Installing A Stereo

[drivebymaster]

I am installing a kenwood head unit and alpine speakers...What I need to know is where do I draw power from....

[SOUTHBAYeric]

There is a purple wire that says acc on it that you can use for the switched power source and you can run a wire from the ignition for the other power source

[JayKehoe]

ya, I used the ignition wire to power an auxilliary, and found that too much juice was flowing to the aux( no relay). Although your head unit has its own fuse, better to establish a switched power source from the fuse box area than from a dedicated line to the ignition. Just my experience. You can buy a block from Painless that has both switched and unswithed terminals that are all fused and that is weather proof. I have had to deal with 20 years of cannibalized wiring underdash, by POs, that always created problems. Your blue wire is probably a low voltage unswitched power source so that your unit maintains settings. I would tap into a switched circuit closer to the fuse box( 12 volt system). But, you can always crimp into any switched power wire and be hot in about 30 seconds. Good luck.

[drivebymaster]

ok...so as I understand...use the purple ignition wire to power the puppy and use the blue to maintain the HU's settings...

The problem is with my car is that for some reason the battery becomes extremely low and its not the alternator...its pumping out 13Volts...there has to be a short somewhere...

But I plan to put a built in battery charger in my car because I just feel it would be a nice addition so just in case...

ok back to the topic..

A schematic would be nice...I have a wiring diagram that is colored and everything...I'm not a master electrician but could you make list of what I need...with part names cuz I will have to make a stop by Ace Hardware and Autozone, ect.....

[esty]

a $2 continuity tester and a few minutes with elbows on the carpet would work wonders

[drivebymaster]

haha well I am just making sure before I start to work my 'magic' with electrical equipment...DC current is nothing new to me...I work on computers all the time modding them...

but I am just affraid I am going to fry my HU 0_0