Quote:
Originally Posted by Viva
That sounds slick. Is the "always on" wire that powers the presets/memory and etc. on the start battery? Or?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JWA
Most automotive-type radios have two power connections, one switched and one constant to the head unit which keeps memory and pre-sets alive.
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Hi JWA,
It's the constant one I was asking about. I was wondering if BoyWonder moved that one to the house bank as well. I had the SMB "radio switch" in my '97 SMB, and it would drain the start battery if used a lot while camping. I guess from the constant on wire (?).
Now in my current rig I have sort of the "opposite" situation: A complete second stereo head unit was put in the "house" of the rig. Still, one of the power wires went to the start bank. I moved them both to the house bank, however, it's time to buy a new one and I'm really questioning the need for two separate stereos five feet away from each other. So thinking about going back to a more SMB style with just the dash radio, but powering it entirely from the house. I typically have plenty of house power for that, and if I lose presets when I (very rarely) turn off the house bank altogether, that's fine. Since I travel a fair bit, they are not typically set anyway. I usually have the house bank "on" when driving, so the dash radio would still function.
The downside is having to stoop into the cab to use the radio when parked, but it would likely have a remote, and too, with Bluetooth maybe I'd be controlling it with the phone somewhat.
Still, BoyWonder's setup is intriguing, and I'm still at the stage of planning/pondering, so I was thinking about if I'd want to set mine up that way vs. just purely house power. I just don't want it to be like my SMB radio that would drain the start battery when camping (on either setting). Maybe that was just messed up.[/quote]
Scalf: Thanks for the ideas on switching. I think my SMB originally had the same ~60' of wire, as I believe the radio switch was near the aft end of the couch. However the PO had moved it to right behind the driver's seat, so he could reach it from there. So I'm not positive he re-wired it same as SMB did, although probably. The PO's put the fear of God in me about even using the darned thing, so I rarely used the radio at all. However my buddy who bought it from me found that over a couple of days of camping and radio use, it would drain the start battery. We measured and yep, amp draw.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalf77
There are two other inputs from the Ford fuse panel; one unused and the other is for illumination.
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I was just looking at this last night, because a friend put a head unit in the house section of his large RV. But it illuminates without that wire being connected. We were surmising that the purpose of it is to dim the display along with the dash lights if you have it hooked up (in a cab where you want that feature)?