Spider radio rewiring

[Lawrence Leong <leongccl@domain.elided>]

Chris Sasso wrote:

>My brother gave me his old cd player to replace the audiovox radio in my
>87 spider.  My question is on properly wiring the radio.  The previous
>installation was not done correctly, as the radio will not keep presets
>after the car is shut down and the clock is always reset at each start up.
>My question is how should the radio be wired?  What fuses should the
>"always on" and "only on with the ignition" leads be attached to?

I went thru a similar route in my 33.  I replaced the old Panasonic with a 
Fujitsu Ten player.  After installation, the fluorescent time display was 
always on.  The installer shrugged his shoulders and said "can't help it, 
its like that."  No it isn't.  Its because the Alfa does not have an 
"accessory" position for the key.  (In the off position, all should be off,
at Acc, only the radio display should come on when the radio is off; this
position should also allow the radio to be turned on).  Only at the "run" 
position should the light show come on.

Not wanting to send a beacon out a night (public parking at night), I 
resorted to hijacking an unused switch for manual radio power.  Learned 
more about radio wiring than I wanted.

I don't know if your radio uses a different colour code.  Mine used (from
memory), red for power, black for ground, yellow for memory (memory must
be permanently powered otherwise you lose the settings).   I suspect 
that your installer wired power and memory to the switched 12V.  Most 
cars, which have "Acc" positions, will wire 12V to switched/ignition 
12V, and the memory directly to the unswitched 12V (or direct to battery).

If you expect your battery to be disconnected frequently, a kludge would
be to wire your memory line to a separate battery.  I have not measured 
the current drain so have no idea of the battery capacity required.

My connections:
Red - connect to switched supply   }
Yellow - connect to permanent 12V  }I used all direct to battery, FWIW
Black - ground of your choice      }

This switch fools everyone.  "Why do you have to turn on your rear 
fog lights to use the radio?"  "Oh, it's just like that" :-)


Cheers
Lawrence

86 33 1.5 QV (for sale)
92 164 2.0 TS

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