Remote wire question

I am installing my alpine 500 w amp from my truck to my T4R and I don't want to pull the remote or rca's from the truck.
So I bought so rockford rca's and I had an 8 gauge ground and power with a fuse block installed for the wiring. What I lack is the remote signal wire, can I use any ole copper insulated wire or does it have to be rated for car audio?

What I also want to do is put an inline switch on the remote signal wire to turn the amp on and off when I want. is this recommended or not?

 

technically any wire type will do the trick, but i do recommend going with stranded wire since it is easier to route/bend. basic 18AWG stranded lead wire from radio shack will do the trick.

an inline switch will work. my main concern is the potential for forgetting to switch it off after you turn off the truck. i recommend you tap into the ignition switch ACC wire so that it will turn on and off with ignition.

 

^ yep, what he said.

 

Thanks for the quick responses, I should have mentioned Im hooking this up to an alpine cde 143bt with the alpine mini 4 channel amp.

I thought I should have a blue wire on the back of the HU that I hook my remote wire to. If not, ill have to figure out where to tap into.

Do you guys also recommend running direct power from the battery to power the HU?

 

I always get the wiring harness specific to the vehicle and highly recommend it. I have never had an issue that way, and you keep all your factory plugs. No guessing about where to connect stuff. I would not wire the HU directly to the battery, it should go to a switched power source.

 

He was probably talking about the constant hot going directly to the battery. The factory wiring might not always have a remote amp turn on.

 

All aftermarket stereos have a remote wire. As you said, it's a blue wire. Just use that wire. Don't hook up your HU directly to the battery. Why would you want to do that? You would be bypassing the factory fuse and end up having to install another one. Unless you like wasting money...

 

You don't need to run a new power wire from the HU to the battery. Just use what is already available at the stock stereo location.

 

Yall are right on the blue wire and yes I bought the wiring harness that is designed for my Toyota that should be plug and play!!!

Now i gotta get to Radio Shack for 6 ft of 18 AWG wire. Can it be copper or is lead better?
I only want to take my dash apart once.


I read somewhere that people run a bigger wire to the HU with a fuse. Sounds like a waste. Thanks!!!

 

The remote wire to the amp is just a signal for it to turn on. It doesn't need to be fused and doesn't really power anything, just triggers the switch in the amp. The same gauge copper wire (probably 18-22) that is part of your harness is good enough.

 

You'll only find copper wires. No one makes lead wiring.

 

I think he means copper or copper coated aluminum.. Either one works you can find it at your local auto parts store by the roll..and putting a switch in between the remote will work to shut off the amp.

 

U guys are awesome thanks for clarifing!!!

Ill use some 12 gauge stranded wire i got from a buddy!

Ill throw up some pics of my install.

Stock speakers for now, ditchinhg the tape player will be s huge upgrade as it is.

 

The remote wire is a constant 12 volt output from the headunit when it is powered on. It doesn't trigger a switch in the amp, it powers a relay on the amp board.

OP, If you are not building a high power system the wiring harness adapter should be all you need. Using the factory harness with an adapter affords you the use of the factory fuse for the radio system. Adding a switch to your remote wire is easy. All you need is an spst switch and place it in line on the remote wire path between the headunit and the amplifiers. If you are using more than one amplifier I would suggest using a relay to get power directly from the battery (fused) and send that to the amplifiers using the remote wire as the power-on lead to the relay. Good luck.

 

A relay is a kind of switch. It's just an electronically activate switch.

 

Correct...but it requires constant power to operate. Not trying to be a douche, it's just when I read the words trigger and power I go off the usage of trigger = temporary excitement/interaction and power/hot = constant supply. That's just my habit when reading electrical based material.

 

Will this work.
Heres what i got. 10a @ 125 VAC. Will it work?

No light as i don't need another light on the dash. This will be hidden in the back lil cubby by the cigarette lighter.

Thanks in advance. Ive always ran the blue wire straight with no switch. With the kiddos bass usually sounds horrible to the abc song. This switch will come in handy.

 

That should work fine, but it seems to be intended for residential/AC usage. Doesn't mean it won't work, a switch is a simple device. AutoZone or your local automotive store should have stuff intended for auto usage.

 

if i remember correctly you have to tap into the wiring harnesses rem for the head unit to tell the amp to turn on so you will have to splice into it. soldering is the best next best is crimp connectors with heat shrink over the connection take your time and make it look nice and handle whatever you are going to put the truck though

 

He's got a new HU and a wiring harness for the vehicle, so he should just need to run that through the switch.