lfcorrea Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I spent all day installing the XM Commander I got for Christmas, actually it didn't take that long, but once I ran into a problem I got stuck and still am... I had previously installed Jazzy's board, and an OEM subwoofer, both without a problem. Today I took the whole dash apart again, drilled holes in the cubby, fit everything perfectly, but once time came to get POWER to the unit, I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tap into the power outlet (cigarette lighter) under the radio, i tried everything, but it was all trial and error since I have never done anything like it before. The Commander comes with three wires, a red (labeled ACC), a yellow (labeled 12V BATT), and black (ground). I thought I could connect the red to the back of the lighter with an alligator clamp, and the ground to the side of the radio. Nothing worked, and after hours of trying I was confused and tried connecting something else to the cigarette lighter and came to realize there was no power whatsoever going to the lighter or the little light in the ashtray. The only thing I did differently then my previous setup is the fact I disconnected the little light within the cubby, as the XM unit sits there now. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 I'm assuming the commander has some kind of function that requires it to have constant power...like for radio memory presets or something. Black goes to anything metal on the car Red goes to the cig lighter (onlly on with ignition or in the ACC position) yellow needs a constant power source, one of the wires going into the radio is like that My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rallispec Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 i pulled all of my power wires from the radio harness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finse Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 On my commander install, I simply connected both the yellow and red wires to the hot lead on the power source located in the arm rest. I also thought this may be problematic, i.e. presets wiped out every time the engine is turned off. However, my half assed wiring has not affected the performance of the XM commander. Presets are stable as well as the song book marking feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldouse Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Black goes to anything metal on the car Red goes to the cig lighter (onlly on with ignition or in the ACC position) yellow needs a constant power source, one of the wires going into the radio is like that just as mwiener2 says the black = neg yellow = pos. red = switch or combine w/ yellow if always connected -- yay for the sig! -- my garage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfcorrea Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 Thanks for the help guys, I ended up wiring it to the radio harness. I found the harness map on a different thread, which really helped, making things real easy. I just hope that tapping into the radio's harness wires won't cause any future problems, such as overheating somewhere... Anyways, I am glad I can listen to XM now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogdog Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I just hope that tapping into the radio's harness wires won't cause any future problems, such as overheating somewhere... Anyways, I am glad I can listen to XM now! Fear not, some of us run whole aftermarket head units off the factory stereo wires in addition to the factory head units. I'm sure the small draw of the XM commander will not give you any problems. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiener2 Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I've got The Cleansweep, RoadyXT, and the turn on leads for 2 amps running off the head unit My Mods List (Updated 8/22/17) 2005 Outback FMT Running on Electrons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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