12V port stays on when car is off

[darknetone]

Originally Posted by RADRACR

^ Are you saying you converted the cig lighter to switched?

Yup that is what I am saying!

[bgeorge0049]

Very cool! I hate to admit that I would never have thought of this as an option.

[gas-can]

Originally Posted by darknetone

OK so here is a little more info about how this works. Keep in mind that I did this to my 2003 Z4, however his is basically the same on other vehicles.

I checked the fuse box to determine where the power busses were and and to ensure I knew which were switched. I also chose to use the radio #74 (switched)and the cig-lighter (un-switched)#5.

...

I hope this makes sense, if not let me know.

Smart... you did it right at the fusebox level.... Only thing I would be worried about would be loading down the line you are piggy backing on...

And in response to an earlier comment, what I suggested isn't very complex at all. Here's a ms paint version of it.



W/ regards to a fuse tap, wouldn't you have to pull a decently high gauge wire through the firewall (or trunk)? Is that easy on a Z?

-gc

[RADRACR]

While darknetone's conversion is novel, I personally wouldn't want it because I would want to conceal wires and not use my 12V socket all the time.

gas-can... huh? You just put the fuse tap on the fuse socket and conceal the wire to the device in the interior and windshield trim. I'm not an electrical engineer so your diagrams are Greek to me. My problem I guess. But I'm pretty sure the fuse tap method is easiest from an install time perspective.

[darknetone]

Sadly my daily commute is ~90 miles so I needed a place to plug my Tom Tom into and I wanted to de-power it when I shut the car down. Since I just bought my car a week ago I needed a quick fix. Once I figure out where I want the Tom Tom to live I will hide the wiring and draw power from an unused fuse location (then I can shut the lighter door, yeah!). This way I can hide the Tom Tom wiring and have a cleaner cabin. Plus I will be adding charging for my iPhone as well, again once I figure out where it will live.

As far as loading goes the red wire should have no problems with loading just watch those fuse sizes the Circuit extender I bought was rated at 10A (I could not find a 15A) so instead of using the lighter 15 A fuse I put a 10A in since I know my tom tom will not draw 10A anyway.

As for the radio it still runs through the two spade connections and the same fuse as factory.

[darknetone]

Originally Posted by gas-can

Smart... you did it right at the fusebox level.... Only thing I would be worried about would be loading down the line you are piggy backing on...

And in response to an earlier comment, what I suggested isn't very complex at all. Here's a ms paint version of it.



W/ regards to a fuse tap, wouldn't you have to pull a decently high gauge wire through the firewall (or trunk)? Is that easy on a Z?

-gc

I did not use a relay, not needed. Also not need to run a wire from the back of the car when this does the job, see my comments in my post above this one.

[StickMon]

Originally Posted by darknetone

Yup that is what I am saying!

Brilliant!
And thanks for the tip on ATC Add-A-Circuit.
Never knew such a thing existed.

[DeutschRennfahrer]

Hey guys, I need some help. I finally got around to buying the Escort hardwire kit for my detector, but the purple striped wire I spliced into isn't giving me any power, even with the car turned on (the wire is one of many connecting to the buttons behind the cig-lighter). Is there another wire color that will work for this? Is there a way I can test before splicing?

Thanks!

[StickMon]

I think the purple striped wire mentioned earlier in the thread was in the dome light pod.
Not sure what you're wired to.
Have to check the WDS.

If it's blue with a purple stripe, I think it's the DSC.
I don't see any switched power going to that panel.
Best use the power to the head unit, or get the fuse tap.

[wdb]

Subscribed. I just hardwired my Sirius radio to the lighter/auxiliary connections only to find that the bloody thing never turns off! Stupid idea if you ask me. I'll be looking at the fix to make it turn off with the key once I find the next round tuit.