Radar Detector wiring

[89bumblethumper]

I just bought a Bel Vector 960 Radar detector for my car...my car from the day i bought it never had a cigarette lighter so i can't use the adapter for the radar detector. My brother wired his radar detector straight to his dome light and it worked fine(he had NO fuse to the wire). Not with me...i tried each wire to a different pin...and the fuse is NOT blown since a light still works in the thing. I have tried to install a 12V adapter to install in the place of the cigarette lighter, and that will not work either...i can't find the fuse for the cigarette lighter anywhere so i can't figure out if it is blown or not. Here is my dilema (sp) either:

If someone could tell me what fuse is the Cigarette lighter to since it is not labelled anywhere so that i can possibly fix that problem. Also if someone could tell me what wire to the cigarette lighter is Positive and Negative...The wires are Red and Red/Black.

OR:

Do i NEED the 3 amp fuse that is in the cigarette lighter adapter in order for the Detector to work...if so then i can just jerry-rig the fuse in-line with the positive wire from the detector so that it is fused.

thanks

[ACCORD EX]

i think the lighter doesn't have a fuse by its own ! it's with other stuff ! does anything else doesn't work ?

anyway fuses are used to protect a circuit in case of a short circuit happens ( or over current passes through ) so it' s always recommened to pass any device in the car through a fuse which has an amp rating like the device it self !

MIKE

[89bumblethumper]

everything else in the car works fine...Guys a Napa said that the lighter is possibly fused with the stereo and my stereo DEF. works. I can't find anything in my car that doesn't work aside from the Cigarette Lighter.

[89bumblethumper]

If worse comes to worse, i can just put the positive wire to the positive for my head unit and neg. to the neg. wire for my head unit..do you think that that would work???

[ACCORD EX]

you can wire your own cigarettet lighter socket and replace the current one ! but what ever you do put a fuse before it ( on the positive wire , i am really not expert at the cigarette lighter , but if i were you and have time i would have taken the old socket out and try to fix it or fix the wiring to it !

MIKE