Prostar CB Hookup

I know this thread is a bit old, but I figured I would look for a solution here anyway. I just bought a connex 4300-300 pushing about 350watts. I know it needs to direct to the battery, but I an a little worride about taping into the fust box connection like the other guy said. I have an inverter wired in with a 50 amp fuse can I tap into that? I also heard on the driver side there are some posts to tap into under the dash against the fire wall? I have not investigated too much yet, but i really do not want to fry the radeo or the trucks computer. any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also where is the best place to ground up front? Thank you

 

Your inverter should have a positive and negative feed. You must remove the fuse in line with that positive wire before making connections (safety issue). Your new hook up wire should be 8ga and have soldered ends on it. You should be able to bolt right on at same place the wiring feeds the inverter. If you are not sure, don't do it.

 

The fuse is directly mounted to the battery. I need that fuse for the inverter. I can't run the inverter with out it. I can not just hook in after and have two fuses runing on the line to the cb? I have wired many car stereos and amps and am very comfortable I am more worried about hooking in the wrong place and frying something. I may just have to connect directly to the batt. Thanks for the fast reply.

 

I'm saying disconnect this fuse WHILE YOU'RE HOOKING UP YOUR WIRES. After you get everything hooked up then reconnect the fuse at battery.

 

The inverter should be clearly marked + and -

 

Ahh sorry I didn't get that. Got it now thanks.

 

Can I ground directly to the negative terminal or is it better to ground to the truck? Also anyone know the best place to ground on an 09 prostar without ripping too much stuff apart? Thanks again.

 

Yes, you can ground directly to the negative post of the battery; it's actually the best place to ground a radio. I'd recommend putting a fuse in both wires if going straight to the battery.

You *can* ground to the frame, but the farther away you are from the battery, the more opportunity you have to pick up noise.

 

Sorry I am missing what you are saying. If you say the farther from the battery the more noise, is it best to ground right to it, or farther away the better. The inverter is maybe 1.5' from the battery and I could tie in to that, but it would take about 12' of wire to reach the radio. Is it best to just run down to the door and tie into one of the Torx on there that hold the hinges.

 

Automotive electrical systems are a hellishly noisy place. Pretty much everything that attaches to it adds noise.

The battery acts like a huge filter capacitor, and is the cleanest place to get power.

Tapping off of the back of the inverter would work, but since inverters are pretty much the noisiest thing (electrically) in the truck, you may find that you can't hear anything if the inverter is turned on. For you, having the inverter turned off while moving may not be a problem, and would be just fine.

Theory helps a lot, but you pretty much have to try it and see if it works in your particular application.

Oh, and if you use a hinge bolt, be SURE that you are not expecting power to cross the hinge.