im trying to find a wire to power my neons in the interior without having to go to the battery. iv looked around and seen alot about find a wire in the fusebox. the inside of my fusebox has a bunch of wiring harnesses and i wouldnt even know where to begin looking. would it be worth the time to disassemble my center console to use the power from the cig lighter? im pretty much an amateur at car wiring. the only experience i have is wiring my amp and my head unit. btw i have a 2001 sedan

 

From what your saying going to the cig lighter sounds like your best option. They do sell these adapters that plug into the fuse box and allow you to attach a wire and an external fuse. I know they exist just may not be common, and I have no idea what they're called.

 

wow a fuse box adapter would be a life saver

 

Fuse Tap

 

Thank you falkore! I knew I had seen something like that before. While its not the best way, it'll be good enough.

 

It's better than those blue spade T-taps that clamp onto a wire. Best would be a main-line to the battery.

 

that fuse tap looks awesome. where do they sell em?
and i would hook it to the battery but id rather not have that and my amp hooked up to it.

I'd get them online. They only cost a few bucks. Otherwise, probably a specialty electronics store or maybe a stereo shop, but I doubt it. Why don't you want the amp and the lights hooked to the battery together? The battery side of the fuse holder would be a good place to sneak in a pretty solid connection. How big is the fuse on the neons, 1 Amp?

 

sweet! never seen those before! Now how are you supposed to figure out what amp of fuse to use? And where would you ground it?

Also, what yr is your accord? i hooked up my gauge pods to the cig. lighter.


The fuse typically protects the wire and the device would have it's own fuse. If this is not the case, the fuse is selected according to the device that is being hooked up and the wire has to be sized accordingly. If the device (like an amp) has it's own fuses, the wire should support more than the full draw of the device and should have a fuse rated above that of the device and sized for the wire. This simplifies troubleshooting when fuses blow out.

Wire Size Max Fuse Size (per NEC for 60deg.C insulation)
14ga. 20 Amps
12ga. 25 Amps
10ga. 30 Amps
8ga. 40 Amps
6ga. 55 Amps
4ga. 70 Amps
3ga. 85 Amps
2ga. 95 Amps
1ga. 110 Amps
1/0ga. 125 Amps
2/0ga. 145 Amps
3/0ga. 165 Amps
4/0ga. 195 Amps

That's enough for a 2300W-RMS system, so I think I'll stop there. Also note that these numbers are fairly conservative. These can be taken as usable amperages and the fuse can be the next size up. These are for in-wall wiring, but there really isn't any difference. Also, the ratings of the wires can be increased for higher rated insulation (ie. - 90 deg. C, 4ga. can handle 95 Amps).

 

Responses inserted into posts.

 

In wall wiring? Are those numbers from home wiring? High voltage wires are usually single core which has a slightly higher resistance than mutli core wire. Also higher voltage A/C can travel through wire with more resistance more easily, so unless those numbers are with 12DC in mind they are not 100% accurate.