Z1, Mute Wire, and V1 Radar Detector Wiring Help Needed!

[F150 Duke]

Hey Guys,

 

I'm going to be wiring my new Valentine V1 into the truck this weekend and am looking at incorporating this with my Z1. However, I have a couple questions for the electronically smart people here and want to make sure I don't hurt the Z1.

 

1. The Valentine V1 needs to be on "switched on/off" power so it doesn't stay on when I turn the truck off (draining the battery). Is this the Yellow wire for the Z1 and is it ok if I tie into this wire in the Z1 harness? Will the Valentine V1 still be protected by a fuse?

 

2. The mute wire on the Pioneer Z1. Could I work it that the Valentine V1 incorporates with the Mute wire on the Z1? How would this work, would the Z1 mute the Valentine V1 when the Z1 is on, or would it be the other way around?

 

Thanks again guys!

 

Duke

[JasonH]

1. The Valentine V1 needs to be on "switched on/off" power so it doesn't stay on when I turn the truck off (draining the battery). Is this the Yellow wire for the Z1 and is it ok if I tie into this wire in the Z1 harness? Will the Valentine V1 still be protected by a fuse?

Yes, the V1 will be protected by the F150's fuse box.

 

2. The mute wire on the Pioneer Z1. Could I work it that the Valentine V1 incorporates with the Mute wire on the Z1? How would this work, would the Z1 mute the Valentine V1 when the Z1 is on, or would it be the other way around?

The other way around. You could mute the Z1 when the V1 detects a bogey.

[ducatiboy]

I don't want to contradict JasonH... he is the king here.... but I had a couple things to add.

 

You do not want to connect the radar detector to the yellow wire. That's energized all the time. The detector won't turn off. You want to connect the detector's power to the red wire, then it will turn on and off with the key.

 

While Jason is correct that it will be protected with the fuse of the fuse block, it might be a 15 amp or 20 amp fuse. The Valentine 1 has a 1 amp fuse. You might want to leave in that just for added protection. But I have left out smaller fuses on stuff like that relying on the larger fuse in the fuse block. It won't hurt anything and should protect the Valentine in case of a major problem. But a 1 amp in there after the car's main 15 amp will give you a little more protection (I would guess). Not that I can think of a problem that this would make too much difference. Generally people worry about the wire braking and shorting to ground. But if there is an internal failure in the Valentine and it draws 2 or 3 amps, the car's main fuse will let it draw that and possibly damage more in the Valentine than if there was also a 1 amp right next to it. Just a thought.

 

The other thing is that I don't know if the Valentine 1 has a mute output wire. Jason is right that the Z1 won't mute the Valentine 1. But I don't know if the Valentine 1 has any output wire that you could use to mute the Z1. The Z1 has a wire that you can hook to that when you do something (either ground it or put 12V on it... I can't remember which) it will mute the Z1. Problem is getting such a wire out of the Valentine 1. Does it have it? I checked the web site real quick and didn't find anything. You might want to email customer service at Valentine. Ask them if there is a wire coming out of it that you can use to mute a stereo when it detects a bogey.

[F150 Duke]

First, thank you two for the information!

 

Yeah I checked and the V1 doesn't have a remote mute wire and I don't want to go opening it up and trying to make one as that would void the warranty.

 

So are you suggest that I run a wire off the red wire in the Z1 harness with a 1 amp fuse in that wire as added protection for the V1?

 

(PS. New bypass is working like a champ. Other went out in the mail today. Ment to ship earlier but my Mom got really sick and I had to visit the house and be with family.)

 

Thanks again,

 

Duke

[ducatiboy]

So are you suggest that I run a wire off the red wire in the Z1 harness with a 1 amp fuse in that wire as added protection for the V1?

 

Yep that will be just fine. You can leave out the 1 amp fuse if you want to rely on the fuse box's 15 amp (ish) but it might be slightly safer to put the 1 amp in there too.

[cntrylvr79]

So are you suggest that I run a wire off the red wire in the Z1 harness with a 1 amp fuse in that wire as added protection for the V1?

 

Yep that will be just fine. You can leave out the 1 amp fuse if you want to rely on the fuse box's 15 amp (ish) but it might be slightly safer to put the 1 amp in there too.

 

yes when in doubt FUSE IT. That fuse is there more to protect the wire than anything else. Say your accesory wire in the truck is 16 gauge and the power wire for the v1 is 20 gauge. Without the fuse there, the power wire for the v1 could short against metal and pull say 10 amps. now that's not enough to blow the factory fuse, but it could be enough to cause the power wire for the v1 to start to burn and eventually melt. That of course is a worst case scenario. The way I was taught is that anytime you step down in wire size always have a fuse there to protect the smaller wire.

[F150 Duke]

So are you suggest that I run a wire off the red wire in the Z1 harness with a 1 amp fuse in that wire as added protection for the V1?

 

Yep that will be just fine. You can leave out the 1 amp fuse if you want to rely on the fuse box's 15 amp (ish) but it might be slightly safer to put the 1 amp in there too.

 

yes when in doubt FUSE IT. That fuse is there more to protect the wire than anything else. Say your accesory wire in the truck is 16 gauge and the power wire for the v1 is 20 gauge. Without the fuse there, the power wire for the v1 could short against metal and pull say 10 amps. now that's not enough to blow the factory fuse, but it could be enough to cause the power wire for the v1 to start to burn and eventually melt. That of course is a worst case scenario. The way I was taught is that anytime you step down in wire size always have a fuse there to protect the smaller wire.

 

Good tip and thanks for the insight!

 

I'm going to play it safe a run a 1 amp fuse inline on the wire that runs from red wire on my Z1 harness to the power wire on the V1.

 

Here to wiring it up on Saturday and having a fighting chance against the MN cops! Not that I'm a rabid speeder, but I want some protection when I'm going 5 over and sometimes 10 over.

 

Duke

[apeters89]

I would think you could also power it either off the remote (antenna or amp) wire off the back of the Z1, or through a relay system powered by the remote wire (if you think it may pull too much power from the Z1) as well. Of course it would mean your Valentine would only be powered when the radio was on.

 

 

 

just another idea.

[ducatiboy]

I would think you could also power it either off the remote (antenna or amp) wire off the back of the Z1, or through a relay system powered by the remote wire (if you think it may pull too much power from the Z1) as well. Of course it would mean your Valentine would only be powered when the radio was on.

 

While technically yes, you could. The output of the remote turn on is 300mA which could actually power the radar detector. The Z1 turns on as soon as the key is on and is on till you turn the key of your car off. So there is no difference between powering it off the 12V switched with the key and the Z1's remote wire. The Z1 is on when the car is on.

 

It still would be cool if they had a wire that would mute the stereo when the radar detector went off.

[apeters89]

While technically yes, you could. The output of the remote turn on is 300mA which could actually power the radar detector. The Z1 turns on as soon as the key is on and is on till you turn the key of your car off. So there is no difference between powering it off the 12V switched with the key and the Z1's remote wire. The Z1 is on when the car is on.

 

It still would be cool if they had a wire that would mute the stereo when the radar detector went off.

 

Is it possible to have the Z1 take audio input all the time? ie: output any sounds from this input along with the currently selected audio source. I think you might be able to accomplish this if you are using the multi-channel processor by t-ing your second audio source (the Valentine audio out) in with the Z1 output. Would be interesting to try out, but alas I don't have a radar detector OR the multi-channel processor.

[F150 Duke]

Well I got the V1 installed and it works perfectly. The unit came with a wiring harness to hardwire it into the truck and that already had a fuse inline so I didn't have put my own in.

 

I have an 05 F150 and I used industrial velcro to attach the V1 to the underside large part of my rear view mirror. Anyone with a new bodystyle F150 that has the automatic dimming rear view mirror knows what I'm talking about. The rear antenna gets somewhat obstructed but not enough to really hurt it.

 

Thanks again for the help Ducati!

 

Duke