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Old 02-24-2008, 03:44 PM   #1
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I want to install a elderly but excellent Alpine car stereo head unit in the trailer. I'm wondering if there are any wiring concerns I should be aware of before I go cutting holes in things. Specifically, wiring the radio into the trailer wiring. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

Thanks.


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Old 02-24-2008, 04:29 PM   #2
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I want to install a elderly but excellent Alpine car stereo head unit in the trailer. I'm wondering if there are any wiring concerns I should be aware of before I go cutting holes in things. Specifically, wiring the radio into the trailer wiring. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

Thanks.
If it has a station memory you need to put in a switch so the radio won't draw the battery down.
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Old 02-24-2008, 04:35 PM   #3
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I want to install a elderly but excellent Alpine car stereo head unit in the trailer. I'm wondering if there are any wiring concerns I should be aware of before I go cutting holes in things. Specifically, wiring the radio into the trailer wiring. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

Thanks.
Not knowing your particular trailers electrical circut, I can't be specific, however, assuming your Alpine is needing 12 Volts DC, you should hook up your radio at your 12Volt DC source,(your battery, or at your inverter if you have one) & not splice it into any existing 12 volt wiring. You should also have a in-line fuse on your positive (usually Red) wire. Your negative, (usually Black), wire should hook up on your negative terminal of your battery or inverter.

You should go direct to your power source, making a separate dedicated circuit, due to electrical current requirements your radio may have that may be more than what your existing 12 volt DC wiring in your trailer may be rated for. You risk burning up your trailers wiring otherwise. A separate circut would keep your radio from being damaged by current draws from other items, not the case if it was on a common circuit. If you radio has problems, only the radio would be effected. You know how when one bulb burns out, all the bulbs go out on a string of christmas lights? It's kinda like that.

Ground your radio at your negative power source, the negative battery terminal, or the negative terminal of your inverter. This again gives you the best current path with the least impediance. It also keeps you from getting spurious noise in your radio which can uccur if you hook up to a common ground point other than at your power source.

Good Luck
ConwayBob

PS, If that is just too much, and you have ready access to 120v AC, get a 12 amp DC power supply (a $25-$35 item) and plug it in. It'll give you all the 12v DC power you need. Just hook your radio up to the pos & neg terminals of the powersupply and you'll be ROCKIN'
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Old 02-24-2008, 04:51 PM   #4
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Wow. Everything I hoped for and more, Bob. And a good point I hadn't considered about the battery drawing down.

Thanks both!
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Old 02-24-2008, 05:15 PM   #5
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Wow. Everything I hoped for and more, Bob. And a good point I hadn't considered about the battery drawing down.

Thanks both!
Dave,
Generally the amount of current draw to maintain memory is so small it's not a concern. Bob's right about running wire back to the common connection points or to the battery.

If you can wait until the NOG I can check out the radio for current draw both on and off. Then we can talk about how wire it.

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Old 02-24-2008, 05:22 PM   #6
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Dave,
Generally the amount of current draw to maintain memory is so small it's not a concern. ...
The cheaper of the battery solar chargers might be enough to compensate for this drawdown. About all they are worth from what I've read.

Im not positive but I think I've seen somewhere a product that you can put inline to the battery electrical circuit that keeps the memory for the radio set even when hard line disconnected from the battery. Its a 9v battery gizmo I think.
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Old 02-24-2008, 05:35 PM   #7
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Being a sort of fundamentalist on some of this stuf, I would be taking battery and ground wires all the way to wherever your fuse block is (likely inside the converter). I would also check the converter info to see if any of the fuse positions are filtered (some were on the Magnatek I had on my '91 Scamp). This would help keep the converter hum and fan noises from various appliances out of the radio's power line. Newer converters are likely to be electrically quiet, but the older converters are questionable.
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