Power supply for GPS

[Aswall]

I'm getting fed up of removing my BT GPS receiver from the car to charge it and occasionally, on drives up to the north of Scotland, the battery is running out before I get there. So what I need to do is find somewhere to leave it wired in permanently but I don't want it cluttering the dash and a wire trailing to the cigar lighter socket and, being a cab and not having a roof to get in the way I can put it somewhere invisible and need to find somewhere to take a power supply from. Inside the top armrest compartment seems a good place to keep it as it's out of the way but easily accessible and picks up 6-7 satellites there so does anyone have any idea where I can tap into to take power from? The car charger has the transformer built into the cigar lighter plug to step down from 12v to 5v so I will need to wire in a new cigar lighter socket inside the armrest

Grateful for any ideas

 

[guydewdney]

no rear fag lighter socket?

run a wire from back of fag socket under carpet / console to armrest and get small socket (headphone?) from maplin..

i can get to my fag socket back by just pulling off the side carpet...

 

[Aswall]

No rear fag lighter I'm afraid, just an ash tray. I can get a cigar lighter socket from Halfords but it looks like I'll have to remove the centre console trim to get to the wiring of the existing one. When I do this are there just 2 wires that come from the back of the cigar lighter socket?

My sig pictures have gone! Haven't been on the site for a while as it was just too slow until I got broadband and now they've gone. Still seem to be on Poundhost though, has the code required to insert them changed?

 

[guydewdney]

3 - earth, + and light / illumination

 

[Aswall]

Thanks will do it tomorrow, should be within even my capabilities then

 

[RichardM]

I want to do the same with my TomTom3 bluetooth unit, but I haven't found a way to switch the gps unit on automatically with the ignition. Would be great to hide it somewhere.

 

[Aswall]

This is the problem I have found, the power switch is non latching so every time you get in you have to press the switch to start it up - not ideal. I have fitted mine inside the top section of the armrest so that I can just lift it up and press the switch when I need it, I may take it apart soon and see if I can have a fiddle Also have noticed that by fitting it upside down, i.e. stuck to the underside of the armrest, I now get 9-10 satellites visible

 

[mobilecentreuk]

If you use the car on a regular basis I would be tempted to hardwire the GPS to a permanent supply. The current drain is minimal especially in standby, the only time its working hard is when communicating with the PDA relaying the data, this will be when you are driving. This way the unit does not need turning on every time

 

[Aswall]

Thanks Tim, if you reckon the power drain won't flatten the battery then that does seem the best option. Is there an always on power supply I can tag onto behind the ashtray/centre console/gear lever area while I've got it all off?

 

[mobilecentreuk]

The navman unit uses two AA batteries which last for hours when being used. So the drain will be minimal, if you left the car for an extended period of time (ie weeks) then combined with the natural discharge rate of a lead acid battery it may be low

 

[Aswall]

Ok, took the afternoon off work and finally got round to doing this today, unfortunately no photos as I don't have anywhere to put them on the net so didn't bother to take any. I decided I would wire both the ipaq holder and the gps receiver into an always on power supply so that I didn't have to keep switching the receiver on whenever I wanted to use it and so that it would be locked onto satellites instantly. The ipaq is obviously removed whenever I leave the car though, not just for security reasons but because it also runs my life for me

I removed all the trim from the centre console along with the ashtray and stereo and checked with a multimeter to find the correct feed (I had found a wiring diagram on the net but this was wrong!). I then made up a mini loom by taking the guts out of the plug from an ipaq 4150 car charger lead that came with my Brodit holder so that the voltage could be stepped down from 12v to the 5v required by both devices. I then cut the mains plug off an old 3660 Ipaq charger and soldered the cable (as the small jack plug is the same as required by the gps unit) onto this transformer and enclosed the whole thing in a small flat plastic box I happened to have lying around. I then soldered the end cables onto the power supply wires I found behind the stereo and then passed the supply to the ipaq holder through to where the holder is fixed, on the passenger side of the console just above the ashtray and replaced all of the centre console trim. The wire just squeezes out between the aluminium and the console without distorting the trim or crushing the cable too much. The feed to the gps was then fed along next to the gearlever and through into the lower box of the central arm rest and then through a small hole into the upper arm rest. The gps unit is stuck to the under side of the top armrest lid, via a stick on magnetic holder, and the power supply lead taped in place next to it, that way if you lift the lid up you see nothing. And that was that, all in all not too bad a job at all and looks very neat with only the ipaq, holder and 3" of power cable leading to it on display. Quick run round the block and everything is working fine :bannana: but I will be keeping an eye out for potential problems and if I am not going to be using the car for more than a couple of days I'll remove the gps unit so there is no power drain.

If anyone wants any more info on doing this pls contact me