Splicing underneath lighter socket

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isaune
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Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by isaune »

OK - I won't bore you with all the details but I have a handy cigarette lighter socket in the back of the van powered by the leisure battery.

Without disturbing this socket (which has a multitude of uses) I want to install a cd autochanger and "set" it into the wooden worktop next to the socket.

My question is this.

Is there any reason why I cannot splice into the positive and negative feeds to the lighter socket in order to power the CD?

In other words, split the wire from the leisure battery to power 1) the lighter socket AND 2) the cd player?

It all sounds quite reasonable to me.

Any problems envisaged?

Thanks chaps

Ian

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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by ghost123uk »

No problem at all, as long as you do it neatly and work out what size fuse is required at the battery end :ok
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by Hacksawbob »

And probably best not to use it to light fags! they draw a heavy current. solder and heat shrink is usually best followed by crimp terminals, then screw terminal blocks. scotch blocks, (the ones that press into the wire to make a connection) don't have a good reputation for reliability. But if you ask at a motor factors what to use this is probably what they will sell you!
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itchyfeet
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by itchyfeet »

Hacksawbob wrote:. solder and heat shrink is usually best

this is a common assumption and practice but car manufacturers dont do it
where i work we make exterior products with wiring that are subject to vibration and we would never solder stranded wire
this in my opinion is best as it is spring loaded and you can get different lengths, easy quick and reliable ( and german), you can remove or add wires also later if you want

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WAGO-spring-l ... 461aa55c3f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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bigherb
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by bigherb »

itchyfeet wrote:
Hacksawbob wrote:. solder and heat shrink is usually best

this is a common assumption and practice but car manufacturers dont do it
where i work we make exterior products with wiring that are subject to vibration and we would never solder stranded wire
Don't tell everybody that, solder connections bring in me lots of faults.
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by Hacksawbob »

Nice one. I never knew such thing existed, do they have a mounting hole to screw it down? Cant see one in the pics.
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itchyfeet
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by itchyfeet »

Hacksawbob wrote:Nice one. I never knew such thing existed, do they have a mounting hole to screw it down? Cant see one in the pics.

No mounting hole, you can just cable tie the wire down close if you want but they are not very heavy

also used them in the engine bay to cut a trailer socket in, then cable tied a plastic bag around the bunch


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isaune
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by isaune »

Thanks chaps. All good advice.

Just ordered some of those connectors Itchy.

isaune
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by isaune »

Hi there

Got another question. Please see the two photos attached. My wiring loom arrived today and I am happy to report that it fits the back of my head unit perfectly.

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/126494542 ... 771123875/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/126494542 ... 584633987/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

However, I now find I don't know how to attach all the wires (positive, negative, speakers etc) to the block the other end?

Or do I need yet another (male) block to fit into this female?

Hope not.

Thanks

Ian

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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by ghost123uk »

You need to be careful here Ian. As far as I know, there is no simple "converter" block available (but could be wrong there).

If it were I, I would simply chop all the connectors off and join the wires with more of those connectors (well actually I would use those white "chocky blok" connectors, neatly) The problem you then have is identifying all the wires. Get it wrong and you can VERY easily damage your new head unit, and it won't be covered by warranty for that sort of damage.

A person who has done this job lots of times has no problem getting it right, but that may not be you. Even the speaker wires (the ones in the red block in your pic) have to be correctly wired or the sound will be very poor.

You could have a stab at it, the main thing is to remember that on the van, brown is earth so that goes to the black wire in the black connector, the red is live, the blue will likely be the live for the radios "memory" (or that might be the yellowy looking one, in this case a mistake there will NOT blow anything). Then do the speaker wires, noting carefully that each pair has a stripe on it that must be matched up with stripes on the actual wire going to the speakers. Then double check everything. Then re-connect the battery(s) and test it (see "PS" below).

If you want a way of knowing which speaker wire goes to which speaker, get a small torch battery, AA or AAA, (do NOT use a re-chargeable battery !!) take a pair of wires ant touch them on and off the ends of the battery. Whatever speaker that pair of wires is going to will emit a little click as you touch them onto the torch battery. Write it down !

PS = Disconnect the main and leisure battery before starting work on the wires !! (Don't forget to reconnect it when finished and ready for testing :wink: )
Got a new van, but it's a 165bhp T4 [shock horror] Accurate LPG Station map here

isaune
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Re: Splicing underneath lighter socket

Post by isaune »

Thanks Ghost. I appreciate the advice and probably would have forgotten to disconnect the battery!!

And that's a good tip re the AA or AAA battery to check the speakers.

I feel fairly confident about the actual wiring. There is a sticker on the radio itself which shows what each pin is for and this coincides with the wiring block I bought. I have even checked it with this (from elsewhere on the net) and it tallies.

--------------------------
+Red..............12v ignition
+Yellow...........12v battery
-Black............Ground
+Blue.............Power antenna
+Blue/white.......Remote turn on
Orange............Dashlight/dimmer
Orange/white......Dashlight/dimmer
Orange/black......Dashlight/dimmer
+White............Front left positive
-White/black......Front left negative
+Grey.............Front right positive
-Grey/black.......Front right negative
+Green............Rear left positive
-Green/black......Rear left negative
+Purple...........Rear right positive
-Purple/black.....Rear right negative
You may not use all the wires in the radio harness or the vehicle harness. If you don't, just make sure that they taped up and secure (with solder/tape, crimp caps, butt connectors, etc.)-do not leave any bare wires that could contact any metal in the dash.
----------------------

That being the case I'd like to use the block if possible and use the "special connectors" for splicing into the cigarette lighter wires.

Can you see from this picture how I might connect the various wires to this black block?

https://m.flickr.com/#/photos/126494542 ... 771123875/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks Ghost

Ian

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