12v Feed that shuts off when engine is off?

[psneddon]

Hi,

New puma owner here. Noticed that the power is provided to the 12v cig lighter socket at all times (does this auto shut off??).

I would like to leave my iPhone TomTom car mount plugged in all the time, or even better to hardwire it. I know it won't draw much power, but still some. I've searched the forum but can't see the same question being asked, which is.

What is the easiest way to either rewire the 12v socket to only work when the key is turned, or to internally wire a 12v feed that only works when the ignition is off??

Thanks in advance!

Paul

 

[yippeekiay]

I'm confused. Do you want a power supply to be on when the ignition is on, off when the ignition is off, or a permanent supply.

 

[psneddon]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply and sorry for the confusion.

I want the supply to only be on when the engine or at least the key is in the ignition is turned.

This is my first ford and I was surprised that the 12v feed is constantly live, I was hoping it maybe cut off after a time, but the owners manuals simply states that you shouldn't leave things connected or you risk the battery draining!

Paul

 

[martinthrapston]

get a 2/3 way adaptor and when your finished just pull the plug out when your finished driving,not rocket science is it really,hope you have your car garaged then over night or you will be saying goodbye to your satnav and ipod when some1 thinks it will be better sold on for drug money,and if left on display your not covered on your insurance either k:

 

[red]

:roll:

One of the feeds goes off with the car, I just don't recall which it is... In fact I'm sure my cig lighter does!? I'll have to have a look next time I got out.....

 

[yippeekiay]

Yeah, I thought my cigarette lighter went off too :?

 

[psneddon]

Maybe they changed it between models? I have a 1.7 from the end of 2000. I left the charger pluged in overnight to see if there was a cutoff on it, but when I looked in the morning, the screen green light on the charger was still on. The manual also seems to suggest there is constant power.

I'm sure the power to the radio goes off when the engine is off, so I think I'll wire up some kind of relay between there and the power socket.

Also it's just the charger/mount I will be leaving wired in for anyone who thought I was mad enough actually to leave an iPhone plugged in!

 

[harrisg]

I know the cigarette lights port stays on for at least an hour in my 2000 1.4.

Hope this helps!

 

[Anonymous]

Lighter socket on my 1998 1.7 is permenently live.

I bought a bouble adaptor for mine, but it has a switch on the plug, so I just poke it and it turns off.

 

[warrenpenalver]

cigarette lighter is perm live.

All you need to do is fit a normal automotive 30A relay in the power feed to the cigarette lighter, preferably up by the fuse box, then have the relay triggered by the "run" and accessory position of the ignition. this is a big yellow wire off the ignition that goes into the fusebox and fuse 19. So splice in downstream of fuse 19 and use that to trigger the relay. The relay wont take much current to trigger so should not overload the 10A fuse 19.

 

[psneddon]

Perfect!! Exactly the info I was looking for, thanks!!!

Paul

 

[mix2000]

To minimise wiring and ease of access you could trigger the relay via the memory/accessory wire from the head-unit.

 

[psneddon]

My mount/charger is situated at the right attached to the window, directly above the fuse box. So I'm thinking it's easiest to wire everything up around that area. I could probably do this non-descuctively without cutting or splicing anything by taking all the feeds straight out the fuse box. So I'll pop into Maplin tomorrow and pick up the relay and the wires, and some electrical take.

I'm know a far bit about home and appliance electrics, but it looks like not much soldering goes on in cars? So I know its probably a really newbie question, but how to I secure the wiring to the relay? Is it all clamps and crimps? For attaching to the actual charger socket I'm just going to attach the wires with electrical tape straight onto the adaptor, again, it is easy to reverse and will be hidden behind the dashboard.

Thanks again for all your answers so far, very much appreciated!

Paul

 

[warrenpenalver]

the correct way to do it is go to scrappy and you will find on almost all mid 80's on fords have the same basic modular fusebox. Especially mk4 fiestas you will have a couple of relay holders clipped onto the side of the fusebox with the relays. nick one of those relay holders then when you wire it up you can neatly clip it onto the side of your fusebox.

taping or twisting wires together on their own is asking for trouble, you need proper connectors or at least correctly rated cable screw blocks