Car charger

muckwarrior

Not sure if this is best suited to here or the main Motors forum, so feel free to move.

Basically I want a charger for my phone, but i don't want to use one that plugs into the lighter socket. I want to wire it directly into the dash and just have the cable coming out somewhere near my phone, partly to keep the ligher socket free but mainly to avoid a cable hanging around the dash and gearstick area.

Problem is I can only find ones that connect to the lighter socket. I could probably solder wires to the connectors and use these to wire it up, but i'd prefer a cleaner solution. Does anyone know if i can get a (micro USB) charger that comes ready to be directly wired in?

Plug

muckwarrior wrote: »

Not sure if this is best suited to here or the main Motors forum, so feel free to move.

Basically I want a charger for my phone, but i don't want to use one that plugs into the lighter socket. I want to wire it directly into the dash and just have the cable coming out somewhere near my phone, partly to keep the ligher socket free but mainly to avoid a cable hanging around the dash and gearstick area.

Problem is I can only find ones that connect to the lighter socket. I could probably solder wires to the connectors and use these to wire it up, but i'd prefer a cleaner solution. Does anyone know if i can get a (micro USB) charger that comes ready to be directly wired in?

Take out the 12v socket for the cigerette lighter and move it some where close, lenghten the wires if you need to and put a blank over the hole where you take the 12v socket from. Or just get a another one to make it look stock. Its handy enough.

muckwarrior

Yeah, I thought of adding a new lighter socket alright but it'd still result in a charger and a cable sticking out somewhere. I wan't to keep it as tidy as possible. Will be mounting the phone on top of the dash to use as a sat nav.

I might just add a socket and leave it inside the dash with the charger left in it. Would probably be easier than trying to solder wires to the charger.

colm_mcm

Just add a second socket.

details towards the end of this thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055887306

Leaving the adaptor plugged in all the time (with ignition on) mightnt be a great idea depending on the quality of the charger, some heat up quite a bit.

Buford T Justice

colm_mcm wrote: »

Just add a second socket.

details towards the end of this thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055887306

Leaving the adaptor plugged in all the time (with ignition on) mightnt be a great idea depending on the quality of the charger, some heat up quite a bit.

Not a problem. Just fit it with its own in line fuse and it'll be fine.

muckwarrior

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gettin an integrated pop-up/tray thingy for the dash so I can use my phone as a sat-nav. If it's at all possible to install the socket externally while keeping everything tidy and out of the way then I'll do that.

I just assumed that it would be possible to get a charger designed to be wired in directly, but I guess not.

R.O.R

muckwarrior wrote: »

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gettin an integrated pop-up/tray thingy for the dash so I can use my phone as a sat-nav. If it's at all possible to install the socket externally while keeping everything tidy and out of the way then I'll do that.

I just assumed that it would be possible to get a charger designed to be wired in directly, but I guess not.

Would it not be possible to strip a car charger for your phone (take off the bit that goes in to the cigarette lighter) and wire that straight in to the car? Soldered to the same wires that provide current to the current cigarette lighter?

We sometimes get Sat Nav's hard wired in to cars so the lead doesn't stretch across the dash. I presume (never watched them doing it) that the installers (same guys do our phone kits) cut the adaptor off the end of the power cable and wire that directly to a power source behind the dash.

muckwarrior

R.O.R wrote: »

Would it not be possible to strip a car charger for your phone (take off the bit that goes in to the cigarette lighter) and wire that straight in to the car? Soldered to the same wires that provide current to the current cigarette lighter?

Probably but I think it would be safer leaving the casing intact and just soldering to the contacts on the outside.

Just found out that you can get 'flush' usb chargers http://vowe.net/archives/010450.html That now makes me think adding a new lighter socket externally is the best solution. Wont have to worry about a big ugly charger sticking out.