Extra Fuses, Extra Circuits?

uoip

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I'm looking to add a ham radio to my Civic, and I need about 15 amps to power it. I could run a wire through the firewall to the battery, but before I do that, I'm also looking at the interior fusebox, and the wiring that's already there. I have the LX sedan with sensing, and I notice there are three extra fuses: One for the drivers seat recline, one for the driver's seat sliding, and one for the moonroof. My LX sedan has a manual drivers seat and no moonroof, so there is nothing for those fuses to provide power to in my car.

Here's a photo of my fusebox, with the three extra fuses circled:

Honda Civic 10th gen Extra Fuses, Extra Circuits? {filename}


Fuse "A" is for the drivers seat recline, "B" is for the drivers seat slide, and "C" is for the moonroof, according to the manual and the chart near the fusebox.

My question is, since I know these fuses aren't powering anything in my car, does anyone know where I can tap the output of these fuses? In theory, it looks like there are three extra circuits with 20 amps apiece available. I'd love to find the output of one of these, and swap a 15 amp fuse in there to power my radio.

Furthermore, out of curiosity, is this normal for other LX owners? It seems like Honda doesn't normally provide fuses for circuits that aren't present on a particular trim level -- did they just make a manufacturing mistake in my case? Not that I'm complaining, of course. It only cost them a few extra cents, but they usually seem to be pretty thrifty about things like that. There are other empty fuse slots for other options that are missing in my car, like smart entry and front seat heater.

With previous cars, I've always bought paper factory service manuals, which had all the electrical info. But this car has no paper factory service manual available, so I may have to spring for a day's subscription to the on-line technical service info to figure out the best way to get power for my radio. But I thought I'd see if anyone here can help with the puzzle.
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carlson03

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How about one of the add-a-fuse things?I use one to power my dash cam and works great
 
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uoip

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How about one of the add-a-fuse things?I use one to power my dash cam and works great
It's limited to 10 amps, according to the instructions. I might start with one of those, and leave the radio on low transmit power to limit the current draw. But I'd really prefer to have something that will safely handle at least 15 amps, without having any part of the wiring heat up or cause a significant voltage drop.

But yeah, those gadgets are handy.
 

HBK

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I don't know why the fuses are there if you don't have those features, but if you don't have a motor to draw the current I don't see how it would pull 20A. Perhaps it just needs a signal for the bcm? I would add a fuse tap, replace the 20A with a 5A. Put a 15A in the new lead of the fuse tap. so max allowable current is still 20A. Most of the time they only provide 10A fuses so that people don't overload and draw more than 20A from the terminal. Just get a good quality fuse tap and you should be fine. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, you can buy fuse taps that are "rated" for more than 10A. Just make sure total rating of both fuses does not exceed 20A.
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