Cable from air vent to car lighter?

[russman68]

Hi people,

I just got a nifty little brodit iPhone holder and in-car charger that clips onto the right part of the central airvent and has a meter long cable to connect to the car lighter... im going to need to customise the ash tray a bit so i can have it connected with the ash tray closed but would also like to have the cable hidden behind the dash.
if i remove the air vent is it possible to feed a cable down and out by the ash tray? Just looking for opinions before i start ripping out my dashboard!

Cheers!

 

[DannyC87]

I'd suggest removing the cig-plug from your charger, and then connected the negative to the ground under the the dash and the positive to the switched live on the distribution block under the dash (with an inline fuse preferably); then run the cable behind the lower dash to the centre console, then tuck it between the centre console and upper dash for the last couple of inches before the vents.
You will need to take the lower dash off to access the parts mentioned above.

 

[Slimy]

then tuck it between the centre console and upper dash for the last couple of inches before the vents.

Yep, that would be my thought too. There is a gap between the two plastics, you should be able to feed it through quite neatly. While the air vents might look like a logical place, they're really horrible to deal with and it's all sealed piping beind the vent, for obvious reasons. Bringing the cable out of a natural seam would be far easier.

Personally I have mine actually sat in the ashtray, with the wire disappearing into the centre console, but I guess if your clip is intended to work on an air vent then that's where it needs to go!

 

[russman68]

Thanks guys, that sounds perfect!

Forgive me for my electrical ignorance but...

'the ground under the dash' will this just be a brown cabe that i will need to strip and attach to? where abouts in the lower dash is this?

'switched live on the distribution block under the dash' what is this distribution block? is it a black plastic block holding other cables like behind the head unit? also where abouts under the dash can i find this?

'with an inline fuse' just a 12A inline fuse?

 

[DannyC87]

Take off the drivers side lower dash - around 6-7 torx headed screws, 2 or 3 of which are behind the trim where the fusebox is.
When you have removed this, look up by the steering column, you will see a nut holding a brown wire to an earth point. Crimp and circular crimp onto your negative wire, remove this nut, put you wire over the earth point with the original wire and re attach the nut.
Similarly for positive, there are 4 big relay type device, yellow and red marked; attach the positive lead from your charger in a similar manner to one of these. I think red is switched live but can't remember exactly, best checked it does turn on and off with the ignition before reassembling the lower dash! 12A should be fine.
I would advise disconnecting the battery while attached things to the distribution block, it is un-fused 12v power..

 

[LEE69]

Yes you can feed it through, i have done it for my S3 illuminated heater controls.

 

[russman68]

Cheers for that Danny, sounds like a bit of work but should look nice and tidy!

One more thing... i've just noticed that the charger cable is in fact a USB cable (so that it easily connects to the iPhone) which inserts into a cig lighter adapter.

Do you know if i can wire straight onto the USB cable? (i think that USB runs 5A?)

If not can i cut into the cig lighter adapter wire into there somehow?

 

[DannyC87]

hmmm.. you could use something like this: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_154298_langId_-1_categoryId_165489
for a fiver and mount it behind the dash so you can power multiple devices from it in the future that only come on with the ignition?

 

[russman68]

Thanks danny... wouldnt i have the same problem of connecting the socket to the cig lighter tho?

I think what i need is another cig lighter adapter which i can wire to the cars eath and positive points behind the dash and run my charger from that. So essentially creating another cig lighter behind the dash..

 

[russman68]

Something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-12V-Socket-Auto-Cigaret_W0QQitemZ280417776828QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=3fbbb5ec1280a0e202e04b60ffed0d27

Something a bit more insulated would be better as it will all be siiting behind the dash...

 

[DannyC87]

Thanks danny... wouldnt i have the same problem of connecting the socket to the cig lighter tho?

I think what i need is another cig lighter adapter which i can wire to the cars eath and positive points behind the dash and run my charger from that. So essentially creating another cig lighter behind the dash..

that is what I meant to to with the 3 way adaptor. Chop the plug off giving you 2 wires, one goes to +'ve, the other to -'ve.

 

[russman68]

ahh right i wasnt sure the adapter would have a simple +ve and -ve.

Good stuff... i'll see what i can get hold of and let you know how it goes..

Thanks for the help

 

[Slimy]

USB runs at 5 volts, car batteries ar 12-15 volts. There will be a voltage convertor in that cigarette lighter connector that needs to be wired in to stop things blowing up. That's why you can't simply wire straight into the USB lead.