Second cig lighter / 12v supply

[FinalD]

How would I go about adding a second cig lighter / 12v supply to the car?

I'd like to be able to install a second cig lighter socket prior to the cassette holder hole. I'd then want to install a twin USB charger unit so I can have an iPod charging and plugged into the stereo (aux in) and have my phone charging in a new cubbyhole (I'll have to make this) in the cassette holder space.

[FinalD]

A Sony CDX-GT300

It came with the car and has AUX in (far right). I'm happy to just put the iPod onto shuffle when I get in, it's better than changing CDs all the time (have to do that in the Mondeo) although not ideal obviously. I'd rather not buy a new HU though, this one works and does what I need really.





I figure if I can install one of the below devices under the lump between the cassette holder and the gear section that'd be perfect, provides charging for the iPod and for my phone whilst leaving the cables out the way and the front cig socket available for other stuff.

[polsta]

got one of these twin usb things myself, handy , work a treat

[FinalD]

got one of these twin usb things myself, handy , work a treat

Same. Got one in the Mondeo and it is brilliant, I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have a tiwin 2.1A USB supply via the centre console with wires hidden out of the way instead of in the way in front of the gear stick.

The iPod you could leave in the glove box.

If I spent the money on the sort of HU I would prefer then yeah, I'd have the iPod in the glove box (I'd actually probably mount it out of side above the glove box). But this one largely does what I want and I'd still need to run a 2.1A 12v circuit to the glove box to hide the iPod.
The idea is I'll be making up a cubbyhole / glove box for the centre console, from the old cassette holder.


I'm thinking the easiest way is to use a double connection on the back of the current cig lighter and run to to a spare sig lighter socket I have. I.e. where the spade connection is, attach a Y piece to allow a second in parallel.
My only issue with this is that it could over load the circuit/draw too much if I plugged in a charger on the front socket for a sat nav?

[magpie]

seat Alhambra's and vw sharans have x2 auxiliary cig lighter type ports in the boot you could work with that possibly ?

[polsta]

got one of these twin usb things myself, handy , work a treat

Same. Got one in the Mondeo and it is brilliant, I'm just thinking it'd be nice to have a tiwin 2.1A USB supply via the centre console with wires hidden out of the way instead of in the way in front of the gear stick.

The iPod you could leave in the glove box.

If I spent the money on the sort of HU I would prefer then yeah, I'd have the iPod in the glove box (I'd actually probably mount it out of side above the glove box). But this one largely does what I want and I'd still need to run a 2.1A 12v circuit to the glove box to hide the iPod.
The idea is I'll be making up a cubbyhole / glove box for the centre console, from the old cassette holder.


I'm thinking the easiest way is to use a double connection on the back of the current cig lighter and run to to a spare sig lighter socket I have. I.e. where the spade connection is, attach a Y piece to allow a second in parallel.
My only issue with this is that it could over load the circuit/draw too much if I plugged in a charger on the front socket for a sat nav?

im going to have same sort of dilema...

old set up in my is (now in my range rover) - head unit, with rear wired ipod lead, running through in to glove box, remote control , so never touch the ipod) , and a twin usb cig adapter, to charge iphone

but when use sat nav if not charged, i just plug that in the cig lighter
......


in my 325- i have the sqr 88 with front aux , and casette holder console with casettes

and aim to have ipod in the glove box, with the lead, and just connect the aux lead when i want to use it and have it going across

but its then how to power/charge the ipod, without another cable going across to the cig


so.. really what we need....is the best way, to have a usb port lead, in the glove box powered from the car direct, to allow power/charging, of any usb device hidden in glove box

there must be a way to have that lead powered direct ? without having to be usb on the other end plugged in to a 2nd hidden cig lighter adapter ?

[daimlerman]

BMW wiring is wonderfully logical.

Brown is earth,brown with a tracer is a wire on it's way to earth via a switch or a sensor.

Red is always live,central locking red/black is an example.

Green is live with the ign,plain green from the ign switch to the coil is an example.

Feeds in red or green are both available both behind the glovebox and at the accessories socket.

[polsta]

so what would be the best way, to get a "usb port" in the wiring behind there, without having to use a cig lighter socket behind there also ?

ie a usb port with a few inches of cable... can you power that cable direc to a power cable, or would it have to go through something to convert the power or something ?

[daimlerman]

so what would be the best way, to get a "usb port" in the wiring behind there, without having to use a cig lighter socket behind there also ?

ie a usb port with a few inches of cable... can you power that cable direc to a power cable, or would it have to go through something to convert the power or something ?

You will find a heavy red cable running from the fusebox via the wiring duct going to the ign switch,that's neat,full,UNFUSED juice.So if tapping into this,prudence would suggest an inline fuse!
I have a socket on this wire to feed an inverter,but I usually ask 'er indoors to plug it in when she wishes to charge her phone,it's a decent laugh when 'er hair stands on end....

Or you could,just 'piggyback' a connector off the existing cigarette lighter wiring,that's on a 30A fuse,so should be ample.

[polsta]

yeah what im asking is...could you just piggy back, a cable thats attched to a usb port, in to a power wire (thats only live with ignition-green) , direct, and it would power and be ok ? or would that usb port wire, hve to go through something 1st before entering the wiring ?

[daimlerman]

yeah what im asking is...could you just piggy back, a cable thats attched to a usb port, in to a power wire (thats only live with ignition-green) , direct, and it would power and be ok ? or would that usb port wire, hve to go through something 1st before entering the wiring ?

Ummmmm,perhaps you would need to poke the USB wire through a grommit first...

[FinalD]

Or you could,just 'piggyback' a connector off the existing cigarette lighter wiring,that's on a 30A fuse,so should be ample.

This is essentially what I was aiming to do, running a second cig lighter (got a spare from the touring) in parallel with the original *should* be fine in theory. I forgot what size the fuse was and also wasn't sure how much the cable was capable of drawing.
The USB converters like above are 2.1A on each USB port (the one I currently use is 2.1A and 1A) so if you have four devices plugged in (I wouldn't have that many plugged in) you'd in theory have a max draw of 2.1*4=8.4A. The fuse would be happy with that but I'm unsure of the cable to the cig lighter, that is my concern, overloading the cable and burning it out.

yeah what im asking is...could you just piggy back, a cable thats attched to a usb port, in to a power wire (thats only live with ignition-green) , direct, and it would power and be ok ? or would that usb port wire, hve to go through something 1st before entering the wiring ?

I'm not too sure what you're getting at if I'm honest. To run power to USB you'd need to convert it to the USB lead. Now, you could find out which wire is which inside a USB lead and butcher it into the car's wiring but I feel this would be extremely unsafe and is highly likely to break your device.
Another option would be to butcher one of the 12v cig to USB devices and connect the + and - on that to the car's wiring. This would be a 'safer' option certainly and if you wanted a perm (wired correctly into the ignition live it can only power up when the car does) powered USB connection in the glove box, it is probably the best.
The final option is as I would like to do, which is butchering a spare cig lighter into the car's wiring. The plus side of doing this is that you can remove the USB converter should you not wish to have it any more/it is causing problems.

I want to have the choice to unplug the converter if I don't wish to use it, hence wanting to do the third option but wanting other's opinions on doing this.

[polsta]

See what your saying, but idea being..having a wire with USB socket on the end that's wired, same as from a stereo, that isn't permanently connected to a cig socket in the glove box, So basically just cut the cig socket and adapter and more connections out, are there any dangers to having a hidden cig socket permanently connected with the adapter in ? Just makes sense to have a wire connected properly if its possible ?

[FinalD]

I don't see any reasons for the hidden socket approach to be bad, no. In the Mondeo the socket is hidden by a flip lid and permanently has the adapter plugged in, car hasn't burnt to the ground, yet.
The issue I have with it is more a case of the current wiring potentially melting if I plugged lots of items into both cig sockets due to an over loaded circuit. But as has been mentioned by daimlerman, the fuse is 30A which means I should only blow that, but it does depend on what the cig lighter loom is rated to.

My iPod will not be living in the car so won't actually be charging all of the time. The simple reason for this is that my car is a cab, anything worth more than the car (even an old iPod ) is likely to be stolen. So with me running it from a second cig lighter, if that is a perm live it won't cause any problems with my device being left plugged in etc. as there will be no draw.

The issue with having (ignition switched) positive feed > USB directly is you'll need to lower (possibly even raise) the amperage of the supply line and ensure that the voltage is stable too. You'd also need to know which wires within the USB connection are for power (not difficult to find out really).
So even though you're removing the cig socket and adapter, you'd essentially have to wire in the contents of the adapter anyway to ensure the correct amount of power is supplied on the correct lines.

[Morat]

Don't forget that USB is 5V.

[FinalD]

Don't forget that USB is 5V.

Never can remember the voltage of USB, but again, this pushes my idea of running cig lighter units in parallel being a more sensible option as it doesn't require taking apart the converter units.

[clipper]

I have a hidden second socket wired in parallel with the original (on the original fuse).

The USB charger is plugged in to it behind the dash and the lead comes out just next to my phone holder. (No holes required as I have the dreaded Diavia Air Con grill!)

The only problems that I have experienced was when a low quality charger (with weak springs on the negative, lateral connectors) kept working its way out of the socket with vibrations / knocks. A bit of a pain taking dash / console bits apart just to push the plug back in !

[FinalD]

I have a hidden second socket wired in parallel with the original (on the original fuse).

The USB charger is plugged in to it behind the dash and the lead comes out just next to my phone holder. (No holes required as I have the dreaded Diavia Air Con grill!)

The only problems that I have experienced was when a low quality charger (with weak springs on the negative, lateral connectors) kept working its way out of the socket with vibrations / knocks. A bit of a pain taking dash / console bits apart just to push the plug back in !

Perfect! This is exactly what I wanted to hear, so you've not died in a fireyball of death then.

Yeah, the only downside is as you say, one working loose, but my current one is quite tight in the socket of the Mondeo so I'm hoping a second one will be in the E30. Cheers for that though, I'll wire my spare in at some point and do a small write up too, including making the cubbyhole/storage compartment for the cassette area.

[polsta]

this is the sort of thing i was thinking, but just a socket hidden in the glove box, wired in, cutting out the need for a 12v adapter and an extra cig socket, so surely you could just sire this and a fuse maybe, in to the cig feed ?

click next to see the steps

http://www.instructables.com/id/USB-pow ... Prius-III/

if you wanted one in the handbrake console, you could even do something like this ?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-pow ... in-this-c/

[polsta]

another guide here, scroll right down to the actual wiring in bit..

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/61-2n ... blank.html

so basicly just end up with a socket like this, in the glove box

[FinalD]

That is quite possibly one of the most horrific mods I've seen, I suppose it can be done neater but that just looks nasty to me. That is the general idea I was on about though with regards to stripping down an adapter and wiring it into the car's ignition live like you asked about.

Personally, I'd rather run the second cig lighter option as it is simpler and neater. It also means I can remove the power adapter unit very easily should I need to.

My idea is to do something along the lines of this:









Which means the cig socket can be used and plugged/unplugged whenever I like, I also think I'll put a cover on the top of the cassette area, using the old cassette holder tops if I can.

As the actual main cig lighter is the closest point of power it seems logical to do what I'm planning if I want power in the centre console (also means rear passengers can get power if needed). If you just want it in the glove box then any of the options you've linked to would work just as well (potentially, if done right, a lot better).

[polsta]

its basicly exact the same thing isnt it, but from looking through them links, theres a circut in these adapters,that ajusts the power feed, so surely youd be better off just opening the back up like they do, connecting the wires to the standard cig lighter feed , with the wire running along the console to the hole you have made and mounting it there, rather than having a a big adapater, plugged in to a spare cig lighter socket behind there, wired in to the same feed, sort of doesnt make any sense to do that ?

[FinalD]

But then I can't unplug it.

The idea of what I want to do is have a fully functional power adapter point (cig socket), be it for the USB adapter or for another device as not everything runs off USB.
As I say, if I solely wanted USB power then yes, modifying one of the adapters and wiring it into my loom would be a better option. Something to consider with that option though is, is the cig lighter live all of the time? If so I'd rather not leave it wired in, in case something did go wrong with the adapter. With this I can plug in my tyre compressor if I wanted, or if the adapter fails, I can easily remove and replace it, and if I really wanted, I could plug another actual cig lighter into there.

With a cover over the whole area it should all be hidden and work well so the overall aesthetics of seeing another cig lighter is moot.

[FinalD]

I have the cassette holder like this one:





and it is what I plan on using to make the cubbyhole, with the tops being joined together to make a cover for it.

[polsta]

yeah i see what you are saying, im not sure about the cig lighter being live

what im going to do, is get an adapter, its a f**ker as i butchered a cradle with a cig plug in socket a couple of weeks ago, to make a clip on iphone cradle for my range rover dash, i think i binned it il have to check

and il get my auto electrician to do it and wire it in when he does the stereo and alarm, as hel know exactly what hes doing and how it all works