wiring the power for a radio?

[Hot Hands]

hey there....

i hooked up my cobra 29 to my cigarette lighter for a quick install using 16 gauge wire. Im getting way too much alternator interference, so I want to run it directly to the battery now, and i want to know where the best place to drill through the firewall is. any suggestions? and will 16 gauge be plenty just to power the radio? i'm not powering an amp yet. i'm driving a 96 buick regal.

[watchdawg]

i dont know that car very well but i know in my install i found a gromet in the firewall that i pulled out and ran the wire through. im not sure if you have any but i would suspect you do and i would think that 16 gauge would be ok for now if you ever do run an amp you will need heavier duty wire than that

[Irondog]

For myself....other than drilling a new hole....I'd find and existing hole with a grommet already there and run it through that.


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[127]

hey there....

i hooked up my cobra 29 to my cigarette lighter for a quick install using 16 gauge wire. Im getting way too much alternator interference, so I want to run it directly to the battery now, and i want to know where the best place to drill through the firewall is. any suggestions? and will 16 gauge be plenty just to power the radio? i'm not powering an amp yet. i'm driving a 96 buick regal.

I don't think going directly to the battery will solve alternator whine or ignition noise. The alternator feeds the battery....and it feeds the fuse block...and the fuse block feeds the accessories, what's the difference?
Feeding a radio with a cigarette lighter plug is just Half A'd in my opinion.....go to the fuse panel and use a nice noise suppressor.

[Texas Mobil 219]

once you get the hot wire run to you battery. Hook you ground wire to a ground on the fram. That might stop you whin. I know it worked on my truck.

[drdx]

Just a couple of thoughts: Going to the battery can help in some cases for noise, as the battery acts like a filter, and connecting straight to it helps in that there are no "accidental antennas" in the form of wiring that is of a length to enhance reception of noise in your radio. Other factors, including power wire proximity to the source of noise may have an effect as well. Often, it is hard to avoid proximity issues, but avoiding running radio power wires parallel to other wires in the vehicle can help. The same goes for antenna coax routing. Keep the crossing points as perpendicular as possible for minimal interaction. In addition, good grounding practice including grounding the radio case to ground via thick ground braid and making sure the antenna is well grounded can help as well. -drdx

[127]

Just a couple of thoughts: Going to the battery can help in some cases for noise, as the battery acts like a filter, and connecting straight to it helps in that there are no "accidental antennas" in the form of wiring that is of a length to enhance reception of noise in your radio. Other factors, including power wire proximity to the source of noise may have an effect as well. Often, it is hard to avoid proximity issues, but avoiding running radio power wires parallel to other wires in the vehicle can help. The same goes for antenna coax routing. Keep the crossing points as perpendicular as possible for minimal interaction. In addition, good grounding practice including grounding the radio case to ground via thick ground braid and making sure the antenna is well grounded can help as well. -drdx

I never thought of the power wires receiving interference in long runs. Might be a good idea to use coax or shielded wire runs for the radio.

[drdx]

If you have a nasty source of a signal, all it needs is a crude antenna and it is instant hash. Wiring harnesses, exhaust systems, the list is endless if it is remotely the right length.

You can take a small motor, electric or spark, and connect a 1/4 wave wire to it and hash up a sizable area. I did it once to a local base- a battery, a bucket, a small brush motor, and a small loaded hand wound antenna- static city, and no "deadkey" blaming, ran all night. Now that's some quality entertainment.

-drdx

['Doc]

And one more suggestion. Trash that #16 wire for something larger. If it's a short 'run' a 16 is probably adequate, but, this is one instance where bigger is better to some ridiculous degree. It's always better to have a power line that's too big rather than too small. There are limits to that, naturally! It won't control how much power the radio/whatever will require, but it certainly does control being able to deliver the required power. Sort of just depends on if you wanna do it now, or do it later.
Things acting as an antenna. Long power line runs have a way of doing that more often as not. Keeping those type of 'runs' to a minimum is a pretty good idea. So is 'filtering' them, not to mention fusing them. For larger power lines, fusing at both ends is nice too. Wished a time or two that someone had reminded me of that...
- 'Doc