Modification for Seat Emergency Response driving....HELP!

[emp_ming]

Hi All

Forgive me, its my first Post on the forum and hope its in the right place....

Bit of background....I am a Paramedic working for the NHS, but will soon be using my own car to respond to 999 calls on days off (paid of course!). So I get to modify my car for Blue Lights and Sirens (cool eh!?). I own a 57 plate Seat Leon 1.9 tdi Stylance.

Now, I've got all the equipment I need (head light flasher units, LED dash and deck lights, siren unit, small magnetic beacon etc) but fitting it is my responsibility, which isn't a problem, I've got friends who are handy at those types of things.

BUT, one of the biggest problems I've got with the Seat is that once the keys are out of the ignition the power to my 12v cuts out. I need to have the Lights working when my keys are out (Road Traffic Accidents etc)..... is there an easy way of sorting this out - i've been told that its possible, but no other info.

Please, if anyone can help or suggest somewhere else to post, I'd be greatful.

Cheers

LOBNH

 

[P13ULC]

Instead of taking an ignition wire as the source for the equipment why not take a new feed straight from the battery, no problems with that.

 

[tommy_a]

Can you not just run them from a constant live ie battery? You could then use switches or relays to achieve this! I only have basic knowledge of vehicle electrics and that's as much as I know!

 

[BenRed]

You need to find a constant live or run a new one from the battery. make sure you put a switch on the feed (to make sure it does not drain the battery when you dont need it) and a fuse too!

 

[BenRed]

999 calls in your own car as overtime sounds pretty cool by the way!

 

[Gazza_24]

As said above just run a few live wires straight from the battery with some switches to turn power on & off.


How funny would that be seeing a modified Leon turn up at emergencies with big wheels and spoilers and stuff lol.

Obviously you will have to post up sone pictures when you have completed this

 

[BenRed]

Yeah look forward to the pics!

 

[mrcoyote]

Just a note though... Does your personal car insurance cover you for this?

 

[emp_ming]

haha, i'm looking forward to it - just wish I had the FR I was planning to buy!! that would have been even more fun. Would have challenged my mates on Traffic....!!

In all honesty, I'm not going to drive it too hard - if it goes wrong, its my problem!! And, driving 'covert' cars isn't as fun as you'd imagine - people struggle to see me in a big yellow van covered in lights. let alone a Black leon!

Any suggestions on handy holes (?!?) to run the wires through from the engine? thanks for the suggestions so far....!

 

[emp_ming]

Just a note though... Does your personal car insurance cover you for this?

it does now!!

there are a few specialist insurance companies that cover Responders especially (Towergate brokers) and more mainstream - Tesco, Direct Line etc. Obviously, most won't insure you without driving certification, authorisation use etc.

 

[Nath.]

My local Paramedics have a face lift Leon FR TDI in yellow with 18's. looks cool.

 

[fireblade929]

Run a permanent feed from the fuse box, o/s/f of dash........

 

[m0rk]

Run a permanent feed from the fuse box, o/s/f of dash........

best info yet..... It's all set up to be connected safely from there

 

[tehguy]

Bear in mind if you turn up to the scene of an accident or whatever and you need to leave your car in a prominent place with all the lights going to warn other traffic, it's going to drain your battery quite fast.

If you didn't already know, police cars / ambulances etc are fitted with a "run lock relay" which once activated, will keep the engine running after you remove the keys from the ignition. Therefore you can leave all your lights flashing and not have to worry about draining the battery. Once you're done you can put the keys back in and drive off.

Don't worry about your car getting stolen either - as soon as the handbrake is released (in a manual car) or the footbrake is depressed (in an automatic car) it will stop the engine.

Link: http://www.emergencyequipmentshop.co.uk/lock-relay-unit-p-278.html

 

[spenny2004]

cant believe that you are doing this in your own car!! In the traffic cars I drive at work there are all fitted with the above described system, this is called KRS (keep running system) this means you can take out the keys and the car will keep running, it is only disengaged when, in the older cars you remove the hand brake or in the newer ones when you press the clutch. Still cant believe this is something you have do in your own car

 

[K1Shane]

Bear in mind if you turn up to the scene of an accident or whatever and you need to leave your car in a prominent place with all the lights going to warn other traffic, it's going to drain your battery quite fast.

If you didn't already know, police cars / ambulances etc are fitted with a "run lock relay" which once activated, will keep the engine running after you remove the keys from the ignition. Therefore you can leave all your lights flashing and not have to worry about draining the battery. Once you're done you can put the keys back in and drive off.

Don't worry about your car getting stolen either - as soon as the handbrake is released (in a manual car) or the footbrake is depressed (in an automatic car) it will stop the engine.

Link: http://www.emergencyequipmentshop.co.uk/lock-relay-unit-p-278.html

cant believe that you are doing this in your own car!! In the traffic cars I drive at work there are all fitted with the above described system, this is called KRS (keep running system) this means you can take out the keys and the car will keep running, it is only disengaged when, in the older cars you remove the hand brake or in the newer ones when you press the clutch. Still cant believe this is something you have do in your own car

we have this on our vans at work. You basically press the 'anti theft' switch and you can remove the keys and lock front doors.

Its a brilliant idea as I can leave my beacons on while I set up away from the van. And I know that if the brake is depressed or handbrake released, the engine cuts out

 

[emp_ming]

Thanks for the info so far people!

Yep, all of our newer vehicles at work have 'run lock' on them. Ironically, you can't actually lock the vehicle with the same key setup tho = our newest motors have a seperate keyfob and locking set up so that it can be done. So most of the older vehicles are just 'run'! It is quite expensive.

Some of our older vehicles don't have run lock - it isn't so much of a problem if the lights are all LED's as the draw on them is soooo low in comparison to the old strobes or rotating beacons. We've got a Focus at work that doesn't have run lock on and I've been at RTA's with the roof lights, 12v spot light, side lights and hazards all running for about 1.5hrs with no issue when it came to starting up again. But, that being said, we have 'gel' batteries (or something) that are supposed to be better - I'll try and get one off of the workshop lads!!

If in doubt, i'll use the defib on the battery! (joke!!)

Oh, and i'm not being forced to take on the extra roll, its a voluntary thing. I live in quite a rural area, so cover can be short at times (all of the time really with the NHS cuts!). Just becomes a problem if a patient acutally needs to go to hospital - theres no way their going in my car!!!

 

[K1Shane]

If in doubt, i'll use the defib on the battery! (joke!!)

Just becomes a problem if a patient acutally needs to go to hospital - theres no way their going in my car!!!

Hahahaha sounds bad but i'd be the same mate

 

[tehguy]

Or you could get a deep cycle battery fitted and run the strobes off that with a caravan charging relay. They are designed for continuous low amperage output rather (eg in caravans running a fridge or TV) rather than short, high amperage outputs (starting the engine) like normal car batteries. Plus, they are designed to be drained up to 80% and recharged constantly so it won't do it any harm if you do end up running it really low. And with the caravan charging relay it will only be able to draw power from the main battery (and therefore alternator) when the engine is running.

 

[n_d_fox]

Or you could get a deep cycle battery fitted and run the strobes off that with a caravan charging relay. They are designed for continuous low amperage output rather (eg in caravans running a fridge or TV) rather than short, high amperage outputs (starting the engine) like normal car batteries. Plus, they are designed to be drained up to 80% and recharged constantly so it won't do it any harm if you do end up running it really low. And with the caravan charging relay it will only be able to draw power from the main battery (and therefore alternator) when the engine is running.

Sounds like a smart idea you could utilise... although you would need to mount it properly in the boot and run the fuses / cables from there.