passport x50 hardwire project...PICS 56k maybe

[honduh]

I'm not sure if anyone has done this in their car, or cares for that matter, but this is a little project i've been working on for the last day or so.

I bought a passport x50 with the smart cord back in october, and read articles about people hardwiring them and relocating the "smart cord" circuit so they could still utilize the mute button. The thread I mainly got my ideas from is located HERE (http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec102.shtml)


this is a fairly good writeup in itself, however, finding a place suitable for the relocation in the s14 proved to be difficult. I decided to use one of the removable square trim pieces under the climate control, and this seemed like the best place I could find. http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/proj1.jpg

After inspecting the piece, I decided that since it wasnt flat at all, I would need to sand it down flat in order for the sticker to sit flush and the overall look to be good.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/prob.jpg

I made a template from the sticker and began sanding down the beveled edge, and marked the holes that needed to be drilled. After some work and some creativity, I made some progress on the piece.

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/proj2.jpg

The holes were big enough and in the right spots, and the spot was pretty well flat, so far so good. I had to do quite a bit of hacking in the inside to get the circuit board in, but it all fits nicely now.

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/proj2a.jpg

so with the circuit board in, here is how it looks, minus the sticker. It looks pretty hacked up, but hopefully the sticker will cover up most of the ugly marks....And I am working with a very small amount of tools so this is the best I could do :-/

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/proj3.jpg

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~cmhadley/proj/proj4.jpg


so now my problem is, I can't figure out a good way to keep the circuit board stable inside the piece, I have hit my first roadblock in this project, and it's pretty late so i'm going to call it a night. Tomorrow after class I'm going to follow up on an idea I have to keep it secure, and hopefully tomorrow night it will be installed completely.

I went ahead and bought some black rj-11 telephone cable from radio shack and ran it from the radar, inside the roof liner, down A pillar, thru dash, and it comes out in center console. I will update this thread with finished pics as soon as I get done, for anyone who is interested.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to secure it, or any input at all, let me know

[breakindrifts]

So what exactly does this thing do?

[honduh]

the cigar lighter plug has a built in circuit, that shows on an LED if there is a radar pickup, and there is a mute button that shuts up the detector. So when u hardwire it, if you want to keep the mute button, this is one of the options you have.

[HyperTek]

glue/cement will hold it in.

[chuy]

Use some insulation caulking to hold the board in place. Ive been looking at the the Valentine 1 and look at other installs.

[chibo]

Hot glue works perfectly for doing this.

[Ritz S14]

Hot glue works perfectly for doing this.


Yes, hot glue would definately work.
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/elec102-8500Install%20062.jpg

Please don't solder anything like that.

[Muzzy]

lol yea that looks like ass. an u need some heat shrink tubing too.

so let me get this stright...its a radar detector but with out the big cig box hanging from your window??

[the head]

IIRC the X50 is a remote sensor unit

so yes the sensors mount independently of the control/warning unit.

personally I prefer the K40 remote radar detectors but to each thier own.

[Yoshi]

Yes, hot glue would definately work.
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pics/elec102-8500Install%20062.jpg

Please don't solder anything like that.

Wow. x2.

That's about 3x as much solder as u need.
Try just tinning the tips ahead of time, then as long as you're not using some crappy 35W iron, you can connect them with minimal extra solder and minimal heat exposure.

Making components stay where you want is ALL about the hot glue :)
I prefer the low temp/skinny gluestick combo for tight spaces.

[S14DB]

Not a remote sensor. The power cord has a mute on it.
https://www.escortradar.com/cp/images/catalog_large/2x2_coiledsmart.jpg
http://www.escortradar.com/x50/index.htm
http://www.escortradar.com/images/x50_blue_360.jpg

The make a hard wire kit so you don't have to hack it up.
https://www.escortradar.com/cp/images/catalog_large/2x2_directsmart.jpg

[honduh]

Wow. x2.

That's about 3x as much solder as u need.
Try just tinning the tips ahead of time, then as long as you're not using some crappy 35W iron, you can connect them with minimal extra solder and minimal heat exposure.

Making components stay where you want is ALL about the hot glue :)
I prefer the low temp/skinny gluestick combo for tight spaces.



The guy from audi world did this, not me :wiggle: some of you guys were thinking that pic of nasty solder was mine....

Yes they make a hardwire kit, but if you look, its just the cigar plug with the end cut off, and no way to mount that box to anything. its a very awkward kit. The goal for mine is that, yea it may look nasty right now, but I can put that sticker over the mess and hopefully it will be good.

[axiomatik]

yeah, just hot glue that bitch

[Muzzy]

.....so...its an incognito radar detector correct??

[axiomatik]

Not a remote sensor. The power cord has a mute on it.
https://www.escortradar.com/cp/images/catalog_large/2x2_coiledsmart.jpg
http://www.escortradar.com/x50/index.htm
http://www.escortradar.com/images/x50_blue_360.jpg

The make a hard wire kit so you don't have to hack it up.
https://www.escortradar.com/cp/images/catalog_large/2x2_directsmart.jpg


.....so...its an incognito radar detector correct??


No, as you can see, it looks like any other radar detector, he just has a kit to hardwire the power cord instead of plugging it into the cigarette lighter. The kit happens to have a button allowing him to mute it.

[Muzzy]

oh..thas nothin special....:/

[infinitexsound]

eh solder V ur such a pro...... lol but yeah hot glue works or epoxy... i prefer epoxy

[Muzzy]

epoxy is teh shiznite!! hot glue can break off. epoxy is way tougher. and sticks to stuff better.

or teh king of all epoxys and glues....JB Weld!!!!

[Yoshi]

or teh king of all epoxys and glues....JB Weld!!!!

I sure wouldn't recommend using JB Weld on a circuit board.

[Muzzy]

jus makin a point...JB Weld is the king!!!!

[infinitexsound]

I sure wouldn't recommend using JB Weld on a circuit board.
youd be surprise at what i've been building for the past few days... epoxy works... no doubt about it..

[honduh]

I was thinking of using an epoxy type glue that isnt conductive, but I was just worried that it wouldnt hold, because you would be pushing the mute button and putting force on the glue. I wanted to make some sort of bracket because there is a hole in the circuit board for the screw that holds it in place in the cigar lighter plug. Its almost impossible tho because there isnt much to work with, so I'm thinking glue is my only option. Thanks for the suggestions, i'm going to work on this some more over spring break, since i'm too cool to actually go anywhere but home :w00t:

[Muzzy]

epoxy will hold up better then hot glue

[infinitexsound]

the thing about epoxxy is that it takes awhile to set up even the fast ones... if u add too much activator it becomes too hot and actually start to boil.... but i say epoxy it clamp it down and be done with it..... u can buy the elmers fast activating epoxy... that should be sufficent for ur job..