I'm about to install a CDM1250 in my 2012 Ram 1500 and I was wanting to know what and where the best location would be to connect the ignition sense wire to. Thank you.
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2012 Ram 1500 Ignition Sense
- Thread starter gordonfan954
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The igniton sense takes very few amps to tell the radio on or off... the cigar lighter plug is key controlled.. take it off that circut
How would I tap into it? The only fuse box is under the hood. There is no interior fuse box.
mmckenna
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See if Dodge has an upfitter guide for the 1500. I know Ford and GM do. They often have dedicated circuits you can user for this.
Another option is to find an unused circuit. I did that on one of our work trucks, a 2007 Chevy Colorado. Found the sun roof power circuit taped off behind the A-pillar trim. I simply extended that circuit to where the radio was for the ignition sense lead. I found the unused fuse slot for the sun roof, and put in a 3 amp fuse.
milliamps, it's only a sense circuit.
I've never had a CDM Ign sense lead overload the circuit being tapped, however I was careful with what I tapped - as the CDM series is notoriously sensitive to power surges/spikes on the ign sense pin.
Then why does Motorola specify a 3 amp fuse? I've been installing them since they came out and never had an issue.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Kenwood does the same thing with their ignition sense kits. 3 amp fuse.
Probably to cover installers that tap multiple radios off the single circuit. The wire is certainly large enough for 3 amps, so unlikely it would cause any issues.
The CDM only draws maybe a hundred milliamps via that sense circuit, you can test it. Would you rather they specify something odd, like a custom made 319 mAh fuze that you had to specialty order from Moto , and they then declare it NLA when they kill the line? You can buy a 3 amp fuze from any brick and mortar store.
I'm also sure the fuze works the other way too, helps protect any failure in the CDM circuitry from feeding back into the sense source and letting smoke out of something...like an computer module. Would you like to have the 20a fuze of the CDM power feed be the only protection for whatever you tapped into for your ign sense? I wouldn't.
I'm also sure the fuze works the other way too, helps protect any failure in the CDM circuitry from feeding back into the sense source and letting smoke out of something...like an computer module. Would you like to have the 20a fuze of the CDM power feed be the only protection for whatever you tapped into for your ign sense? I wouldn't.
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I'll be honest, the CDM radios were always a little bit wacky. Mobiles that did the low battery beep for no warning, occasionally one would lose a ground in the radio and it would ground thru the antenna causing all kinds of havoc, amnesia events when you'd power one on and find half the codeplug missing, IGN SENS circuits that would actually power on the radio if the vehicle battery voltage dropped too far when the vehicle was off, thus killing the battery faster, I even heard a story of one powering on a radio via just the ignition sense pin and ground - wouldn't transmit but it lit up...They're not a spectacularly great radio line, all things considered.
They worked, they're best suited for taxi cabs (yet they ended up in emergency service vehicles nationwide due to their price point), and most of the time the dealers were more inclined to just replace a funky one than they were to pop the chassis top and try to find out which component was causing the issue...for several hundred dollars a unit, it made sense. Who knows, maybe moto knew something and figured a 3a fuze would prevent catastrophe farther up the line? I'm kind of glad we're done with them.
and i apologize for completely digressing from the OP topic at hand of finding an ign sense circuit on a '12 Ram 1500.
I'll be honest, the CDM radios were always a little bit wacky. Mobiles that did the low battery beep for no warning, occasionally one would lose a ground in the radio and it would ground thru the antenna causing all kinds of havoc, amnesia events when you'd power one on and find half the codeplug missing, IGN SENS circuits that would actually power on the radio if the vehicle battery voltage dropped too far when the vehicle was off, thus killing the battery faster, I even heard a story of one powering on a radio via just the ignition sense pin and ground - wouldn't transmit but it lit up...They're not a spectacularly great radio line, all things considered.
They worked, they're best suited for taxi cabs (yet they ended up in emergency service vehicles nationwide due to their price point), and most of the time the dealers were more inclined to just replace a funky one than they were to pop the chassis top and try to find out which component was causing the issue...for several hundred dollars a unit, it made sense. Who knows, maybe moto knew something and figured a 3a fuze would prevent catastrophe farther up the line? I'm kind of glad we're done with them.
and i apologize for completely digressing from the OP topic at hand of finding an ign sense circuit on a '12 Ram 1500.
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