Best place to find an ignition 12v wire

[deeman111]

Hey all,

Long story short, wiring up dc/dc charger with solar/alternator input and i need an ignition activated power source for a relay. Any ideas inside the cab or in the engine bay that is easily accessible for stripping/soldering on another wire.

Thanks
James

[Shaun]

Does it need to be fused or just a straight supply? If it needs to be fused use a spare fuse point in the aux fuse box in the cab or the main one in the engine bay. You can buy fuse taps without the fuse bit if you want.

Something like this http://www.jaycar.com.au/Passive-Com...e-Tap/p/SF5125

If you have a multimeter, just check which ones come on when you turn the ignition.

[deeman111]

All sorted, ended up taking the centre console trim off and splicing off the cigarette lighter socket. Thanks for the suggestion, i didnt even realise you could get things like the fuse lead

[Kiat]

Hi Deeman, I'm looking to do that too. Which trim to start removing first / where to start? Don't want to break any clips or plastic trims.

[Tuna]

Hah! Read my mind. I just logged in to post this exact question as I am getting a dual battery tray installed next week and am getting everything together for the rest of the install.

I'm going to hook up a BCDC1225LV and will try and find a fuse in the engine bay so I don't have to run another wire through the the firewall.

Thanks for the tip.

[deeman111]

I started by taking out the centre gearsitick/handbrake trim. Remobe the gear knob and unzip the handbrake boot. Then lift the trim from the armrest/box, the whole thing lifts up, reach under and there is 2 seperate wires to disconnect. Once they are undone the whole trim just lifts away.

Then i removed the fake leather trim from around the radio on both sides, this took a bit of force but it just unclips. Be aware that a couple of the yellow retaining clips might spring off the trim, they just reattach, but finding them behind the dash is the hard part (took me an hour to find one of the buggers!) Once the side trim is off you can access the cigarette socket.

There is a lot of spare room under the gear stick trim, if you have a UHF with controls on the mic, you could easily hide the controller box in here, or any relays for switches etc

In hindsight i should have taken photos of it all. I have finally sorted it all out and have a CTEK D250S DC/DC charger mounted under the passenger seat to charge the second battery

[Tuna]

Hi guys,

I was looking for an ignition power source for my redarc dual battery charger and found a couple in one of the cabin fuse boxes.

It is on the LH side of the passenger footwell and is easy to access if you remove the glovebox. I have shown it in the first picture.

The bottom two fuse slots both had unused ignition power. I have a GX so it is possible that on other models with more bits, these may be used already.

The downside was that the cap fits flat over the fuses and there isn't any room for the fuse tap under it so I had to leave the cap off. It now resides in the glove box.

I also found a couple of accessory fuses slots unused in a fuse box behind the passenger side kick panel. This fuse box doesn't have a lid so would be ideal for using with a fuse tap to power something like a UHF radio. You can see this fuse box in the last picture it is just to the right of the big blue fuse and is mostly empty on my GX, you can see one white fuse in it.

Cheers

Alex

[Kiat]

Hi Tuna, good to know there's ignition source in the cabin. did you end up pulling the wire through the firewall into the engine bay to wire up the Redarc?

I wonder if we can do the same from fuse box at the engine bay.

[johton1971]

I did a voltmeter test on the kick panel passenger side fuse box but all seemed to be direct power and no ignition power slots
I think I like the passenger side RH fuse box accessible with glovebox out - seems very nice to get ignition source with fuse off there for UHF and mount the controller at driver footwell under dash on the M6 pre-existing bodywork nuts and then the Minecorp Hilux A-pillar mike bracket.... hmmmm better place some orders by phone on Thursday...

[mrh460]

You probably already know, but some mics are designed to be used with your left hand. Which radio are you planning to get?

[johton1971]

Engine bay accessory fuse box seemed to be power on all the time and not ignition switched when I tested it on Sunday.... I'm no auto-electrician and have to admit I was too lazy to pull out each of the main fuse block fuses to test them all.... maybe there is an ignition power source in the main fuse box?? Anyone know?

[kzen]

Can you piggy back off one of the fuses like the power window fuse?

[kzen]

Actually I think that's a constant 12V as well. How about the front 12V power outlet? If you're worried about current draw, use this to trigger a relay from a constant 12V source.

[johton1971]

Good idea kzen - a separate relay triggered by ignition on and then a safe way to power all sorts of circuits incl. accessories / extra charging outlets for the mobile devices we all seem to crave!

The interior under the glove box RH fuse box is a good source for a UHF I reckon but I am leaning more to the installation under the centre console and the mic near the left driver leg on centre console side - the Minecorp A pillar mount could then hold something different like a Hema navigator or something like that. I still can't get my Toyota Link to do anything useful at all.... and really miss sat nav. Phone works but is too small and fiddly to use while on the move... I may also just pike out and get an auto-electrician to make it all look nice and neat - like the major stuff with second batteries and DC-DC chargers and power runs to the rear of the vehicle... tinkering is nice but I'd hate to cause a short or fire risk....

[johton1971]

mrh460, good point about the mike... Not certain yet as I have biggish hands and the GME (I like Aussie made...) seemed quite small and like the new iPhone 6S (I dropped it all the time till my Lifeproof case gave it some extra chunkyness) may make me look at the ICOM - its a bit larger I think. Cost is about the same as well I think. I thus think the Minecorp mount on A-pillar puts mike to right hand side... hmmm

I will think your point is a good one. Also if I have a passenger and the UHF is mounted in centre console they could still reach over and use the mike on left of centre console but not if on drivers A-pillar....

[00PLS]

Just to be clear, the bottom 2 slots (inside the glovebox) turn on when the accessories power on?

Need a tap to add my Blackvue dash cam via Power Magic Pro!

[johton1971]

This thread has not been continued for a while I see - I definitely think the passenger side footwell bottom two GX fuse slots (one used and one empty) are 'always on' and not ignition switched. I pulled the radio fuse out of the main fusebox in the engine bay and all the fuses were 'always on' - accessory fuse box also 'always on'. Haven't tried the transmission tunnel passenger fuse box yet...

I installed a Waterwatch diesel filter / alarm and need ignition only power source and will access the centre console cig lighter socket next weekend and then run a wire to a small power block - then I can use this for all my other ignition on circuits in the future and use relays for the work and the low power circuit on the switch side... Cannot find a more convenient ignition on power supply...

Anyone had any luck elsewhere?

J