Hi all,

I have a 12v cigarette lighter socket connected directly to my battery (to power my tomtom when I'm abroad). The only problem though is that to disconnect it (say when I'm on the ferry for 8 hours) I have to pull the back of the seat forward, grab all the connections out, and disconnect the charger from the socket, as I can't get the pillion seat off as it's covered with panniers etc...

Therefore I was thinking of one of two methods to sort this out:

1. Put an inline switch in, that is easy to get to, that enables me to switch the socket off when I'm not using it.
2. Join the live feed for the socket into the the same connection I made for the autocom, so that when the ignition is turned off, the socket is off.

There are pro's and con's to both methods, eg: With option 2, to charge my phone whilst away I will have to have the ignition on (or bike running) whereas before I could just connect it up and leave it for an hour. But this option means I don't have to mess around placing a switch inline... Option 1- I can't seem to find a suitable switch anyway, but I'm sure I'm searching for the wrong thing...

I'm really not sure what's best, and whether there is another option or not...

Thoughts? Comments? Ideas?

Cheers,

Jon.

I wouldnt suggest running the cig lighter direct off the feed for the lights, your better off using a relay triggered by the feed from the lights to them give you a feed for whatever you need (autocom, cig lighter, etc etc)

Ok, I think I need to explain I know very little about electrics (I can wire a plug, solder wires together after testing for voltage etc) but start getting into the realms of relays and I'm lost

I've just googled relays, and from what I can see they are open when there is an electrical feed, and some can even boost the output, but there seem to be lots of different types... What is the benefit of fitting a relay? Does it mean that if say the autcom, or satnav powered by ciggy lighter blows up, and there is a surge, the original electrical circuit (eg rear lights feed) is not affected, as the relay will stop any surge? Or am I way off on this?

What type of relay would I need to search for?

Ta,

Jon.

yep your on the right track, its basically an electrical switch with 4 (or 5) wires, pass an electrical current across 2 of the wires and it allows current to flow between the other 2, remove the current and it no longer allows the current to flow on the other.

the idea is to use your current switched feed to trigger another feed that comes direct from the battery. Since you have no idea what current the wiring can run and your already "piggy backing" on the existing load you dont want to draw too much and blow fuses, melt wiring etc. Instead you draw a very small current to trigger the relay which provides you a high current feed to supply whatever you want.

Any standard 30 or 40A automotive relay will do, like this from maplins you will also need spade connectors to hook up to it and a crimp tool. I'd also reccomend getting an inline fuse holder just so its all fused. (something like this )

That's great Finn, thanks for the info, much appreciated.

Jon.

Relays? I have a fused female socket connected directly to the battery for my optimate. The socket is located in any convenient place I can get to without dismantling the bike. On the end of my cigarette lighter wire I have a male plug same as the optimate. Plug It in to the wire from the battery when not using the optimate. Couple of cable ties and a male plug. Job done. Of course I realise not everyone has an optimate charger for their bike. The method is the same a Plug and socket that you can connect and disconnect. Mine just serves two purposes.

I've got my sat-nav wired on a direct feed to the battery connected with ring terminals rather that a cig lighter socket, although some people prefer to use an ign switched feed for their satnavs. It sounds like you may need a new power cable to do this though.
I also have a socket wired to the battery for charging phones and the like. If you are only using a low current draw for charging, you won't need to wire through relays.