As far as I can tell I have this ^^^^ model stereo in my 98 Dodge Grand Caravan and I would like to run it from an external battery - the vehicle has lots of AV equipment fitted in it by a previous owner, drop down screens, games console, TV tuner, VCR, DVD and a big AV distribution amp in addition to the (many) factory fitted Infinity speakers (and amps?).

If the vehicle has this stuff running whilst stationary then the battery gets too flat to start the motor pretty quickly - my wife is unfortunately very ill and I would like to be able to use the "toys" occasionally to entertain the kids whilst we're parked outside hospitals while she receives treatment.

I figured that extra "leisure" batteries were the answer as I have done in more basic VW vans in the past and I have no trouble fitting the battery, split charging, and rewiring the ancillaries - but I have no idea where to start with the factory fitted stuff! This all operates off the key, and I haven't even been able to figure out which fuse it operates off as I was hoping to simply back-feed it a permanent line from my auxiliary battery through the board without having to take the dash and interior out, it's all a bit of a plastic starship to me as I 'm used to archaic Euro' boxes!

 

so you want to know which fuse feeds the radio? Do you just need the ignition feed or both the battery and ignition feeds?

 

What I'd hoped to do was simply back-feed through the existing fuse board using a fused line from my extra battery - it's a slightly dirty solution, but one I've used with great success in other vehicles as it doesn't modify the original wiring at all.

I'd expected the radio to be fed by the cig/accy fuse - but when I pulled it out the radio kept working.... Nothing else in the main fuse board looks like a contender.... ?

I have the skills to pull the whole radio out and chop up the factory loom - but I don't really want to if I can avoid it.

 

One fuse is in the junction block which is the fuse block inside the vehicle down by your feet and the other is in the power distribution center which is under the hood by the battery.

 

Awesome - that is fabulous information thank you.

I'm guessing the "battery" live is the fuse marked "memory" in the main board under the hood?

Although I'm in the UK, my car is a LHD Canadian model so I'm guessing these other fuses are in my drivers footwell, I never even thought to look there!

Is there any reason why the "memory" couldn't be left on the factory battery, whilst the "power" comes off the extra battery??? Probably just asking for trouble on that one!

Thank you so much for your help - fabulous.