Hardwiring Problem

Hey guys, trying to install my x50 for the first time. I've got it mounted high on my windshield, near the rearview. I've also managed to snake and secure regular (2 line) phone wire from the top of the windshield, down the A pillar and to my fusebox. I've got my wires cut with the green being grounded and the red going into my cig lighter fuse. With this config the radar detector is not turning on, am I using the right wires? When I plug it directly into the cig lighter it runs fine... What am I doing wrong here?

The polarity is swapped on the X50 end of the cord. Look at the original cord that came with the X50 and note the position of the wires. They need to be the same. If they're reversed in the RJ11 plug, (they will be) just reverse the way that they hook up to power (green hot and red ground.)

I hope it didn't fry it...???

I would think that there would be some protection against that. Hope so, for his sake.

I tried swapping the cords and I've used two different phone lines so far, the unit is not getting power from them... However when I plug it into the cig lighter it works fine. =( I'm using a fuse tap on the cig lighter fuse. Hmm, out of ideas here...

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Originally Posted by CyberSEAL

I tried swapping the cords and I've used two different phone lines so far, the unit is not getting power from them... However when I plug it into the cig lighter it works fine. =( I'm using a fuse tap on the cig lighter fuse. Hmm, out of ideas here...

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Sounds like the fuse tap might be bad. If it were me, i'd just find a wire to tap into and splice in to it.

I tried sticking it into one of the fuse slots and closing the fuse down on it too... Hmm...

Ok, I see what you guys are saying, perhaps I cut off the wrong end of the phone cord in each case. Gonna hit the 24 hour CVS pharmay and get some more black phone line, hehe... Sorry, I think I was IQ tested at around 70 when I was younger. j/k

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Originally Posted by CyberSEAL

Ok, I see what you guys are saying, perhaps I cut off the wrong end of the phone cord in each case. Gonna hit the 24 hour CVS pharmay and get some more black phone line, hehe... Sorry, I think I was IQ tested at around 70 when I was younger. j/k

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No need to apoligize, we're not all electrically minded. This time, pay careful attention to the wiring pattern of the original plug. For simplicity sake, be sure to keep the same end of the phone line. The all you should need to do is connect the red wire to a 12 volt source and the green wire to ground. If it doesn't work this time, post a picture of how you're trying to hook everything up and I'll see what I can tell you.

That's why this is so weird, I finally busted out the multimeter and the fuse tap is good, getting 12.5 through it. I then attached the probes instead of the clamps and felt the end of the phone line that goes into the x50, sure enough there's 12.5 there too. I've tried green to ground and red to ground, the plug on the end of the phone line matches the pins on the smartplug that came with it...

Do I have to do something with the yellow and black wires to make the x50 happy? Oh and thanks for your help too comp...

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Originally Posted by CyberSEAL

Do I have to do something with the yellow and black wires to make the x50 happy? Oh and thanks for your help too comp...

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Nope, I never even hooked them up on my install. Make sure that they're not shorting of course, but they don't need to be connected to anything.

If you're reading 12v on the RJ11 connector going into the X50, and the wires are in the same order, there is no reason that you should not have it working. Assuming that the above statement is true and the yellow and black wires aren't shorted or connected to anything, you have me 100% stumped. The only thing I can think of, and this is a long shot, is that maybe the little grooves that the contacts of the RJ11 are in are more narrow than those of the smartcord RJ11, and thus the pins in the X50 aren't making contact. Beyond that, I have absolutely no clue.

I think my ground was no good, I put it behind a bolt but found out later the bolt is only touching plastic. I have been able to get power to the unit via another telephone cord I just spliced, so I'm gonna thread it through and I should be good to go... Thanks again comp, I'll post back with a picture of my results.

If you can't get it still just buy a smart cord hardwire kit from Roy. They are more money than a phone cord, but you get the remote mute. I put mine in the same way as you with the smart cord kit, plugged it into a fuse tap, and it came right on.

-Bill

You could very possibly have a poor ground.

A poor ground will still read close to the proper voltage with a meter, but will not flow enough amperage to power the detector depending on how bad the ground is.

Try touching your ground to your cig lighter (outside ring, not the tip in the bottom!) or an unpainted peice of metal like the door hinge and see if it doesn't work.

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Originally Posted by synmoo

You could very possibly have a poor ground.

A poor ground will still read close to the proper voltage with a meter, but will not flow enough amperage to power the detector depending on how bad the ground is.

Try touching your ground to your cig lighter (outside ring, not the tip in the bottom!) or an unpainted peice of metal like the door hinge and see if it doesn't work.

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Good advice, bad grounds have f'ed me on mor than once, and they are always such a ***** to figure out. It's the last thing I think of, then it finally dawns on me and I feel like an idiot :?

When I installed my hardwire, I tapped into the Ground lead going to the stereo to avoid that very problem. Worked like a charm.

Definitely, a smart cord from Roy would be a good solution. Can you get to your radio's wiring? Would be real easy to tap into that and get your power and ground without issue. You can get wire taps from Radio Shack or splice it in.

Thanks for the replies guys, I haven't finished this yet, due to a busy holiday weekend. Will probably spend some time in the garage with it tonight. I was using cheap phone wire before that didn't strip well plus I think I was not getting a good ground. I'll post back hopefully with success later... =)