TomTomGo300 - Hardwiring power to car

TomTomGo300 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 17, 2005 Posts: 3

Hi,

Ive got the TomTomGo 300 and currently have to have the unsightly cigarette adapter wire scrawled over the dashboard, i know i can hide this but i also want to do away with the cigarette adapter/plug.

How can i "hardwire" it so that the power is drawn from the car electrics/battery. I have read quite a few posts on this topic but none go into much detail. My car is a Peugeot 206.

I've heard that you can "hardwire" it into the ignition circuit so that the power is connected when the ignition is turned on, is this true?? if so, how is it done?? please, any help would be much appreciated.

Also, i have a separate switch if thats any good, i could (somehow!) wire that into it so that i could control the power with the "flick of a switch" pardon the pun, it has a red led light to indicate when power is on, there are three terminals at the back of the switch but not sure what wires would go to which etc... and where would the wires terminate back to the car electrics exactly?

Also, i heard that you could get an additional cigarette lighter socket and hide this under the dash (out of sight), i assume that this would wire back to the car electrics somehow?, how?

Please, any help would be much appreciated, i have trawled the net for ages and been unsuccessful. Unfortunately i am not "electrically biased" so any help or guidance would be great.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Many, many thanks.

Mark

peterc10 · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:32 am Post subject:

Mark the way most cheaper installers do it is to wire in an in-line cigarette lighter socket, tape it up so it doesn't pop out and hide it behind the dash. They normally tap the power from the back of the stereo, which will have permanent live feed and a feed controlled by the ignition - so take your pick. If you are going to do it yourself you will need a rudimentary knowledge of electrics and a testing meter (or a reliable terminal diagram for the stereo).

If not sure or don't want to risk it Halfrauds will do it for you - I think they charge about £40.

Darren · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:45 am Post subject:

And don't forget the GO expects 5v, don't whatever you do connect it directly to 12v or you will fry it. The 12v - 5v circuitry is in the cigarette lighter plug.
_________________
Darren Griffin

DavidHobbs · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:16 pm Post subject:

I'm goign to assume that the setup would be the same for the GO 700 as it would for the 300. Is that correct?

Darren · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 6:39 pm Post subject:

ghost181 · Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2005 6:51 pm Post subject: hard wire to car

one other point to remember if you do install it yourself is make sure you put an inline fuse to protect you equipment or if you do have a problem it will not cause any damage to your car system somthing like a 2 or 3 amp fuse would be good (and before you ask I am am electrical enginer)

TomTomGo300 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 17, 2005 Posts: 3

Firstly, thank you for all those who took time to respond, it is much appreciated.

I have attached a "rough" plan of what im thinking of doing, just wondered what you thought first. Sorry for the size of the image.

Basically i have acquired a secondary cigarette "socket", i intend to wire this back to the radio or other device which comes on with the ignition and plug the 'tomtom go' cigarette adapter end into this new cigarette socket, unfortunately the cigarette lighter works even without the ignition on so i cant wire it back to that. I understand that the tomtom cigarette adapter does the tranformation from 12v to 5v - so this should be kept. Smile

Ive heard people mention 2 & 3 amp inline fuses, what are these? and where would they be exactly in the wiring? I thought of having the secondary cigarette socket and cable tying it out of the way behind the dashboard. Someone also mentioned that this would have to be insulated to prevent shortcircuiting? electrical tape?

I have got 2 v-clips which snap shut to connect the live and earth wires to the radio or ignition etc, would it be difficult to wire it back to the fuse box?

Any further help you could give would be much appreciated. Sorry to keep pestering you.

Oh, is it true that you can use speaker wire for the power wire back to the radio/ignition?

Many thanks,

Mark.

ghost181 · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 12:34 am Post subject: hardwiring to car

The in line fuse should be connected between the clip connector and the new cigarette lighter socket in the live wire (+ve)

The wiring should be in 1mm or 1.5mm cross sectional area. I would not use speaker cable as the C.S.A. of the cable is notmaly too small.

If you go to a motor factors or car accessory shop and ask for a
In line fuse holder (get a good quality one)
Fuse
Cable (you can buy it by the meter)
Roll of P.V.C.tape
The costs for the above will be £3 to £4

Make sure you do not have any exposed joints on the cableing touching the car body work.(use the PVC tape)

As surgessed in one of the posts above if you are unsure about doing this work maby you should let a garage (halford) install it for you.

DavidHobbs · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 3:30 pm Post subject:

In doing this, do you really run the risk of frying your GO 300, or is it relatively risk free?

ghost181 · Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 7:56 pm Post subject:

If you connect it up as per the drawing and not tamper with the part that goes from you pda to the ciggie lighter, this encloses the 12v to 5v stepdown required to power the pda.

all you are ineffect doing is making an extention of the ciggie lighter. so if you intend to do it yourself just take your time and make sure that you observe the correct polarity (+ve & -ve) and insulate all joints you make and buy good quality componants.

TomTomGo300 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Oct 17, 2005 Posts: 3

Hi all,

Sorry to bother you again.

I attach pictures of what im, doing basically i have a red (live) and black (earth) cable. On the live cable i have connected a 2amp in line fuse. Now i guess that all i need to do is connect one end of each cable to the new cigatte socket (soldered and fully taped up) and then the other ends clipped to the back of the radio (all connections will be well taped up and then il plug the tom tom go adapter into the cigarette socke, put a bit of tape round em and then cable tie it behind the dash.

Does this sound ok? Please advise.

When ive finally done this, perhaps i could create a step by step tutorial to help others?

Many thanks.

Mark.[/img][img][/img]

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