Has anyone tapped the Rearview Mirror for a power source

[00firebird]

I just bought myself a new radar detector, and felt like using one of these so I don't have the dangling coil wire hanging down to my cigarette lighter. This seems like a neat alternative. http://www.invisicord.com/index.html
What I'm wondering is will this work on our cars, do we have enough power there to use?

according to the website, it will work if:
"If you cannot find your vehicle model listed in the installation document and have a voltmeter, you can move your mirror off to the side, turn on the ignition to the on position, and probe the back of the harness to see if you can find which wires give you a +12v/ground reading. Turn off the ignition and see if it goes off. These will be the parts of the harness you will need to tap into. If you cannot find switched power, but can find an always-on 12v/ground combination, you can also use my cord, but you have to turn your detector on/off as you need to use it, and won't be able to count on your ignition to turn it on/off for you."

anyone know if the RVM is capable source to use here (switched on, or always on)?


Edit 2/22/12: heres the install pics using a hardwire to the fusebox.

[sman]

Im pretty sure its an always on. But the BCM may kill it after 90 minutes or something? Cant really remember.

[sman]

Just thought about how our lights do the theater dimming, hmmmm. Not sure if thats a problem or not, or how exactly that is done....

[98blackbeauty]

newer cars have the onstar feature in their mirrors and it stays on until you open door.

[BP_Z28]

I have mine hard wired in. Grounded with a screw under dash, ran my wires under dash, and use the radio fuse to power. Turns on when I turn car on and vise versa when off. You see no wires I have. Just had to find some spare wires since I needed.more length

[00firebird]

this seemed easier to me than running wires all around the headliner, pillars, etc. I haven't tried adding anything to the fusebox but how hard would that be.

edit: heres the other hardwire method for the fusebox.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BELTRONICS-B...item334aa3867f

which seems better?

[2002Z4CSS]

Just thought about how our lights do the theater dimming, hmmmm. Not sure if thats a problem or not, or how exactly that is done....

With this feature I would go to the fuse box itself.

[sman]

I would run to the fuse box as well. Once the a pillar is off you dont even have to remove the headliner, I just slipped the wires in the front of it. Used to have my garmin hard wired in. Still have my Sirius wired in now that I think of it. If you really wanted to do it right you could get an add a fuse.

[wasjo6431]

I personally wouldnt tap into the RVM.
Alot of times alarm systems tap into it. and with the dimming feature sometimes its not actually straight DC even if it reads 12VDC its typically a Pulse Wave Form when an alarm system taps into it.

[BP_Z28]

Well under dash I'm talking about is my dash pad. Only part of wire you see is the squiggly wire coming out near center of dash, almost touching the windshield. Best way to describe it.

[farmington]

I ran my own wires in my GTP from the fuse box and it took all of 5 minutes. The wires are very easy to tuck. I just used speaker wire. Nice to have the detector on all of the time.

[birdie2000]

Yep, in a car like this it's really easy to just pop the pillar off and tuck the wire into the headliner and go to the fuse box. Use an add-a-fuse into an accessory power port and you're golden. Or if you drive it every day, I'd just run it to 12v constant so you don't have to remember to turn it on every time. It won't run the battery down in just a day or two.

[00firebird]

what about the add a circuits, any better?



I'd love for it to go on and off with the car. Will either allow that, or do i need to T-tap a power wire. Would stink having to turn it on and off every time I get in/out of the car.

I'm sure I'm overthinking this, or making it harder than it needs to be- I just want to make sure I don't run into any problems when it comes time to install.
Here are two potential problems, the fuse panel looks too close to the door, I don't know how either of these wouldn't get smashed down, unless i unbolted it and pushed it backwards, letting it move around freely. (Oh and is my fuse panel upside down or should the fuses look that way?).
The other thing is I wouldn't know which fuse slot to use.

[birdie2000]

Add-a-circuit is what I was referring to. It's the best way to do it IMO. It should fit just fine under the cover. PLEASE don't use T-taps.

What kind of radar detector do you have? Does it have a knob/switch, or is it a soft button for on/off? If it's a soft button, it'll go off with the car, but when power is restored it won't turn back on without pressing the button. If it's a switch/knob that clicks or can be left in a fixed on/off position, it would go both on/off with the car. All this is assuming using accessory 12v from the car, for which you'd tap into fuse #7.

If it's a soft button and you don't want to have to remember to turn it back on every time you get in, your best bet is to just give it constant power and let it stay turned on all the time, even while the car is off (unless of course the car sits for several days at a time).

[meissen]

I just stripped the power wire for the radar detector and then made a hook with the wire, pushed the one side of the fuse into the hook, and then plugged the fuse in. Plenty of room that way and as long as you don't have to pull the fuse out, it's pretty secure. And it's non-invasive. I used the radio fuse - only has power when the car is on, off after 10 minutes or when door opens.