Where is a reliable place for switched power on a 2003 Rubicon?

AndyG

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I have found that you can't just tap on anywhere without creating some electrical weirdness... What is a reliable place to tap on to get switched to power on the fuse block behind the glove compartment.

Thanks
Andy
 
Yes...that is switched power.
I was just making sure you described that a tad better as there are many readers of this forum who have zero clue of any of these terms.
Pending wgere this thread goes someone might stumble upon this 5 days from now...5 years from now, etc

Just like when we say KOEO...I always make a point at least the first time to say (Key on Engine Off) immediately after because there are people that don't know this stuff.
 
I have found that you can't just tap on anywhere without creating some electrical weirdness... What is a reliable place to tap on to get switched to power on the fuse block behind the glove compartment.

Thanks
Andy
I've been tapping the unused fuse locations under the hood, but the ones I used are not switched. If you have unused locations in the the box behind glove-compartment, test them to see if they are switched or not. I like using those leads, because you can just crimp a spade on the wire, and plug it in the hot side where the fuse goes, then use an inline fuse. No butchery or overloaded circuits that way.
 
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Isnt there a switched free floating wire behind the fuse panel behind the glovebox on the later year TJs?

If no hardtop you could use the rear defrost slot.
 
I tapped something into the defrost one time and it created a back feed and my defroster wouldn't work... And this was without the hardtop installed.

I'll play with it but if anybody knows for sure any locations that won't bite me let me know.

Andy
 
Are you needing power to run an accessory or just feed a relay?
I've powered multiple relays just by tapping directly into the 12v outlet wire. For added safety, you could always add a smaller inline fuse.
If it's like my '06 (with two power outlets), you have a choice of keyed power or constant.
 
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Are you needing power to run an accessory or just feed a relay?
I've powered multiple relays just by tapping into the 12v outlet wire. For added safety, you could always add a smaller inline fuse.
The relay will get power from a constant 12 volt source
... The switch will trigger the relay and I want the switch to be governed by the ignition so the lights can't be turned on and left on inadvertently.

These are auxiliary lights on the rear of the vehicle...I just don't want to activate the lights to cause another circuit on the vehicle to do anything funky like kill all my gauges.. I had that happen because I hooked up something to the defrost circuit and when I hit the defrost circuit and acted like a ground.
 
Mines a '98.
view.jpg
 
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Thank you and it totally stands to reason most relays port would have a place for switched to power to come in..hence the whole concept. Good job.
I feel like a hero...Maybe I was just having a bad day, marriage can do that to you :)
But I did fix my P0123 code today...and she calls beer my mistress :ROFLMAO:
 
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I did not do this. But, my light at is hooked into the defrost switch. I don’t run the hardtop though but it hasn’t presented any issues. I’m no electrical guy though, but owned the Jeep for two years.
 
I did not do this. But, my light at is hooked into the defrost switch. I don’t run the hardtop though but it hasn’t presented any issues. I’m no electrical guy though, but owned the Jeep for two years.
It may depend on what you tap into it...mine was back up camera so it was sending signals both ways and somehow it crossed over into the cluster. Crazy. Also there's some variation on the models probably. I've had a couple of things happen on tapping on to random circuits so I've gotten a little cautious.
 
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It may depend on what you tap into it...mine was back up camera so it was sending signals both ways and somehow it crossed over into the cluster. Crazy. Also there's some variation on the models probably. I've had a couple of things happen on tapping on to random circuits so I've gotten a little cautious.


It’s odd but Mopar during these years had really odd electrical things that do funky stuff. My 2006 Ram had some odd things it would do like throw random codes then run fine. 🤷‍♂️
 
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