Questionsorry, i meant to mention that there is an ignition switch. but i am clueless as to which wire to tap into on it. and whether just the red or both wires? i tend to think they should go to separate places. is this wrong?
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Followup To
Question -
installed new head unit and speakers in my old boat. ran the ground all the way to the battery. but i am unsure of running the main power (red) to the battery along with the memory (yellow). i do not want to drain my battery (already done that once) if i leave it on. where is the best place to hook up the red and yellow to get maximum protection agaisnt that?
i have a blank three pole switch on my instrument panel with "earth" "supply" and "load." can i run the red wire to it ("supply" i presume)? if so, does the main ground from the battery go to the "earth"? if so, where does the ground wire from the unit go? and if i do all this, where should the yellow wire go?
thanks.
Answer -
if you directly wire both the red and yellow to the battery, there will always be power to the unit and yes your battery will drain.
you could put the red on a toggle switch but if you forget to turn it off again your battery will drain. is there a key switch like in a car that has an "on" position that you could use a trigger? Or a cig lighter that is only on when the boat is on? that would trigger the radio to be on. I guess in a boat you need to be able to use the radio while everything is off like if you fishing or something. Still I would think that you have a key that turns on the gear like the sonar fish finder thing if you have one, etc. that we could tap that red wire into.
Let me know if there are keys like in a car and if that's a viable solution like what I'm explaining and we'll work from there.
Answernope you're not clueless at all you are correct in fact, the yellow wire and black wire should go directly to the battery or source of constant, non switched power. The red one needs to be switched on and off when you want the radio to work or not work. As I was saying this can be a simple toggle switch so you can turn it on and off whenever you want, independant of the ignition key but the problem is that you will eventually forget to turn it off and come back to dead batteries.
I would use the ignition key. do you have direct, easy access to the wires in that key? they're easy to test and tap if so, if not is there something that turns on when the key is in the on and run positions like a light nearby or a cig lighter or something? If there is a cig lighter just try it with the key out and see if it works, if not try it with the key on and see if it works, if so that's easy to tap to make the cd player work that way as well.
