Killing Accessory Power

[jcartaya94]

I have a 2006 Malibu LT 3.5L, and noticed that the cigarette plug do not lose power after the key was removed. I decided to add on something like this

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Way-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Splitter/dp/B0018NB3OK

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Way-Cigarette-Lighter-Socket-Splitter/dp/B0018NB3OK

and tap into the sunroof ( http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Cooper-Bussmann-ATC-fuse-tap/_/N-25gq?itemIdentifier=32414_0_0_ ) to have switched power to it so I could run things like my GPS and radar detector (coming soon) off of. The problem I'm having is that since the fuse tap doesn't have a ground, wherever I attach the ground wire gives me constant power. Any ideas how to fix this?

[jcartaya94]

Nevermind, after looking for another couple of hours I was able to tap into the EPS fuse and get the power I needed.

[DrivenDaily]

EPS=electronic power steering. If your new circuit blows that you'll be in a world of hurt!

[nutcrunch]

Light a smoke and lose your steering... smoke em if ya got em!

[Dilatory]

Yeeeah.. that sounds like a really bad plan.. I would sincerely suggest running a relay from under the hood or adding a fused connection in the cabin..

[SeaRay245se]

Yea i don't think that would be the one i would pick to tap into.

[jcartaya94]

Doesn't the Add-A-Circuit split that power source into 2 circuits that function individually?

Note I won't be running anything high amperage, just GPS and radar detector.

[DrivenDaily]

Originally Posted by jcartaya94

Doesn't the Add-A-Circuit split that power source into 2 circuits that function individually?

Note I won't be running anything high amperage, just GPS and radar detector.

Depends on how you insert it. The leg of the AAC without the wire goes to both fuses and should be the power supply. The leg with the wire is the split: the lower circuit is what you plug the stock fuse into, the top one has the wire and is what you hook up to your new accessory or circuit.

If you hook it up in reverse the new circuit will have to travel through both fuses. So long as the new one is lower than the stock fuse then the stock fuse probably won't blow, but it could under unusual circumstances.

In either case, the power supply wire to the stock fuse has to be able to carry the power for both circuits safely.

One thing you can do to ensure you have no issues is to use the stock power only as a trigger for a relay, then hook the relay up to the battery using an appropriate fuse. The benefit is that the circuit will be switched by the relay and not the stock system, and the stock power supply wire won't have to carry anything more than a small extra amount that any circuit can handle.

[jcartaya94]

Driven, that is a great idea, I have a spare N.O. relay lying around that would be perfect.

Thank You