Rep Power: 308

Okay,

I currently have the power wire for my aftermarket alarm hooked directly to the positive power terminal of my battery.

I would like to hook it more neatly into the fuse box, but not sure exactly where it should go or how to get it done.

No, I'm not an complete Idiot, just a electric/audio/video/anything with out moving parts/ Idiot

Thanks

PS A DIY with PICS would be spiffy.

 
Rep Power: 786

Get your hands on a test light or multimeter (multimeter is better as you can check for voltage level) and check for a constant 12v source (anything that has 12v when the key is out of the ignition. Simply tap your wire into that wire.

An easy wire to use is the power wire for the power mirrors which can be easily accessed by removing the cruise/sunroof/power mirror/change compartment panel on the far left of your dash.

 
Rep Power: 312

wait.. does that mean our mirrors work when the cars not on?

unlike 4jacks i am a complete idiot.. but im big so its ok..

 
Rep Power: 308

Would this be the flip down do-hicky everyone puts change in ??

 
Rep Power: 786

yes.

 
Rep Power: 0

actually sir, directly to the battery is the PROPER way to do so

 
Rep Power: 308

ReAlLy ? Why so ?

Cuase now my Battery Terminal Cover won't really close.

now that I think about it I think I remember reading something in the directions about how it SHOULD go directly to the battery. Anti theft reasons I think. But is there a NEATER way .. maybe the main fuse ?

 
Rep Power: 310

There is no reason why you cannot "cleanly" connect it to the battery and simply trim the cover to fit around the new wire. If you don't understand I'll take a pic of my battery tomorrow.

 
Rep Power: 328

The white wires in the main fuse box under the hood are your power wires. Direct to the battery IS the correct way however.

 
Rep Power: 308

I understand, but I don't see me pulling it off "CLEANLY", It'll probably look like it does not with a hacked out portion.

I'd like to see yours though, maybe I'll be inspired.

 
Rep Power: 308

I'll look for them.

Why is direct to the battery better ?

 
Rep Power: 312

harder to bypass it that way.. if its connected to other stuff you can do it just like they bypass alarms on windows in bad nerdy action movies..

 
Rep Power: 308

Couldn't they just pop the hood and cut the wire connected to the battery terminal ?

 
Rep Power: 328

A good alarm install would make use of a backup battery that is hidden; in addition to the main battery in your engine bay. It should be noted that if they cut the main battery cable, the fuse box will lose power.

 
Rep Power: 308

Well the crook wouldn't cut the Main battery cable, but if a car has an alarm and you pop the hood it would be pretty easy to spot a wire or group of wires coming off the battery terminal and chop those. It would not be that easy to find the wire if it were off the fuse box. I've seen that Best Buy and Circuit City offer the Hidden small battery Option, but being that it is an Option, I would guess 75% of there sales go without it. What about the Factory Anti-theft alarms ? Do they have a back up battery.

This still leaves the question of why is the power wire suppose to go directly to the battery, instead of the fuse box, I don't want to re-route it, if I'm bypassing something important.

 
Rep Power: 310

A thief after your radio or whatever will sometimes cut every wire coming from the positive terminal of the batter just to make sure. This is why you should definitely have a trigger on your hood to at least set the alram off if the hood is opened. Some good alarms actually are designed to have dual power sources and can trigger the siren to go off if one of the sources is breached. IE a battery behind the dash and the brain senses power is cut from the car's main battery the alarm goes off. ITs nice to have an interior siren hooked up to that extra battery so that a thief doesn't have an easy time entering your vehicle to find that extra battery. One theory behind directly wiring to the batter is basicaly just that a theif knows there are two potential power sources to a good number of alarms today and might not take the extra time to open the hood, then find the interior source. Also, if you've got your power sourced to your batter and a thief is trying to steal your actual car, he or she is not going to cut any wires running to your batter terminal unless the wire can be easily identified. Otherwise, the car might not start. If your gonna bother with alarms, go all out. Get interior sirens, switches on doors, trunk, hood and get glass break sensors, 2 battery sources and 2 way capability is nice as well.

 
Rep Power: 308

Again, I'm probably showing my lack of electrical knowledge here, but any wires hooked directly to the positive terminal of the battery HAS to be aftermarket, right? Honda doesn't build em that way. So If i was a theft, I would hack em all (except the big red main one of course) The only things I could think of that would be hooked up that way are aftermarket alarms, stereo's, maybe neon lighting, things of that nature. You would have to install a kill switch for the car not to start. That's not a common practice is it? How many people have kill switches ??

Also I disagree about going all out if your going to get an alarm. If you have a $40,000 car, then yes, if you have $10,000 worth of mods, then use. If you are driving a Stock Honda Civic, I think most people will feel comfortable with a standard system.

Truthfully, I disconnected the shock sensor and only use my alarm for an electric door lock opener =)

 
Rep Power: 786

I just made a slit in the cover for my 4 awg wire and pushed it down over my ring terminal. Looks excellent.

 
Rep Power: 308

That does look nice all loomed up and stuff ... Hmmmmmm...

 
Rep Power: 310

Tell PG to send you a blue decal to match the rest of the loom.