 | Home > In Car Electronics > USB in the cubby box. From dash or battery? |
 
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| nitram17 Member Since: 08 Jun 2014 Location: newcastle Posts: 2261  |
Puma:take a positive feed from the fuse box under the drivers seat.I personally wouldn't overload the cigarette lighter feed!
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7th Aug 2022 2:36am |
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1845 
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It would add cost, but why not put in a beefier wire from the battery to an “accessory” fuse box, and then power it from there. This would be tidier, good practice to have a fuse closer to the battery, and probably even be used when you do your twin battery install.
I have a blue sea one in mine, with two separate banks of fuses, one which is aux battery powered, one which is ignition run. As I say, more than you need now, but if you’ll be doing a twin battery install, it might make sense. The wires I have from dash to battery/cubby are in a separate ducting under the car, it’s the exception of the sub wires which weren’t long enough, and I ran these down but the (300Tdi) fuse box and across the transmission tunnel. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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7th Aug 2022 8:08am |
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| Mo Murphy Member Since: 01 Jun 2008 Location: Letchworth Garden City, Herts Posts: 2244  
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Bear in mind that whilst Blue Sea USB sockets are reassuringly expensive, they are electrically noisy and could interfere with your sound installation.
I must confess I'm struggling to understand how 2 wires and a blade fuse holder could take up so much room in your battery box as to impede the installation of a split charge system. A supply from the battery will be permanent live, very useful if you want to charge your phone without leaving the ignition on. Mo The Land Rover 90 - Many are called, few are chosen. 50 Shades of Pennine Grey |
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7th Aug 2022 8:28am |
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| matchap801 Member Since: 05 Aug 2021 Location: Somerset Posts: 120 
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I brought in a feed from the battery box to the box under the drivers seat, fitted an additional fusebox, then ran feeds out to the dash for USB etc. Flat twin core cable off ebay works a treat! 2009 Defender 90 CSW 2.4 TDCI.
Ex Army Mechanic still living the dream. |
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7th Aug 2022 2:37pm |
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| Retroanaconda Member Since: 04 Jan 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 2656 
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Do the USB sockets not draw power even when not used?
Mine has a green LED which is lit when powered so I’ve always shied away from making it permanent powered for that reason, but the drain might be so small as to not be an issue? |
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7th Aug 2022 3:15pm |
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| matchap801 Member Since: 05 Aug 2021 Location: Somerset Posts: 120
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Yes. But have a look a 12volt planet. A really good guide on relays, pick up an ignition live to generate it. 2009 Defender 90 CSW 2.4 TDCI.
Ex Army Mechanic still living the dream. |
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7th Aug 2022 3:41pm |
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| macfrank Member Since: 05 Nov 2015 Location: somewhere in the north Posts: 1081  
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Correct. It‘s usually between 10-20mA, which is too much for my liking given I have a few of them. So either I have them connected to ignition live or a separate switch; I also soldered out the LED of one socket, reducing standby current to 7mA, out of curiosity and because I hate blue lights  |
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7th Aug 2022 4:45pm |
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| macfrank Member Since: 05 Nov 2015 Location: somewhere in the north Posts: 1081
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For a dual-battery camper setup it may be relevant to note that 12V relays draw a current of about 100..150mA when „on“. This information is often hard to find. Usually the spec states its coil resistance. If that’s say 80 Ohm, the current will be 12V/80=150mA. |
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7th Aug 2022 5:00pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20443
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Use your head unit USB if you have one, granted you won’t have high charging capacity but will charge.
You can get them to fit in a hole, the RH face of the glove box is ideal, to then connect to your HU. However, you will need behind there a rear HU USB connection or a 12v to USB adaptor. As mentioned, they can produce plenty of EMI, so some ferrite clips and shielding is ideal. If you want higher current changing then use the lighter socket with a plug in adaptor. Your other option is to use an “add a tap” feed from the lighter feed supply under the steering wheel. Fit a 5A fuse for the USB feed and 15A for the lighter feed. This is then under the 20A max capacity stated. The downside is, the lighter feed supply then can handle 15A and not 20A but I’ve not found that to be a problem, there are some grounding points around just above the pedals that are suitable to use and accessible you’ll need a crimp ring terminal though. As I said, if you have a head unit with rear USB connection then that does make it easier, but if not you have a 12v to 5v USB adaptor you can wire. Personally I’ve never seen a need for high capacity USB charging, usually the standard current will be quite sufficient. There’s a few ideas that maybe of interest, this is based on a Puma but if you have something different check what your lighter feed current capacity is. There are other solutions as other have suggested too, that will be fine but possibly more involved but there is some more ideas that maybe useful. On mine I use the glove box port powered by HU for my phone (there is a 3.5mm audio jack in the same unit too) if I really needed high capacity USB charging then an adaptor for the lighter socket in the centre dash. But also got hardwired USB supplies hidden too which are 12v input to USB 5v output. Hope there is some ideals that maybe useful there, in fact you have quite a lot of options. No Guts, No Glory. 🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🇮🇪🇺🇸⛽️🛢️⚙️🧰💪 |
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7th Aug 2022 9:20pm |
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