Hi All,

I have searched and read all about adding an additional 12v socket. I understand how it works, but it seems all the links are dead--the ones that show which add-a-circuit to use.

I bought this off amazon,

http://www.amazon.com/Littelfuse-FHA.../dp/B0002BGELQ

But I got the piece and it says it is only to be used for anything lower than 10 amp. But I see that the cigarette lighter fuse is a 15? Is 15 a different number that doesn't refer to amps?
Will it be okay if I just use this product?

Thanks in advance!

 

What do you plan on plugging into it?

 

I plan to just use the original one for a cigarette lighter and sometimes ipod/iphone, and the other one for iphone/ipod only.

Any advice?

 

You will be fine.

 

Volts x amps= watts....so 12volts times 15 or even 10 amps....=120watts to more at the higher limit...so no issues for most any common item plugged into a car...even the 12 electric coolers are desgined for this type of use....portable inverters are a different issue....it is common to see 200 watt cirgette plug inverters...those are ok...but have seen ones labeled 400 watts or even 800 with a cirgette plug...those REQUIRE a battery connection to get the higher amps needed.

 

PS
If you check the fuse (usually glass in most car adaptors), they are often only 2.5 amps, sometimes 5, and even that is overkill....a cell phone for exampe draws (almost always) LESS THAN ONE AMP.

 

thanks everyone for the replies and the help. looking forward to doing this!

 

Semi-related, so I figured I'd post it here.

Just got my '04 Cooper yesterday, and have the XM radio receiver and antenna from my old car ready to go. However, plugging the 12V power adapter into the socket behind the cupholders seems not to work. The cigarette lighter itself works fine - push the button down, it pops up nice and toasty when it's done - but it doesn't seem to "recognize" my XM adapter.

Any thoughts?

Duncan :D

 

Update: Have figured out, by noticing the flicker of the socket's orange "glow ring", that it's probably the wiring underneath having a problem. The socket itself wants to pull out of the console every time I try to attach something. Will have to dig into the console this week and see if I can cinch things back together.

 

If you choose to tap into the wiring directly, keep in mind that not all plug-in electronics operate on 12 volts. I wanted to splice in the wiring for my Sirius Sportster 5 satellite radio, but I found out the unit operates at 5 volts. So I bought a lighter socket extension cord, cut off the female end, and spliced it into the original wiring underneath the center console. Then I tucked the extension and the original radio lighter plug inside the right radio support tube.

 

Oh, no worries about splicing or tapping straight in. I'm just planning to get the socket working cleanly first so I can plug in the standard adapter. But I do like your idea of the "hidden" socket, too - the 12V adapter on my Audiovox XM receiver is fairly massive, and it would be nice to hide that while opening up the standard socket for other purposes (phone, air compressor, etc.).

I was also thinking of getting the '05-up under-console tray from OutMotoring anyway - with a remote socket, that might hold both the adapter and the radio with some finagling.