amp remote wire
Rookie
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 45
Likes: 2
From: Planet Earth
The remote wire should be any wire that gives 0 volt when the car keys are out and 12 volts when the key is at ACC or ON. You need a voltmeter to check that. Its one of the wires going into the factory stereo. Search for diagrams/colors online for your specific model. In my lexus 2002 es300 its grey on the sub-woofer amp in the back.
Voltmeter costs $3 from Harbor Freight. Turn the **** to "2000 Volts", put the black probe to the body and go around touching the red probe to all the wires coming in to the stereo and see which one goes +12V when the key is at ACC. Careful, dont accidently shortcircuit. Switching probes wont matter, just a -ve reading.
Voltmeter costs $3 from Harbor Freight. Turn the **** to "2000 Volts", put the black probe to the body and go around touching the red probe to all the wires coming in to the stereo and see which one goes +12V when the key is at ACC. Careful, dont accidently shortcircuit. Switching probes wont matter, just a -ve reading.
Last edited by alan311; Feb 21, 2010 at 09:43 AM.
Zombie Slayer
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,053
Likes: 3
From: East Bumble F, NJ
The remote wire should be any wire that gives 0 volt when the car keys are out and 12 volts when the key is at ACC or ON. You need a voltmeter to check that. Its one of the wires going into the factory stereo. Search for diagrams/colors online for your specific model. In my lexus 2002 es300 its grey on the sub-woofer amp in the back.
Voltmeter costs $3 from Harbor Freight. Turn the **** to "2000 Volts", put the black probe to the body and go around touching the red probe to all the wires coming in to the stereo and see which one goes +12V when the key is at ACC. Careful, dont accidently shortcircuit. Switching probes wont matter, just a -ve reading.
Voltmeter costs $3 from Harbor Freight. Turn the **** to "2000 Volts", put the black probe to the body and go around touching the red probe to all the wires coming in to the stereo and see which one goes +12V when the key is at ACC. Careful, dont accidently shortcircuit. Switching probes wont matter, just a -ve reading.
Best I could find is for a 2005 GS300. White/Blue at the harness. Also make sure you dont use the power antenna wire.
★ I
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
or what i did is i took the end of my phone charger cut the end off the connected the remote wire to that so whenever i start my car the it turns on when it is started or when in acc, and yes i know pretty ghetto lol but hey it works
Lead Lap
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 749
Likes: 1
From: PA
[QUOTE=mkorsu;5262657] Partially correct. The lead should only show voltage when the key position is in ACC or RUN AND the radio is turned on. Using a lead that shows voltage in ACC or RUN without the radio on will power up the amps when not needed. [QUOTE]
It WILL power up the amps with the radio off. The ACC wire is an constant 12v when the car is in ON or ACC. Whether the radio is on or not doesn't make a difference. There is no wire that will get power when the radio is on unless its an aftermarket headunit and it's labeled "AMP Control."
OP. Best bet is to get a small piece of wire and put it into the holes on the harness. Connect the other end of the wire (small enough to fit in the hole on the harness) to (ex. alligator clips) and put the end of the clips on the Red probe. Place the black probe on BARE metal.
This is the easiest way I can think of without having a print out of the colors.
It WILL power up the amps with the radio off. The ACC wire is an constant 12v when the car is in ON or ACC. Whether the radio is on or not doesn't make a difference. There is no wire that will get power when the radio is on unless its an aftermarket headunit and it's labeled "AMP Control."
OP. Best bet is to get a small piece of wire and put it into the holes on the harness. Connect the other end of the wire (small enough to fit in the hole on the harness) to (ex. alligator clips) and put the end of the clips on the Red probe. Place the black probe on BARE metal.
This is the easiest way I can think of without having a print out of the colors.
Last edited by mtparker18; Feb 28, 2010 at 01:38 PM.
It WILL power up the amps with the radio off. The ACC wire is an constant 12v when the car is in ON or ACC. Whether the radio is on or not doesn't make a difference. There is no wire that will get power when the radio is on unless its an aftermarket headunit and it's labeled "AMP Control."
OP. Best bet is to get a small piece of wire and put it into the holes on the harness. Connect the other end of the wire (small enough to fit in the hole on the harness) to (ex. alligator clips) and put the end of the clips on the Red probe. Place the black probe on BARE metal.
This is the easiest way I can think of without having a print out of the colors.
OP. Best bet is to get a small piece of wire and put it into the holes on the harness. Connect the other end of the wire (small enough to fit in the hole on the harness) to (ex. alligator clips) and put the end of the clips on the Red probe. Place the black probe on BARE metal.
This is the easiest way I can think of without having a print out of the colors.
Big Mack
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Lead Lap
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 749
Likes: 1
From: PA
Since the cigarette lighter doesn't come on until the car does, that would be your best bet, so kind of a hybrid of what Sheehan and Korsu said. I would tap into this, use it to trigger a relay that has a +12V supply on it. You can run that supply directly from your power distribution near your amp, but since the trigger comes from the car, it won't turn everything on until the car starts (or is in the "on" position). Be sure to fuse between where you tap the cig lighter and the relay. No sense putting all that work in and skipping the safety.
Big Mack
Big Mack
But that works too.
Zombie Slayer
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 6,053
Likes: 3
From: East Bumble F, NJ
It will work, but I would not advise it as the best way. If you do choose to use the cig lighter, then you will need to use that lead to run a relay. Without the relay you may keep blowing the cig lighter fuse and/or the cig lighter circuit may not have the amperage needed to power up the amps.
★ I
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
I dont have any inline fuses on the cigg lighter all i did was tap into it by connecting my cell phone charger to it and it works perfectly i really dont think you have to worry about it if you need pic i will post them here
Thread Starter
Lead Lap
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 718
Likes: 4
From: canada
An amplifier wire should not need a lot of power as i understood and Sheehan, i would like some pictures, it always help, email me at nguyen_pharm@hotmail.com
thank you.
thank you.
In the interest of safety - you should fuse it and use a relay to trigger the amps. Granted, you may never trip the fuse that is in the car for the cigarette lighter, but you have to think about safety of the wire. Power safety is all about redundancy, guys. As for the relay, it's not completely necessary for one amp, but if you decide to add more, it's nice to know you can do it safely and without a whole lot of additional effort. 
It's kind of like running 4 ga for a small 4 channel amp with the idea that you may add a sub amp later. Why run wires twice and tear the car apart again, right?
Big Mack
It's kind of like running 4 ga for a small 4 channel amp with the idea that you may add a sub amp later. Why run wires twice and tear the car apart again, right?Big Mack
