CarPC wiring

[Chimera]

I posted this in the Nav/Audio forum but I'm hoping to work on this at the weekend and the guys over there are obviously busy

I'm finally comfortable enough with my CarPC install that I want to change from the cigarette lighter wiring to something more concealed. I'd like use an add-a-circuit and wire into a fuse that doesn't switch off immediately with the ignition, giving me time to manually hibernate the PC - eventually I'd like to change to a managed power supply to control the hibernation, but I'm not there yet. Is there a fuse that's on a timed shut-off?

Right now I have my lillput 7" touchscreen and the Artigo PC running off a 3-way cigarette lighter adapter. Should I just cut the cable on the 3-way adapter and wire it into the add-a-circuit, or should I cut and wire both the Artigo and Lilliput adapters directly to the add-a-circuit?

Where do the ground wire(s) go? Is there somewhere close to the fuse panel to ground?

Thanks for the help guys!

one other thing...is it possible to wire a switch inline with the add-a-circuit so that I can shut off the whole CarPC system with a toggle, in case I'm just moving the car etc and don't want the system to boot? I found a 3-way adapter with separate switches at my local car store, but it's $30 and if I can just shut the whole system off with a $5 switch then that would be a better choice....

Grahame

[lacning74]

There's some useful info in my old Nuvi install thread. F21 fuse turns on when you unlock doors and turns off 30 min after ignition shuts off. Make sure you install the Add-A-Circuit the right way and get the mini size. To keep things simpler and safer for now, I recommend wiring the 3-way cig adapter to the fuse. Not the most elegant, but I still ground to a screw that can be seen to the left of the glovebox when opened and haven't had any "noise" or "power" issues. Others have found a screw in the fuse panel area or made/soldered one to exposed sheet metal. Pull off the trim piece and I'm sure you can find a suitable candidate there. For a switch, just find a simple switch like this at Radio Shack and splice it into the Add-A-Circuit wiring.

[Chimera]

Thanks lacning, I knew I could count on one of you guys

[Chimera]

ok, just need a quick check on my wiring before I do this tomorrow Got all the parts, and I'm laying it out in a dry run (too damn cold outside).

Here goes :

the wire from the add-a-circuit goes to the "power" terminal on the switch. The wire from the "load" terminal on the switch goes to the hot (center pin) wire of the cigarette lighter wire (they're not color-coded).
The wire from the "ground" terminal on the switch goes to the torx screw on the left of the glovebox when open (there's one left and one right, does it matter which one I use?)
The wire from the ground (outside part) of the cigarette lighter wire also goes to the torx screw near the glovebox.

Does that sound right? I got a mini add-a-circuit to replace fuse F21 and a pack of 10a fuses just in case. I bought some 0.250" 22-18 gauge connectors (male and female) because they are the ones that fit the switch I bought and are fully insulated just to be safe, and I bought some 18 gauge wire. The 3-way adapter is rated to 8A, that should be ok right?

Thansk for the help

[pilotart]

Originally Posted by Chimera

<...>
The wire from the ground (outside part) of the cigarette lighter wire also goes to the torx screw near the glovebox. <...>

Cigarette Lighter Plug with my XM-Radio Delphi SkyFi has two 'side springs' that hold it inside cigarette socket, but only one of the two made a ground connection.

Easy to determine if this is true with yours and worth checking.

[Chimera]

Thanks for the tip, my side springs are a single piece connected to 1 wire, so I should be ok.