Where Is Simplest Permanent Live?

[willydoit]

Hi all,

Due to minimal use I want to use a solar Battery conditioner on my ls400 98. the conditioner does have a cigar lighter fitting but as cigar lighter on lexus is not permanent live I need to either make it permanent, live or fit an additional lighter socket in glovebox or similar with a permanent live feed by using one of these lighter socket extenders by removing plug and hard wiring. I havent done any mods on the car which is fully stock with less than 50k on clock so want to keep it looking right.

Could someone suggest an appropriate permanent live easily accesible from glove box area or would I be better to run cabling directly through bulkhead to Battery?

I dare say finding a live feed is easy enough but I wouldnt have a clue where it went or whether any damage could ensue by tapping into it for this purpose, hence my request for knowledgeable help.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Parrot of Doom]

Don't connect directly to the Battery, always connect via a fuse.

[steve2006]

The hazard warning light switch has a permanent live feed and it is fairly easy to remove the panel with it on and then to splice a feed from there, not sure which wire it will be but if you can't find it with a multimeter come back and I'll try and find the wiring colour codes.

This circuit is fused believe it to be number 45.

If you don't use the cigar lighter for its original use you could run this live feed down and connect to it after disconnecting the present one,the current draw will not cause problems for the solar panel or mobile charges etc.

[willydoit]

Hi Steve,

This sounds ideal, I will have a look and see how to remove both the hazard switch and the cigar loghter. connecting it to the existing lighter socket seems the neatest solution, I dont use it as a lighter but do sometimes use it for my Iphone dock but dont see this causing an issue. I have a multi tester so should be able to find the permanent live.

Thanks again just what I was wanting.

Steve

[ambermarine]

Hi Willydoit

Word of caution on your intentions

I Have a 98 mark 4 and I have had a few issues with the Battery drain caused by the immobiliser and alarm system.

The car had a wired switch to cigarette lighter in place when I bought it ,the previous owner had it fitted for a solar panel device.

I have since removed it and the switch which marred the dashboard blanking panel which I have replaced .

The problem was then going to be solved with an intelligent charger .The issues then reared their head,I bought one from a company in the midlands which boiled the Battery acid and did not go into float mode I then bought a unit in the states which was well written up by Sears and have found that burnt itself out after two days.(Before anyone points out the differing voltage and hertz it as universal voltage )

I have now had success with a caddy charger ,these are primarly designed for golf cart batteries but are rated at two amp output and I believe this to be the nub of the problem with the 600 miliamp units that failed .The drain caused by the imobiliser and security system is greater than the output of the small units so they are constantly charging and cannot achieve the float mode, they are not designed for this but simply to maintain a inert Battery at constant capacity,the same is true of most of the solar panel chargers and a small one will not be up to the job.Get one that as a output of at least 1.5 amp .

[ROYT]

If it's convenient you could use a domestic timer to switch the charger on for an hour or whatever every day

[willydoit]

Hi Willydoit

Word of caution on your intentions

I Have a 98 mark 4 and I have had a few issues with the battery drain caused by the immobiliser and alarm system.

The car had a wired switch to cigarette lighter in place when I bought it ,the previous owner had it fitted for a solar panel device.

I have since removed it and the switch which marred the dashboard blanking panel which I have replaced .

The problem was then going to be solved with an intelligent charger .The issues then reared their head,I bought one from a company in the midlands which boiled the battery acid and did not go into float mode I then bought a unit in the states which was well written up by Sears and have found that burnt itself out after two days.(Before anyone points out the differing voltage and hertz it as universal voltage )

I have now had success with a caddy charger ,these are primarly designed for golf cart batteries but are rated at two amp output and I believe this to be the nub of the problem with the 600 miliamp units that failed .The drain caused by the imobiliser and security system is greater than the output of the small units so they are constantly charging and cannot achieve the float mode, they are not designed for this but simply to maintain a inert battery at constant capacity,the same is true of most of the solar panel chargers and a small one will not be up to the job.Get one that as a output of at least 1.5 amp .

This is very interesting, the solar unit I purchased is made by Ring, I will check the output of it, unfortunately the vehicle isnt garaged but parked on the drive so using a normal charger / conditioner isnt easy I can however lock the car with the key which I understand doesnt apply the alarm to reduce the extent of the drain, I was advised that my previous Battery had a duff cell so have just spent £110 for a 4 year guarantee Halfords Battery so hopefully drain will be far less severe than it was before. Unfortunately the solar charger doesnt have any LED or anything to indicate if it is charging or not. My existing Battery charger is probably almost 30 years old so perhaps doesnt have the elements modern chargers have to prevent over charging etc which may not have helped in the past.

[ambermarine]

Hi Willydoit

Word of caution on your intentions

I Have a 98 mark 4 and I have had a few issues with the battery drain caused by the immobiliser and alarm system.

The car had a wired switch to cigarette lighter in place when I bought it ,the previous owner had it fitted for a solar panel device.

I have since removed it and the switch which marred the dashboard blanking panel which I have replaced .

The problem was then going to be solved with an intelligent charger .The issues then reared their head,I bought one from a company in the midlands which boiled the battery acid and did not go into float mode I then bought a unit in the states which was well written up by Sears and have found that burnt itself out after two days.(Before anyone points out the differing voltage and hertz it as universal voltage )

I have now had success with a caddy charger ,these are primarly designed for golf cart batteries but are rated at two amp output and I believe this to be the nub of the problem with the 600 miliamp units that failed .The drain caused by the imobiliser and security system is greater than the output of the small units so they are constantly charging and cannot achieve the float mode, they are not designed for this but simply to maintain a inert battery at constant capacity,the same is true of most of the solar panel chargers and a small one will not be up to the job.Get one that as a output of at least 1.5 amp .

This is very interesting, the solar unit I purchased is made by Ring, I will check the output of it, unfortunately the vehicle isnt garaged but parked on the drive so using a normal charger / conditioner isnt easy I can however lock the car with the key which I understand doesnt apply the alarm to reduce the extent of the drain, I was advised that my previous Battery had a duff cell so have just spent £110 for a 4 year guarantee Halfords Battery so hopefully drain will be far less severe than it was before. Unfortunately the solar charger doesnt have any LED or anything to indicate if it is charging or not. My existing Battery charger is probably almost 30 years old so perhaps doesnt have the elements modern chargers have to prevent over charging etc which may not have helped in the past.

Hi

Willydoit

Unfortunately locking the car with the key does nothing to relieve the discharge from the Battery the security system is locked to the imobilisor and the only way to disengage that is to dissconect the Battery or leave the ignition key in the ignition lock but not switched to anything.

Obviously that is a no no unless the car is garaged in a highly secure state .You could put a switched positive Battery pole on the Battery lead but this would create the problem of re-activating the VSC every time you wanted to use the car not to mention re-entering the audio code.

The system is designed to stop theft of the vehicle and from that standpoint it is probably the best on the market but from a light user point of view it is a real pain.

[willydoit]

Thanks for the added info, the conditioner I purchased is this item http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Automotive-RSP240-Solar-Maintainer/dp/B003M9FRH2 so not sure if this will be much use after what you have advised.

[ambermarine]

Thanks for the added info, the conditioner I purchased is this item http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Automotive-RSP240-Solar-Maintainer/dp/B003M9FRH2 so not sure if this will be much use after what you have advised.

Hi Willydoit

It seeems to have good reviews so you can only try it and see .I did,nt ask the previous owner how successful it was on my car but the Battery was dud when I bought it, still it took the prevous owner 13 years to put 9000 miles on it, so it probably died of boredom.

[willydoit]

Hi Ambermarine,

Thought I was doing well picking up a 7 year old with 7k on the clock, just coming up 50k but still looks and drives like it just came off the forecourt.

I was thinking of having a look and adapting the cigar lighter later this week. I have never used the cigar lighter as a cigar lighter but did wonder if I do rewire this to the live feed for the hazard lights, if anyone does inadvertantly use a cigar lighter in it will it handle it without any issues or would it be a problem? Also what guage cabling would you suggest using from the hazard warning switch to the lighter socket and even though the hazard switch is fused should I also add an inline fuse between cigar lighter and hazard switch?

Thanks for all your help.

[ambermarine]

Hi Ambermarine,

Thought I was doing well picking up a 7 year old with 7k on the clock, just coming up 50k but still looks and drives like it just came off the forecourt.

I was thinking of having a look and adapting the cigar lighter later this week. I have never used the cigar lighter as a cigar lighter but did wonder if I do rewire this to the live feed for the hazard lights, if anyone does inadvertantly use a cigar lighter in it will it handle it without any issues or would it be a problem? Also what guage cabling would you suggest using from the hazard warning switch to the lighter socket and even though the hazard switch is fused should I also add an inline fuse between cigar lighter and hazard switch?

Thanks for all your help.

Hi Willydoit

Personally I would not combine any accessories with predetermined electrical curcuits serving dedicated components.I dissconected the wiring on mine from the solar panel switch and after removing the switch I insulated the dead ends coiled it up and stowed under the dashboard as I have no idea were it went or what circuit it connected to and have no intention of disturbing the dash board fittings to find out. I cannot find it exiting the firewall were it might have LED to the underside of the engine room junction box to one of the fused circuits that may have connected to the positive side of the Battery.

I would seek proper advice from a trained Auto electrician .I don't know wether one installed the solar panel circuit on my car and because of that I de-commisioned it.

[willydoit]

Hi Ambermarine,Thought I was doing well picking up a 7 year old with 7k on the clock, just coming up 50k but still looks and drives like it just came off the forecourt.I was thinking of having a look and adapting the cigar lighter later this week. I have never used the cigar lighter as a cigar lighter but did wonder if I do rewire this to the live feed for the hazard lights, if anyone does inadvertantly use a cigar lighter in it will it handle it without any issues or would it be a problem? Also what guage cabling would you suggest using from the hazard warning switch to the lighter socket and even though the hazard switch is fused should I also add an inline fuse between cigar lighter and hazard switch?Thanks for all your help.

Hi WillydoitPersonally I would not combine any accessories with predetermined electrical curcuits serving dedicated components.I dissconected the wiring on mine from the switch and after I had done that I insulated the dead ends coiled it up and stowed under the dashboard as I have no idea were it originates and have no intention of disturbing the dash board fittings to find out. I cannot find it exiting the firewall were it might have LED to the underside of the engine room junction box to one of the fused circuits.I would seek proper advice from a trained Auto electrician .I don't know wether one installed the circuit on my car and because of that I de-commisioned it.

I have to agree, a lot of potential cost if something goes wrong. Thanks for the advice.

[mick4545]

I have a solar panel connected to the OBD2 port. This does away with the need for a live cig lighter socket. Seems to be working OK so far.

[willydoit]

That would be much better, did the unit come with the connector supplied or could I get a plug that I could wire the solar panel into?

[mick4545]

It comes with the conector. This is the one I have:

http://www.thesolartrader.co.uk/prod/491/icp-sunsei-oem-43w-car-battery-solar-charger