if you plan on running numerous accessories, you can create an independent circuit from the battery that still turns on with your stock 12v switched accessories.

 

details?

 

get yourself some red and black wire, fuse holder, appropriate fuse, a relay.

Bring the power into the cabin from the battery. Decide where to mount the fuse and relay then wire up your relay and accessories.

this is very general. you're going to have to research and figure out how you want to approach this on your own. You always have the option of splicing into your factory wiring system

 

I spliced the from the power wire from the radio wiring harness

 

^ the last guy who owned my car did that, and now my radio dim when bass hits or the volume is loud....

 

Thats from the speakers drawing more power then your H/U can give out, not cause of the gauge, if it is, then that means the gauge would dim also, Am I wrong?

 

I heard the best 12v source is one of the main ECU power wires which theres like 4,but i dunno if you want to mess with your main wiring or not. If your good at wiring and can solder,i'd go for it.

 

TwoFortySX has a good option as well though.

 

Fuckin right it is! I hate chasing electrical problems down in a car so I leave the damn stock wiring alone as much as i can!

 

any 12v accessory with a light load is to be tapped into, however just tapping into a wire is a no-no.

So find a 12v wires such as the A/C or radio, tap into it. This hot wire should run to the coil side of the relay. On the other side of the coil on the relay, ground it to the chassis. Then run the 12v wire to one side of the gate on the relay. On the other side of the gate have the 12v accessory you want to run.

All this does is has a small current control a larger current, much safer

 

I dont know exactly how my gauges are hooked up in mine because I didnt do the wiring, but here is how I usually like to hook up the wiring for optional accessory's. I take a 10 or so gauge wire from the battery and run it the length of the car. I take a smaller wire and tap into the acc wire in the ingition and run it the length of the wire. Any time I need to add something I get a $3 relay from the parts store and hook it up using the battery to power the device and the acc wire lets it get power only when the key is in. Now you can control things from the dash weather they are in the back seat, trunk, or on the dash.

I did this for my offroad lights and my on board air compressor in my pathfinder. I ran a individual wire from the acc to a switch and then hid the relay under the dash for it but you get my idea.

This will help you get most of your wiring out of the way for any future ideas you get like water injection or n2 or co2 sprayers or anything.

Hope I could help some.

 

for the bass hitting and lights dimming, thats not the cause of of tapping the wire, its either you need a new alt/higher powered alt, and/or you do not have a capacitor.

anyways, back on topic, i always like the cigarette lighter as a good 12v source, with the ground where you bolt the heavy duty shifter boot to the chassis. never had a problem with it, and the cig lighter is rated at a high amperage. But, honestly, TwoFortySX's way is the right/best way to do it.

 

so hooking up like 5 different things to the same power source should be ok?

 

It might be, however I like to draw from the battery and have relays supply the power from the battery when the cig lighter or the acc. has power.

 

gauges draw very little current so yes its fine.
My gauges had switched power from the ON wire in the ignition and switched power from the headlight switch for the gauge backing lights.
If you have mech gauges you only need the headlight wire. I put mine in after the dimmer switch so the gauges dimmed with the internal accessory and dash lights.

 

I dont know if you need a relay...as its more for using a small current to control a large current, such as starter, fans, fuel pump ect. However I found the best place to pull power from on most cars (havent messed with 240s on this area) is there should be a empty 12V source in the fuse block, just tap in there.

 

i'm sry but I read the title only and the first thing that poped into my head was "the battery" I thought about posting only that but it sounded too assholish so i didn't.

in all seriousness I would just play it safe and run a new wire from the battery with a fuse and run it off of that. If anyother system in the car has a problem with that then it is time to upgrade your battery and alternator.

 

if you do that then your gauges will be on all the time and your battery will go flat. So you need to put a switch in. But your car already has many switches, why reinvent the wheel?