Ever wonder why they have never made cordless - battery-powered units???
Like why the 80’s technology with the giant cord hanging from your windshield and plug into a cigarette lighter? WTF
There are some cordless units out there, but not sure what the power draw are on these units. It would probably need to be recharged after several hours of use to maintain its effectiveness, thus not as popular as corded units.
I have always hardwired my RD, so this has never really been an issue. Its relatively easy to do.
My old man had a solar one back in the 90s. Might have been a Whistler, not sure. Didn’t work as well as the plug in DC units but it existed.
how do you hardwire it?
There are kits you can buy, but basically you tap on at the fuse box or other power source and run the wires in the headliner to the unit. I always made my own wiring setup, made it a clean install and more discreet. I always tapped on to the radio fuse in the past so it would power up with ACC/on.
Ive owned two different Escorts that were battery powered. I had to replace batteries continuously. Never again.
Most people who hardwire these days will get something called a mirror tap. Most semi-modern vehicles have some option or feature built into the rear view mirror, so it will have power leads going to it. The kit taps off that power connection from the mirror to power the radar detector.
You can also get USB power cords for these things now, which is a lot better than having to plug it into a cigarette lighter. But the downside is you lose the mute button they usually put on the cigarette lighter plug.