W169 ice radio wiring
- Thread starter Carabind
- Start date
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Standard radio is not on circuit (aka "terminal") 15 or 15R, it is in fact on circuit 30, with various trigger signals (via QuadLock from CANbus and SAM, etc), so if you hook your amplifier to the power wire going to the radio, you're guaranteed a flat battery every morning.
Plenty of easily accessible sources of ignition on (15R) to pick your power source: fuse tap on front power socket fuse (38) is the best, in my opinion, just use an appropriate inline fuse for your gadget.
Plenty of easily accessible sources of ignition on (15R) to pick your power source: fuse tap on front power socket fuse (38) is the best, in my opinion, just use an appropriate inline fuse for your gadget.
Many thanks David
Found it, buried in my footwell .
I guess the surrounding fuses are also ignition powered. I have run out of time today, but guess I can unbolt the fuse box to lift it out slightly to see underneath it to splice my wire in?
No worries, glad to help 
There's no need to do anything as drastic as fuse box removal - I had tons of gadgets in my old A200 C169 and never ever touched the mounting bolts of the fuse box
Not all fuses are on 15/15R, some on 30 (so always on) - here's a full chart, with detailed info - unlike the brief consumer version, which you can find next to the fuse box.
All you need is a fuse tap - plenty on eBay for a few quid a set.
There's no need to do anything as drastic as fuse box removal - I had tons of gadgets in my old A200 C169 and never ever touched the mounting bolts of the fuse box
Not all fuses are on 15/15R, some on 30 (so always on) - here's a full chart, with detailed info - unlike the brief consumer version, which you can find next to the fuse box.
All you need is a fuse tap - plenty on eBay for a few quid a set.
Very handy little gizmos - I even came up with a way to use it "upside-down" to alternate between a "normal" power socket and a "permanently on" one, when I wanted to keep a solar charger plugged in, to prevent the battery going flat, when the car was parked at Heathrow car park (I used to travel across the pond for a good few weeks at a time) - worked perfectly well, here's a sketch:
