Making a Cell Phone Charger Plug - Always On

I often have to charge my Cell Phone with the Cigarette Lighter socket.

Problem is, if I go into a store or to work, the 12 volts is off because the
Lighter Socket is only on when the key is on.

I solved this by connecting a Fused Wire (15 amp) to the Positive Pole of the
Battery and running it into the Driver's side of the car thru the big Grommet
where most of the wires go in.

Below shows how I made a Cigarette Lighter Replacement Socket ($5 at Schuck's)
wired to the battery and put a lamp cord switch ($1.50) on it for safety.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/866/partsox0.jpg

The lamp cord is soldered to the two Replacement Socket tabs and the Replacement Socket
is pushed into a warmed Pharmacy Vial of the appropriate size.
I drilled a 1/4 inch hole in the bottom for the lamp cord.

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/2172/finishedix6.jpg

I had to warm the vial with a Butane Lighter to soften it and the Cigarette Lighter Replacement
Socket slid right in!

I connected the lamp cord to the 12v Battery wire and a good ground. Be careful to
connect the 12v wire to that side of the Lamp Cord going to the Replacement Socket's
center tap.

I left enough Lamp Cord for this thing to go under the Gear Shift Cover and sit between the
front seats.

Now, I can insert the Cell Phone Charger, turn on the cord switch and lay the
whole thing on the seat and the phone charges ALL THE TIME whether I am
driving or the car is parked.

Just my 2 cents Doc, but since there are only + and - for a cig lighter socket, and your goal was to be able to charge your cell while the ignition key was off, couldn't you have just re-routed the + terminal wire of the exsisting Metro Cig lighter socket with a new inline 18 Gauge 15 AMP fused socket wire to a constant Hot (BAT) terminal in the underdash fuse box? This is how it's done on basically most other cars. BTW Doc, It's a nice write and Mod though if you want to install a second socket in the car, But you could have just got a 12V test light and probed the underdash fuse box for a spare constant hot + bat terminal, crimped on a flat blade connector to a 18 gauge automotive grade wire with an inline fuse socket, then plugged it in the spare fusebox terminal and ran the other wire to a chassis ground spot instead of running it out to the cars battery. Automotive 12V grade switches are available at radio shack with a LED in them to indicate ON/OFF. Nice mod on the drug store vial though Doc! looks like a good solution in doing a permenent mount for a spare socket.

Didn't want my Ciggie Lighter to be "always on." Fire hazard waiting to happen.

Don't like to use those 'clip-on' wire couplers as they cut thru the insulation
and probably weaken the wire.

Can't see well close up w/o reading glasses and finding it very hard to bend over
while looking up under the dashboard - getting older sucks pondwater....

Had a 12 Gauge Wire already connected to the Battery Pos terminal for my
relay run Back-up Spot Light - so I just figured to utilize that instead of farting
around under the dash.

My Geo Metro's underdash wires are very well PACKED. I find it difficult to mess
with them. No room for my hands to work on them what with all those metal
cross-braces under there.

The add-on Cell Phone Charger thingie I made has an on/off Lamp Wire rotary
switch, so it is off when not in use (if I remember to use the switch!) and
does not present a fire hazard.

I passed the white Lamp Wire under the Shift Console and the unit sits between
the seats under the parking brake lever out of the way.

Another goodie I intend to make is a "Smoking Lamp" - a red or white LED with
a current dropping resistor (12v --> 6v for a white LED or 12v --> 1.5v for a Red LED)
to light up my ash tray at night.

Don't quite know where I'll place the LED so as not to bug me while night driving.

I have to feel for the ash tray when I smoke a cigar at night driving home
from work. Sometimes I miss and get ashes all over the console - looks like
crap.

Smoking a cigar while driving at night helps keep me awake. (?)

DoctorBill

FYI - those little bright white light keychain lights you can buy at WalMart or in
drugstores for $1 or so use two 3v button cells in series (6v total) and when the
batteries wear out, you can remove the White High Intensity LED and use it
elsewhere! Those are the High Intensity LED's used in the new multi-LED flashlights!

Just use resistors to drop the voltage - remember OHM's law... V=IR
Voltage = Current x Resistance. Current is in amps. 1 milliamp = 0.001 amp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm's_law

They are expensive to buy separately, but if removed from these cheap keychain
lights - are dog dirt cheap to keep....


Been trying not to start so many sentences with "I".

I wonder if your car already has the wiring in place for an ash tray light. My 93 Swift has an ash tray light as well as a lighted cig lighter socket.

Q

Dr Bill,
To make an ashtray light, try one of these LED's at Radio Shack. They're only $1.29 and run on 12V. If you want to color them, use fingernail polish. At that power level, they won't even get warm to the touch.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102815&cp=2032058.2032232.2032295&pg=2&parentPage=family

Probably have to stoop down, look up with a flashlight and see if there is/was
some kind of lamp in there - after I pull the ashtray out.

I want to install an "LED" of some sort as they don't burn out like filament
bulbs shown in the Radiocrap link....

But thanks anyway for the info! I apprciate any help from our forumers...
is that a new word I've come up with?

FORUMERS.......sounds pejorative.....but so what?!

DoctorBill

Don't see any ashtray light anywhere.

But the CD Player/Radio the previous owner installed hangs out a bit, so I'm
gong to make a small wood block to put under it with a 1/4" hole on the
bottom side for a Red LED.

RED like in a submarine when they are in combat conditions.

That will illuminate the ashtray when it is out. They have tiny, medium and large
RED LED's at Radiocrap. I could use one of those bright white ones from a
keychain light if I put enough resistor to limit its brightness down.

Don't want it bugging me when I driving at night. The CD Player/Radio has
bright enough lights on it to bug me. Wish I could turn those down.

I painted over the High Beam light in the Speedo/Tach console just so it wouldn't
nearly blind me like so many of them do at night. Dumb.

I usually place some sticker over the high beam light on ALL my cars to dim it
down at night.

DoctorBill