insulate the serial cable?

so i am getting ready to have the stereo installed tomorrow (by a "professional") and in the manual, page 19, it says

If this connector [serial] is not used, care must be taken to ensure that it is insulated due to the 12V output present on pin 4.

so this worries me. What is the serial connection used for? i have no idea, so i have no idea if it will be used or not. Assuming not, how do you insulate a serial cable? what happens if i dont? will the unit short out and start a fire? will i get a loud buzzing sound every time i make a left turn? Will the stereo guy know what this means, and know how to insulate it? i doubt it, as i assume serial connections are unusual on car stereos.

help pls?

thanks
joe

30102792, 10 GB, Blue

wrap a bit of insulating tape around it. Should be fine. You will only get a short circuit if something metal manages to poke into the 12V socket in the plug (not very likely!), but it is better to be safe than sorry ay :-)

Oh yeah, what can you use the serial cable for in the car? Plugging things such as laptops, handheld computers (eg Palms), GPS units, ..... into

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Edited by Derek on 20/10/01 12:05 AM.

The worst that could probably happen is if pin 4 of the serial cable touches some bare metal inside your dash, a fuse could blow somewhere.

In this case, covering the end of the cable with a piece of tape is sufficient.

___________
Tony Fabris

ha! Beat you Tony! ;-)

Well, it is pretty late over here, and small things are getting to be amusing :-)

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