Fuse Tap - Aggghhhhhh!!!

bronze84

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Soooo, having a bit of a nightmare.... I bought a couple of fuse taps (on Jon & Jokiin's advice - appreciated as always), no matter where I put them in my fuse box though they won't work :(

Can anyone please advise? I've attached a copy of my fuse box and the fuse table from my manual. I've put the black ground cable behind a screw for the dash

3636434C-5A15-4272-A5F8-08E16B87689F_zpstw4sgmee.jpg
3636434C-5A15-4272-A5F8-08E16B87689F_zpstw4sgmee.jpg


EEC24C79-B255-4FB5-AA2A-2A21A95CCC31_zpsfqmdhi5k.png

EEC24C79-B255-4FB5-AA2A-2A21A95CCC31_zpsfqmdhi5k.png



165A4F52-1AF9-4AA6-83A7-0C60D6DD9A1A_zpslpg0jdxv.jpg
 
The ground looks a little suspect to me. I like having a clean metal to clean metal contact and I'm not sure you do.
 
I did do a search, and it came up with nothing sufficient. My pics are all up there on my screen?
 
The ground looks a little suspect to me. I like having a clean metal to clean metal contact and I'm not sure you do.

Thanks, could something as simple as that stop it from working?
 
now i can see the rest of the pictures
this is definitely not a ground point!
please go to a car electrician, don't do it yourself if this is what you have done.
 
now i can see the rest of the pictures
this is definitely not a ground point!
please go to a car electrician, don't do it yourself if this is what you have done.

With all due respect your post tells me nothing I don't already know. I already have the fuse taps set up correctly
 
That looks like a self tapping screw holding some plastic to some other plastic, so no ground connection there ( i bet )

Doing the same in my little Suziki i had to try like 5-6 sockets before i found one that wasent allways on ( 10 AMP fuses )

AS i was going out back with my 12 V expansion i got my 12 V ground from one of the large screws holding my rear seat in place.

Short of the tap in fuse thingie beeing broke i am sure the sockets in your cars is working, and i doubt the tap in fuse is broken as they are pretty simple stuff.
 
I am not 100% on bord with the tap in fuse link nir put up, i have not tried to flip mine so it by doing that it shouldent work.

If these things have a right and a wrong way, then i guess i was just lucky tapping into the fuse box in my little car.

But i am pretty sure its your ground connection, try to take it off and press it against somthing you for sure know is grounded.

I was extending my 12V grid with a 3 way ciggerette extender in my boot, and it have a green LED pilot light to see if its on, thats what i used to go by looking for a not allways on fuse.
 
With all due respect your post tells me nothing I don't already know. I already have the fuse taps set up correctly
what i meant was that, With all due respect, if this is your experience with car electronics, you should take this mini project to someone who 100% know what he's doing.
because if you don't know, you can destroy your car, literally (car computer Malfunction \ fried, start a fire on your car..).
 
Could we see pics of your fuse tap and how it's connected? Half your pics aren't showing up
 
Based on your post, it would be my impression that you are correctly tapping into the fuses which isn't too difficult, but your current isn't grounded. I tried a metal screw inside my interior fuse panel that wouldn't work and I had to shoot it over to my door for a metal screw. Yours doesn't look like it would work....try a different screw.
 
You need to know which side is the hot side of the fuse location and orient the fuse tap accordingly. Use a multimeter to find out. The leg furtherest from the wire on the fuse tap is for the hot side.

It will still work whichever way you fit it, however, if you don't orient it with the hot side then I believe the fuse tap won't protect properly and it will use the oem fuse in the fuse tap to protect your camera, which is going to be far too high an amperage fuse and therefore won't protect the camera.

As for using the screw for a ground, it's easy enough to check with a multimeter. With any screw or bolt that I use as a ground I always put my ground wire in-between the washer and the screw/bolt head so it's full metal contact on the wire both sides.
 
Testing for ground (in a car): Get a decent multimeter. It doesn't have to be a GOOD one... just a decent one. While any ohmmeter would work, it's easier with a standard continuity tester... For most multimeters, this just beeps as long as there's a closed circuit between the two leads. I've seen some dedicated continuity testers that beep, and others that light a light.

Using that multimeter set to the continuity settings (or with a dedicated continuity tester), place on lead on the OUTER ring of a cigarette lighter female in your car. Don't shove the lead inside the socket. Just touch the outer ring metal. THIS is ground. *WARNING: If this isn't 120% perfectly clear, don't do it. The LAST thing you want to do is run even a tiny amount of current through the wrong place.

Now, with the other lead, touch various screws or bolts where you want to find ground. Don't touch wires. Really. Unless you're very fluent with wiring (which you don't seem to be) you can burn up control modules in a car, etc, if you short things by poking around with metal probes. When the continuity tester indicates a closed circuit, you've found a bolt/screw that's grounded.

Hint: Look for bolts/screws that are screwed into metal and that aren't painted.
 
I normally use a 10 dollar multimeter, save me the problem of finding my serious "poo" and for what i have needed lately it do a good job.

Been living here for +4 years and 75% on my stuff is not unpacked yet, dont like urban living want to move #howthehellamigoingtodothatwithoutmoney

Did i do that right ? seem like ppl # just about everything. :)
 
Grounding point lol

Remove the kick panel and you should find an existing one. It needs to be against bare metal.

A $5 multimeter or test light will go a long way into diagnosing electrical problems.
 
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