Hello:

I just got a van that has a console b'w the seats with a TV, vcr, and inputs for dvd, unfortunately they're were not working. I opened the console and everything was plugged in except for the power wire which was not plugged to anything.

The equipment runs on 12v and it has 2 wires + and -. I connected both wires directly to the + and - terminals on the battery and they began working so I thought I had solved the problem. A friend told me that this way the equipment was always on and that it could drain my battery. He suggested that normally the equipment should operate only when the acc is on and that i should have used fuses and relays but he doesn't know how to do it.

Can anyone tell me step by step how to do it right. Thanks a lot

You can do either:

Run a switch in between the power wire.

or

Find the accessory wire that turns on only when the vehicle is on. If you let me know what kinda van it is, I can give the wire location and color.

Thanks for the reply the van is a 2001 nissan quest.
I was thinking of putting a relay in between: getting (+) from battery, then attaching ground and the accessory wire like you said. Another question I have is, ok the (+) wire will go through the relay to the positive terminal of the battery, how about the (-) wire? where do i connect it? Do i also run it directly to the battery (should i use another relay for that? fuse?)
Any help will be appreciated

You can use a relay, in fact I'd recommend it.

The negative wire you can run either straight to the battery or to a solid ground.

The trigger wire for the relay can have a switch placed in line or tapped to an acc wire.

Thanks a lot kardain and corsica dude, this help me a lot

I will go with the relay since it's better and safer.

kardian:
About the (-) wire you said that it could go straight to the (-) battery or to a solid ground. so can i ground it to the chasis of the car? sorry if i'm asking stupid questions.

Thank you

Yeah. ground it to the chassis of the car. Take some sandpaper or a screwdriver and scrape away the paint so it connects to bare metal. You can use a standard SPDT relay ($14.99 at Best Buy) and it'll work great.

85 to Accessory +
86 to Chassis ground -
30 to Battery +
87 to Equipment +

When the accessory is turned on, the relay will switch from 87a (left empty) to 87, thus completing the circuit.

The Accessory wire is the Blue wire at the Nissan's Ignition harness. Double check with a multimeter, but my DEI sheet information should be correct.

Good luck!

Thanks a lot for all that info and for taking your time to help me. Really apreciate it.