Thread: Accessories power source

I see you have a dual battery system.
Wouldn't it be better to run it off the second battery on a permanent circuit ?
That way it would stay powered up when you were out of the car, and retain it's satellite lock.
Those things don't draw much current, so not much chance of draining your second battery.

Well that's how I run mine anyway. As mine is a PDA as well it comes out overnight.

that's a good idea, except I don't have the 2nd battery permanently installed. The GPS has a good internal rechargable battery, so it can be set to stay on if I want it to when the car is turned off.

Thanks anyway,

Andy

Personally I run mine from full time power. There's a nice connecter under my D2's seat which accepts a spade connector perfectly. Thick purple wire from memory. I'm guessing it's for electric seats or seat heater.

I just leave my GPS running all the time. Never gets turned off normally. In fact I found it would act as an early warning when the battery was going. If the GPS turned off during cranking the battery was getting old and tired. Next service they tested the battery and sure enough it needed changing (5 years- original).

The car radio has switchable power - if you are only going to take power just for the GPS take it from there. Also most radios have switchable power out to run a power arerial so this may also be an option (however some switch off if the CD is being used)

Garry

Dunno if it's easy to get to. But I'll often borrow the accessory supply from the cigarette lighter socket on a lot of cars. It'd come with a lead for it anyway right?

Originally Posted by Relay

Dunno if it's easy to get to. But I'll often borrow the accessory supply from the cigarette lighter socket on a lot of cars. It'd come with a lead for it anyway right?

Its easy on the D1's, pull off the kick panel underneath the bit that folds down, so that you can see a bunch of wires going heading toward the centre console area.

For me it was the green wire with white stripe like in the picture, its the one where I've got the blue clip on for the accessories. But the best way to check is undo the centre console and lift it up so that you can see the wires going into the cig lighter, from there either put a clip on there to feed from or trace it back a bit so that its more accessible.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'd been wondering how easy it might be to get at the back of the cig lighter socket - guess I'll find out in the next few days

Thanks again,

Andy

Please tell me they're not scotch locks...*shudders* Make sure ya solder connections please!