Wireing/XM question

[HawkShot99]

My Father and I both have XM setups in our vehicles. Same model, Express looks like it on the XM site. I had mine hard wired into my vehicle cause I only have 1 cigarette lighter, and use it for my phone.

So anyway my dad went and left his turned on plugged into the cigarette lighter and killed his battery.
Decided he would wire it into a circuit that is triggered by the key. So now it is wired into the fuse box on the radio's fuse. I didn't really look at his wiring job but it worked for a while, then stopped. He fiddled with it and could not get it to work.
On a hunch he took mine and plugged it in, and it wouldn't work either, so he assumed his wiring was bad..... Now mine does not work in my vehicle. Is it possible that even though it was fused and all that stuff that it fried my head unit?

 

[02renegade]

Depending on where it was hooked up to the fuse, One side provides the juice and the other side is the fused side. Also, alot of the xm's only use 6 volts so you cant just cut the lighter end off of the cord and wire it direct, you have to use the lighter end to knock the 12volts down to 6. If yours dont work now, you may have troubles.

 

[HawkShot99]

Also, alot of the xm's only use 6 volts so you cant just cut the lighter end off of the cord and wire it direct, you have to use the lighter end to knock the 12volts down to 6.

CRAP......I think he did that......guess someone owes me a new XM........

 

[02renegade]

you should be able to look at the power port on your radio and see, it should list what voltage it uses, most are 6 volts though unless it is a really old one, they were 12.

 

[McLovin]

Yup i just updated and just b4 i was going to cut the plug off its 5v and it kinda sucks.

 

[02renegade]

Easy way around that is just go to auto parts place and buy a cig. lighter receptacle and hard wire that under your dash and then just plug XM like normal, that way you dont use up your car receptacle.

 

[HawkShot99]

Easy way around that is just go to auto parts place and buy a cig. lighter receptacle and hard wire that under your dash and then just plug XM like normal, that way you dont use up your car receptacle.

Well in the factory box it came with a female end for the cigarette lighter with the wires stripped. I wired that into my car then plugged in the male end.
This is what my father did, but his wiggled loose after many, many months on the road, causing it to cut in and out. So instead of just pushing back together he cut the plugs and spliced.

 

[Gone Sleddin]

need that plug on there. had a friend help me put an xm in a couple years ago and before i could tell him the plug needed to be on there he cut it off. so we stripped the wires and taped it back together. as for why yours doesnt work in your vehicle now, i dont know, but i dont imagine its good

 

[HawkShot99]

as for why yours doesnt work in your vehicle now, i dont know, but i dont imagine its good

Well by reading here I have determined that it is because he tested it in his truck and fried it..

 

[Ex-Member]

yeah, watch the voltage in... just because there's a cig lighter on one end doesn't mean there's 12V on the other.

On the cheap side, there's cig lighter splitters that turn 1 outlet into 2 or 3...