Easy jump start location

Herbie · May 31, 2020

If things can be easy or awkward, Murphy's Law will always come into play and make things as awkward as possible; or so I've often found anyway.

Thinking that if a jump start is ever going to be needed, it will happen on a cold, wet, windy night and getting to either the Battery in the boot or the dedicated 'more convenient' jump start terminal in the engine bay fuse box is not going to be easy no matter which one I go for.

So, some of you may remember that some time ago I installed a more convenient 'jump start socket' in the boot:

Silly Billy that I am, I hadn't realised at the time that if the Battery is flat then the tailgate can't be opened other than by clambering over the back seats to get at the manual release lever. So, spurred on by @Richie_W's recent posting I decided to leave that socket in situ for something else but also to fit another socket that I can use to jump start the car, in a better location.

The centre console of the RX has an upper and a lower 'level' to it. The lower level is open and already has a 12V power socket factory installed but it's not energised until the car is either in ACC or READY mode, so that was no good for this purpose. However, it does lend itself to connecting a USB voltmeter in parallel so I did this a while ago and it's great for charging my phone and as an indication of the Battery voltage.

Having already made up a jump lead for use in the back I decided to use the same sort of socket again at the front, a Neutrik NL2MD loudspeaker connector that's rated at 30A. I soldered a couple of cables on the terminals and terminated the other ends with male bullet connectors. Using a step drill made an easy job of cutting the hole for the socket.

The job isn't finished yet because I have to get cables from here into the engine bay fuse box. Behind the glove box there's a big rubber grommet taking the existing wiring loom through the bulkhead and that's where my route out will be. I can't do it at the moment due to a bit of an ear infection. Luckily there's no pain but when I lie down or get my head in awkward positions like I would have to for this job, the whole world begins to rapidly spin round and I get to feeling rather puky, so I'll have to wait for this to clear up before I can do the other side of the job. However, this is what the finished job will look like and what it'll allow me to do (I've kept the original leads that came with this Battery pack so that I can use it to help others if necessary but you'll see the lead I made up for my 'more convenient' jump starting, if or when needed):

Illogan · May 31, 2020

What an excellent article (project).

THank you Herbie - - - If ever I find a spare moment I shall embark on something rather similar!

Barry14UK · May 31, 2020

Very neat and unobtrusive - like it

Herbie · May 31, 2020

Cheers chaps. Part 2 will come as soon as my ear problem sorts itself out.

Illogan · June 1, 2020

10 hours ago, Herbie said:

Cheers chaps. Part 2 will come as soon as my ear problem sorts itself out.

Herbie - hope the health problem repairs promptly - - although we didn't have to incur such delays when we could simply send 7 year-olds scampering up chimneys, or hauling coal from deep mines.

And people tell us 'life is better' eh?!

Lager shandy · June 1, 2020

Good old school tickering half expecting to see a spitfire amp meter for nostalgia

Herbie · July 13, 2020

I've made a schoolboy error here I'm sad to say, and actually posted Part 2 of this project into some other topic, so for the sake of continuity here is a copy of it.

PART 2

Well I've finally managed to finish off the job!

Unfortunately my back was killing me and my head was still a little 'spinny' so I have to confess that I just ploughed on to get it done and forgot to take many photos. However, there are three below.

The first one shows that just up in the passenger footwell where the carpet ends, there's a big rubber grommet that takes the existing wiring loom through the bulkhead. It wasn't too difficult to cut a hole in this grommet to take my conduit out the same way. From there I just ran it along under the carpet and took the centre console trim panel off to get it in behind there to where I wanted it - nothing can be seen and no one would know it's there.

The second photo shows the wiring at the engine bay fuse box. Technically I should have used the 12V post under the red cover as that is the dedicated jump start connection, but the yellow insulation on the ring terminal made that quite difficult and it was easier to 'break out' of the other one. They're both permanently energised and a direct connection back to the Battery anyway so it doesn't really matter.

Because my new wires will be permanently connected to the Battery it's essential to fuse the circuit, so I installed an in-line fuse-holder and put a 15A fuse in it. This will be plenty big enough to handle the jump start current but is small enough to protect the cable that I've just installed and prevent a fire in case of a chafed wire/short circuit.

I connected the negative (or earth, if you prefer) wire to one of the bolts nearby.

The final photo shows that it's all working and if I ever need to jump start her then I'll be able to do it from the comfort and dryness of the cabin, no matter what the weather's doing outside :thumbsup: