equalsP

So I did the Aux mod on my 2007 RX8 for some time and everything was good.

I recently bought a car dock for my phone and decided that I want to charge and listen to music at the same time. But I get heavy interference on the audio line. I read that a ground circuit isolator will fix my problem.

So I looked on Amazon for one, and lots of them looked really cheap. I have had trouble with buying cheaper audio stuffs from amazon because the quality has been eh, so I decided to get one that looked meaty.

I got this one. The thing looks great, sound quality and all (not sound as in audio, sound as in good/solid). The cables won't be damaged easily, but it needs to be externally powered.

Here is the problem. I understand the theory of what this thing is supposed to do but I am no electrician.

Its got two wires, a 12+ and GND. I can wire those to a car plug receptacle and power it from the car, but then I feel like that won't get me anywhere right, because its still the "bad power" thats giving me the interference. If so how do I get this thing powered?

Can someone who understands how this magically thing called electricity help me out?

WikkedOne

I had some ground loop problems and I was able to eliminate MOST of it by pulling the stereo out, cutting the ground wire to it, and the ground wire to the cig lighter and the second cig lighter. I then connected the ground (that end that was coming from the HU) to the end coming from the cig lighter and ran that to my capacitor where my amps are grounded. So, the HU, Cig Lighter(s), and my amps are all grounded at the exact same spot. It was a little drastic and a bit of work, but I felt like if I was going to do it, I was going to do it for real.

As for your isolator, It would *probably* work with just about any power and ground you can find. If it were me, I'd hook it up and test it, keep trying different places until you find something that works.

at this point I'd like to invite Firebirdude to comment on this and tell you what you should really do

equalsP

Thanks for the advice.

I did find a DC 12V car plug at radioshack and I think I'll swing by Monday and try to wire it. The Isolator already has a fuse in it, so I know I can't screw it up too much.

I was thinking about wiring it to a USB cable and use a USB car adapter, since I have so many old usb cables and a those adapter are pretty cheap, but when finding in the USB power pin-outs, it said it was 5V, so I'm thinking the USB car adapters covert it to 5V, and that probably won't work since its asking for 12.

The wiring should be a sinch. I'll update when I get try it.

(I'd have to say a pretty good first timer's experience on the forums so far.)

WikkedOne

It's pretty easy to get to the power and ground for the cig lighter -
1) unscrew the gearshift ****
2) lift the plastic cover that goes from the cup holders to the ashtray (it pops right off)
3) unscrew the 2 phillips screws that hold the ashtray in and the whole thing pops out

from there you can see the 2 wires that go into it, you can hard wire your isolator there so you don't have to worry about adapters or anything



I'm glad I could enhance your first experience. I've been on the forums since I first bought my 8 about 7 years ago. There is a TON of good info here and plenty of nice members to help you out with whatever you need. Just remember if it's a common problem/question it's probably been answered a dozen times, a quick search can answer just about any question.