Product Description
Direct Wire SmartCord provides a more discreet and more permanent mounting option for the Escort radar detector. It includes a built-in alert lamp pilot light and convenient mute button. The perfect match for your blue light or red light Escort 8500 X50 radar detector.
Product Features
- In-dash power cord for radar and laser detectors
- Includes power-on indicator, LED alert for radar and laser, and mute button
- Installs in vehicle fuse panel and mounts within driver’s reach
- Compatible with Passport 9500i, 8500 X50, Solo S2, and Passport 7500S models
- Also fits earlier Passport 8500, 7500, and 6800 detectors, and newer BEL units with a modular jack
The guy below me, Norman, said exactly what I wanted to say about the product. It is a bit expensive for the simple circuitry (I should have just made one as a EE major…).
The only thing I want to note is that if you are buying this, you need to access your car’s fuse box. It’s rated at a certain current rating (I can’t remember what, I think its 10 or 15 amps), which means you need to find an open slot for it to work it…
… If you are like me, and may not have any open slots with this requirement, you’ll need one of these:
http://www.f150online.com/galleries/images/1408-2028-51119.jpg
That is called an “add-a-fuse”. It will allow you to plug that into a fuse slot, and piggyback it for your hardwire setup (this way, you don’t void any warranties). This is a less than 5 dollar buy at most hardware stores, I know pep boys has them. It’s worth it to check out your fuse box before you buy, so you can have all the components in-hand when your setting it up (which should take you 5-10 minutes, depending how you want to cleanly run the wires).
If you have an Escort or Bel radar detector with a SmartCord, this is really your only option to hardwire your detector without losing your remote display and mute button.
The wires are long enough to route across the headliner, down the A pillar, and to your fuse panel. I was planning to put this in my center console, but the wires weren’t quite long enough for that.
Escort makes two very big assumptions with this cord:
1) You want to splice one of your 12V wires
2) You know how and where to locate a 12V wire in your vehicle’s electrical system
In my case, #1 wasn’t true, so I opted to use a fuse tap instead of the included wire splice. If this is what you want to do, too, you’ll need either the Wirthco 30001 Fuse Tap Kit, or if your car uses mini fuses (like mine does), the Wirthco 30800 Mini Fuse Tap Kit. Using a fuse tap, you don’t need to locate or splice any wires — just a switched fuse in your fuse panel (many owners manuals will list which ones are switched).
Escort ships this with a ring attached to the ground wire, which may or may not fit the location you plan to use as a ground. In my case, it didn’t fit. So, clipping off a bit of the ring was necessary. Alternatively, you can just remove the ring and crimp on one that’s the proper size.
The part of the the cord that makes it “smart” is where things can get tricky. The power cords all originate in the back, which can make installation difficult if you’re planning on integrating this with a knockout in your dashboard. Escort includes some Velcro for mounting it, but it takes a fair amount of trimming to get it mounted without looking cheap.
All said, if you’re willing to put in a half hour or so to make everything look nice, and have a very basic understanding of vehicle wiring, this is pretty decent. A bit overpriced for what it is, though.
A word of warning… there are loads of people selling simple power kits (basically phone jacks with two wires) as the same thing. Make sure you buy from Amazon to be 100% sure you’re getting a genuine Escort product.
Sorry, but I felt very cheated and disappointed when he opened up. (Fast shipping, however). The picture on Amazon was the original "EXCORT" brand cord, and yet the price was more reasonable. Words such as "original" and "Direct Excort Wire SmartCord" led me to believe this was a fact, and perhaps worth the money, even with the shipping … No Yes! What came of course, just another Chinese Knock-off with what I assumed would be the typical cheesy quality of such "things". I wrote to the seller, and not receive a quick response. stated that the picture was something checked Amazon, and they are willing to refund (but no address was included), and now the inconvenience of acquiring traffic continues to Christmas Day, standing in line to the PO, plus the total shipping cost, and when and gas. After re-reading ads, continues to feel the wording used at the time. There is of course possible that the service will provide a good time, but should be aware that what may be to believe, you're paying for may not be what you receive in your mailbox.
amazing product, mute button is the key and only have to move my finger two inches from the shifter to mute, amazing
Although 'must' for the Escort Passport users, it is somewhat difficult to install by yourself.