I have a cigarette socket jerry rigged in my car , straight from the battery. (i use it to power the intercom and sat nav) but I would like to fit it more professionally. It already has a fuse fitted naturally.

Electrics are the devils spawn to me, so can anyone give me any pointers as to where I should really take the current etc, so that I do not have millions of single wires going to the battery (I you know what I mean).

Yours
Craig

I would take power form the ignition switch. So when you have the engine running, it would charge your accessories

Iv taken mine from position 1 of the ignition switch as it was spare. That way you cant leave the things on that are plugged into it and drain your battery.

Just go from that, cant remeber the wire colour off the ign switch, to you lighter via a fuse the from the lighter to earth.

thanks folks, sounds like a plan. Was worried that I might need some for of relay and the like?

cheers
Craog

It depends on your ignition switch..

If you have one from a modernish car they are not designed to switch any loads!

Ideally you either need a large relay activated by the ignition switch, or a feed straight from the battery, via a suitable fuse and into the socket.

make sure it is earthed correctly as well.

^^^ Agreed! In some ways directly feed might actually be the simplest just make sure the in-line fuse is close to the battery in the positive lead (so you are protected from shorts "down stream" of it)... Especially if you want it on all the time....

So you could just tidy it up i.e. tape it to the existing loom from the battery to the dash area... Make sure nothing can't chaff though the insulation..

A lighter socket can source a lot of current, so make sure the conductor cross section is large enough to take more than the current of the fuse you want to fit (you might chose a smaller fuse if you only plug in low current stuff..

Dan

[Edited on 11/9/09 by Bluemoon]

[Edited on 11/9/09 by Bluemoon]

Vehicle Wiring Product do a good selection of 12V power sockets and accessories incliding some panel mount versions - ideal for fitting into or under your dash.

This is one of my winter projects if the car doesn't sell (which I have to say I'm hoping it doesn't)

I'd do it with a relay personally, which is easy to wire up (coil to earth and ignition switch, contacts to fusebox and socket. Other side of socket to earth - job done).

Though it depends ultimately how much current the ignition switch can carry and what you plug in.

Ive got mine wired straight to the battery via a fuse, so it is powered all the time. I have a solar trickle charger that plugs into the lighter socket. Having it this way means i can have it on charge all the time. If it was wired upto the ignition, then it would only charge the battery with the keys in, and ignition on

You need to go "old skool"... my TVR has a "cigar lighter" installed on the dash

I wired it straight to the battery via a fuse

Old skool , kiss mode for me, direct a mundo but fused ofcause.

Mike

To simplify the initial wiring and give room for future mods I fitted a VWP fuseboxwith 16 fuse positions. Half the input side fed by a common feed from the battery live and half from a 40 amp relay switched by the ignition switch. Very easy to add to or alter as time has gone on.
Rescued attachment supplies3.JPG

For your purposes you probably don't need a relay just fit a fuse or circuit breaker as close to where you connect to the cars +12v as possible.

However if putting extra cigar lighter sockets in tintops for mobile phones and the like it is best to use a relay that goes on and off with the ignition --- ff fitting more than one socket use separate relays for each or one of those double contact isolating relays.



[Edited on 11/9/09 by britishtrident]

How much juice are you going to pull?
I wanted to use a 20A heater to keep my tootsies warm (I'm from the south ) so I installed a lighter socket with big fat cables going to the battery via a fat 12v relay triggered by an ignition live (in fact I used the cable I had previously used to power the socket).

Works nicely. No discharged batteries and I can pull big amps (as long as my puny 28A alternators is coping- I can't have the heater on with lights, or indicators etc etc etc)....

thanks everyone, sounds like I will just tidy up the current installation, rather than re-wire.

Ben, doubt I am pulling much juice at all.. enought for the intercoms system and the Sat Nav system...though a heater is beginning to sound like a good idea as it gets colder..

I bought one of those double sockets which plugs into the original socket, then cut the socket off and wired it (with in line fuse) direct to the battery.

The main reason for this is so that I can plug in a charger and charge the battery

Oh, and the plug I cut off the double sockets, I put on the charger.

Mine's connected to the permanently live feed via a 10A fuse, so that I can use it to trickle-charge my battery.

Mind you - it's not a proper ciggy lighter socket - it's got a lid instead of a lighter, and is only used as a power socket. I don't allow smoking in any of my cars, and it would be pointless in a Locost anyway!