had something incorrectly done in your vehicle, and unsafe. Regardless of the issue with the radar detector, your ground was poor.

Not sure how you conclude that the ground in my car is incorrect.

 

[pilotbear]

Not sure how you conclude that the ground in my car is incorrect.

I looked at the picture you provided--you had your RD grounded to a screw that was into plastic. Anything electrical should be properly grounded to metal. Why do you think there are designated grounding screws throughout the car?

Look, I'm not trying to cause problems, but you asked for help and I pointed out a potential issue. My husband works on vehicle electrical systems for a living. We see bad grounds all over the place and people wonder why these components don't work right.

Since you are still having problems with your RD, I gave you other things to check. You might be overloading the circuit. Perhaps you have a low battery. Perhaps you should do a wire tap instead of a fuse tap, etc.

 

[sbi]

I looked at the picture you provided--you had your RD grounded to a screw that was into plastic. Anything electrical should be properly grounded to metal. Why do you think there are designated grounding screws throughout the car?

Look, I'm not trying to cause problems, but you asked for help and I pointed out a potential issue. My husband works on vehicle electrical systems for a living. We see bad grounds all over the place and people wonder why these components don't work right.

Since you are still having problems with your RD, I gave you other things to check. You might be overloading the circuit. Perhaps you have a low battery. Perhaps you should do a wire tap instead of a fuse tap, etc.

OK, so the original grounding of the hard-wire of the RD may be wrong, but not the car grounding in general.
Still, plastic or no plastic, what difference does it make if a grounding screw goes through a plastic piece? The fact of the matter is that it did ground. Also, using the 'original' ground as you suggested did not solve the problem.
I am just curious what makes the accessory socket delay until after the engine runs. Also, others had no issue with hard wiring.
This is a brand new car, the battery is certainly not low, nothing wrong with it. Just trying to find a fuse that comes to life only with the switch and is not live constantly.

 

[sbi]

I tapped into the bottom row, fourth spot from the left and used a 10 amp fuse for my Valentine 1. In your picture of the fuse box, it's the second blank spot to the right. It's a switched circuit and works fine. Your ground should be fine as it's where I also grounded to.

JIO, you're saying it's a switched circuit. I am not familiar with the Valentine, but are is your RD on all the time and it only comes on with the switch, or when the engine is running?

 

[Gearhead82]

JIO, you're saying it's a switched circuit. I am not familiar with the Valentine, but are is your RD on all the time and it only comes on with the switch, or when the engine is running?

I'm also using that fuse position (fuse #4) to power my dash cam (see post 39 here: http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=135914&page=3 ). It's definitely a switched circuit that comes on with ignition. At least in my car it is.

 

[sbi]

I'm also using that fuse position (fuse #4) to power my dash cam (see post 39 here: http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=135914&page=3 ). It's definitely a switched circuit that comes on with ignition. At least in my car it is.

Something doesn't make sense as someone else on that same page above you also confirms that 40 is always hot. You say it is switched. I don't get it. Can to same-model Accords have different fuse behavior in the same slot?

The one I used (the one for the accessory) is not always hot, however it does become hot immediately as I push the START button to start the car and then it is on/off rapidly for about 3 seconds (very quick switching) until the engine is on, unlike the accessory socket itself, so there must be some kind of a relay between the fuse and the socket.