Quick car electrics question,
15-03-2005, 07:48 AM
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Quick car electrics question,
I have a charger for my XDA with power for my GPS reciever which plugs in to my ciggie lighter, can i cut the wires and wire it up to the power from the steroe or fag lighter? would it be ok or would i need relays etc?
15-03-2005, 08:32 AM
#2
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no problem gra, the current draw from those 2 items is tiny. no need for any relays or anything. you might want to put low ampaerage fuses in line to protect those devices though, as the ciggie lighter and stereo will be quite high. 
15-03-2005, 08:37 AM
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You cant just cut the wires and plug them straight to the power from the ciggie lighter as PROBABLY in the ciggie lighter end there will be resistors to bring the voltage down so break open the plug then seperate the plug from wires then you should be fine. 
15-03-2005, 09:17 AM
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There's no resisters in the Cig lighter that reduces voltage. Its 12v all the way.
As per foreign RS though, add an inline fuse to the supplies for the extra devices as the only fuse for the cig lighter is fairly high (sommit like 25 amps)
As per foreign RS though, add an inline fuse to the supplies for the extra devices as the only fuse for the cig lighter is fairly high (sommit like 25 amps)
15-03-2005, 09:25 AM
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Originally Posted by EssexBoyRacer
There's no resisters in the Cig lighter that reduces voltage. Its 12v all the way.
Go ahead and cut the wires, plug in the ciggie lighter bit and measure the voltage coming out.
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got a multimeter but sod all instructions whats shouldi set it to?
15-03-2005, 09:38 AM
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does the XDA2 not have any indication on it what the input voltage might be?
Would most likely have it printed on the serial number label or somewhere around where the power supply plugs into the unit.
Alternatively, the output voltage from an AC adaptor will tell you as well.
Would most likely have it printed on the serial number label or somewhere around where the power supply plugs into the unit.
Alternatively, the output voltage from an AC adaptor will tell you as well.
15-03-2005, 09:49 AM
#11
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Originally Posted by EssexBoyRacer
Alternatively, the output voltage from an AC adaptor will tell you as well.
To use the voltmeter set it to volts, up to a maximum that is above 14V and plug the leads in. If you have sockets to choose from, use the black one - might be labelled 0V, -ve, com etc. and the other one into something that says V, NOT A
To check you have it right, put it onto the battery and hope you see 12V ish.
15-03-2005, 09:58 AM
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I will be hugely surprised if it's a resistor and not a voltage regulator/zener. With the resistor you will have a different voltage depending on the load (state of battery, on or off the phone). Thats a bad thing.
15-03-2005, 10:11 AM
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I guess u'd have to break down the cig lighter plug that comes with the XDA2 to tell whether that uses a regulator or just a resistor, but u could just use a cig socket from maplins and wire that in behind the dash. So u've effectively got a hidden cig socket dedicated to the XDA2.
15-03-2005, 11:21 AM
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Gra, its dead easy this way. you tap into the cig lighter feeds and solder in that extra cig socket. Then just plug u're XDA2 cig plug into that behind the dash.
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