Wiring a ciggy socket to battery

[apricot]

Hi all,

I'm about to fit a ciggy socket under my seat so I can power my GPS and recharge phone while I'm away. Which bit is positive and which bit is negative (out of the pin or body)?

I was going to put an inline fuse in for added protection, and was wondering what ampage would be enough for the GPS?
I presume it doesn't draw much current as it can also run on 6 AA 1.5v batts for approx 20 hours.

If Martins about, will it need a relay?


Cheers in anticipation

Ady

[Tigger]

Hi Ady
If its only for charging a phone/GPS no relay needed. The pin is positive and the outer body is negative.

HTH
Matt

[Tigger]

And a 1amp fuse will be more than enough.

Matt

[apricot]

Cheers Tigger. Just got to find my soldering iron now.....

[bobh]

Recommend you use a two-pin socket of the type used by Optimate chargers, as it's much more compact and secure than a cig-lighter. I bought one from G Whites in Swindon for £4, complete with leads and an inline fuse, and it has a rubber cap to keep out the crap when it's not in use. It's a Tecmate part no. TM76.

Mating plugs (and spare sockets) are available from Maplins at under £2.

Bob H

[CD]

Good idea Bobh. In my car the phone charger was always falling out leaving me with a flat fone. It would have been even more useless on a Divvie.

[apricot]

Good point Bob. We've got a Maplins on the Island, I'll take a look later (and buy another soldering iron lol)

Ady

[An X-Member]

If you want it to switch off when you turn the ignition off then you will need to wire it to the switched side of your ignition.


Problem with ciggy lighter sockets are, they're c r a p. The problem there is your in-car chargers come with a ciggy lighter plug on the end, and they're that big and bulky it begs belief.
Best thing to do is rip the thing apart and make it smaller, you wouldn't believe how small a box you can get them to fit in.


Ideal Connectors
www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&DOY=16m3&ModuleNo=11474&criteria=
www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&DOY=16m3&ModuleNo=11455&criteria=

Good luck with the wiring job.