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".