How do I wire in a cigarette lighter?

[moonlitcoyote]

I got to thinking today that I have everything I need to do some boon-docking EXCEPT 1 thing. My toddler listens to white noise that is played on an i-pod when he sleeps. The i-pod is hooked to a set of speakers that are plugged into 110. I have a small inverter in my van that would work for his i-pod but it plugs into the cigarette lighter. So what I need to do is wire a cigarette lighter into his bedroom in the back. If anyone knows how to do this, I need step by step instructions on how to wire it. Thank you


MJ

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Super easy...just go to an auto parts store and buy a universal cigarette lighter socket.  Try to get the kind that goes into a hole and is held in place by a large nut.  Now, find a place in the bedroom you want it that also has a 12 volt wire nearby, like near a light fixture.  Drill the right size hole where you want it...obviously it can't be an outer wall, but any cabinet or closet will do as long as there are 12 volt wires hidden behind it that you can get to.  Put the socket in the hole and tighten down the hold down nut.  Now tap into the 12 volt wire and attach it to the cigarette lighter socket.  You'll also have to run a ground wire to the socket...so if you are lucky and there is a ground wire nearby, just tap into that.  Otherwise, you'll have to run a ground wire and find a bolt to attach it to that is grounded to the chassis.  If you can find a location near a light, even a night light near the floor, there will already be a 12 volt wire and ground wire running to it.

Its that easy!

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

That does sound easy. But 1 question, as far as "tapping' into the 12v wire going to the light, do I just cut the wires then splice them all together with wire nuts? I'll let you know how it goes after I find an auto parts store and find the socket...I wish I had thought of it sooner as we lost power for 2 hours tonight so I hooked the converter I had in the van to the cigar lighter in the homebago and ran an extension cord to the back room. It worked out but was a bit worried I would deplete the chassis battery.

[jkilbert]

i like the squeeze on line taps since there is no cutting of the wires involved. just make sure you have the polarity correct when you hook it up. the positive lead goes to the tip contact in the plug whereas the negative/ground goes to the outer casing of the plug. if you're tapping into a light, the light switch should be your positive lead.


john

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Given an RV is a big box comprised of wood, plastic, and metal, you typically have to add a ground wire because the wood/plastic you are mounting a device in does not provide a ground return path.  Now that sounds simple but the aftermarket suppliers make things a bit confusing by intermixing AC and DC wire coloring terms together.  12VDC circuit designers normally use red for positive and black for negative.  Now many aftermarket lighting designers think in houshold AC terms were black is normally hot and white is neutral.  The net result is:
if the 12VDC lighting device uses black and white leads then
Black (hot) = 12VDC positive (red) and
White (neutral) = 12VDC negative ground (Black).

[moonlitcoyote]

wow Dave, you just confused the heck out of me with that. Guess I'll have to wait until I get started on it to see what color the wires are. I dont live close to anything so getting to the auto parts store will take at least a few days. Got to wait until I need other things that I can pickup at the same time.

MJ

[Oz]

I'm no electrical expert by any stretch of the imagination but, I did wire in a cigarette lighter into the side panel of a 1970s Honda motorcycle once.

All you have to do is connect a 12v power wire to it and splice that into another one in the RV and do the same with the ground wire or, if there's a steel brace nearby, drill a hole and ground it to that. 

In my "Chariot" Custom Indian, I had one too, in the rear bedroom and had a nightlight in it.

[moonlitcoyote]

I found a 12v socket that I had bought for my Terry trailer and it has 2 wires, 1 white and 1 gray. How do I figure out which wire is which?

[piorun]

the positive lead goes to the tip contact in the plug whereas the negative/ground goes to the outer casing of the plug.
john

/\/\/\/\/\

[moonlitcoyote]

both wires go into the end of the socket

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Using a volt meter set to "ground", place one probe on the inside metal surface of the socket, and the other probe on either wire.  When it beeps, you'll know which wire is ground...ergo, the other wire will be positive.

Kev

[moonlitcoyote]

well I dont have a voltmeter so I will see if I can tear into it and see if I can tell whats going on. Thanks.


OK, I figured it out, the gray wire is (+) and the white wire is (-). Maybe later today after I get done cutting some more tree's down I'll get around to locating the wires to the light to tap into.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Are we having fun yet?  Y!

Thats the confusion I was trying to warn you about.

Be careful with them trees.   They likes to jump out and bite you.

Dave

[moonlitcoyote]

Well my chain saw is dull and my hands are sore, so tomorrow I will figure out this socket

[moonlitcoyote]

I got it wired in but I think there may be a problem. I plugged my inverter into it then plugged a fan into the inverter and the fan ran perfectly. BUT the front of the inverter has 2 lights, 1 is a power light to tell you its plugged in. Everything good there. Then there is another light that turns red  to warn you that your battery isnt strong enough to run things off the inverter. Normally when that light is red the inverter will beep and shut off. Well this light was a solid red as soon as I plugged it in, it still ran the fan with no problem though. So I am confused as to why the light was red instead of green.... Wondering if I need to worry about something or just leave it be?

[ibdilbert01]

The inverter (not converter) is checking the incoming voltage and probably determining low voltage.    Long wire runs specifically of a smaller gauge in wire will result in a voltage drop.   Simply put, the wire you connected your outlet too might be too small and creating too much of a voltage drop to keep the inverter happy. 

[Oz]

I think, when this little project is all said and done, you should use a the cigarette lighter to light a cigarette and smoke it after all the stress....

[moonlitcoyote]

The inverter (not converter) is checking the incoming voltage and probably determining low voltage.    Long wire runs specifically of a smaller gauge in wire will result in a voltage drop.   Simply put, the wire you connected your outlet too might be too small and creating too much of a voltage drop to keep the inverter happy.

You cant make a statement like that without giving me an idea of how to fix the problem.

[ibdilbert01]

Sorry.


You might need to run bigger wire from the inverter to its power source.     What brand / model inverter do you have?  And do you have a multimeter?

[moonlitcoyote]

huh? Are you saying I need to run totally new wires from the fuse panel to the 12v outlet in order to get enough power?

[moonlitcoyote]

its just a small cheapo from wal-mart. Its a powerline and no I dont have a voltmeter. But I do know it is not receiving enough power, so I guess I need a new forum. I got the socket installed but now I need to know how to give it enough juice to run anything. Oh what a pain in the arse.

[Oz]

Get used to unexpected, little pains in the arses, it goes with the vintage RV territory - LOL!  You do realize you need a voltmeter, don't you?  It's as critical a needed tool when dealing with electrical issues as a screwdriver is when dealing with... screws.  Simply knowing it's not getting enough power isn't enough to know.  You kneed to know how much it's going to take so you can make the correct change for your situation.  It's likely you'll be running into other electrical issues more complex than this and you won't be able to use any of the help you'll get unless you can take readings.  There's a good article in the Member Area on Multimeters and Selecting Test Equipment.

[moonlitcoyote]

Actually I "own" a few voltmeters, but as I stated before ALL of my belongings are still in Colorado. And since we already own at least 2 of everything, (I had 1 and my husband had 1 of everything before we married) I really dont want to buy another one.

That being said... The situation has changed.  We lost power for a few minutes tonight so I plugged the babies white noise into the 12v socket and both lights on the inverter were green. The i-pod played perfectly... The weird thing.. as soon as power was restored, the light turned red again.  So I guess I accomplished what I was after, I now have a 12v socket available for boondocking. Thanks all.

[ibdilbert01]

This might be the manual.


http://www.originalpower.com/support/images/stories/manuals/0900-59%20Manual.pdf


Just in case you wanted to look at it.   

[moonlitcoyote]

OK new question, same topic...

How would I wire this 12v socket to run strictly off 12v battery power only?

I found this information in the operators manual of my converter and I believe that in order for my 12v socket to work correctly this is what I need to do....


Equipment limited to operation from 12 volt
battery power onlyâ€"including 12 volt TVs, radios, stereos, unfiltered
fluorescent lightsâ€"must be connected to the fused battery circuits of DC
DISTRIBUTION PANEL or RV battery line.
DO NOT connect equipment requiring more than 3 amps to terminal “B”.
AUTOMATIC-RESET THERMAL BREAKER


I found the information, but I dont know exactly what it means or how to go about doing it. So please if you know how I can run my socket correctly please be patient with me and use as many lay terms as possible. Thank you... MJ