Mk1 wiring/cig lighter/usb charging socket advice please!

[Spudly]

As title, my antibes doesnt have the wiring for a cig lighter in it, not a problem for me as i dont smoke anymore, until you remember ill need to charge my satnav and phone whilst away at Billing and such!


So after seeing Pie's thread about replacing the cig lighter with a usb charger i want to do something similar, i was thinking of cutting a small hole into the inside of the glovebox and mounting a usb port in there, one like this..


http://www.maplin.co.uk/universal-in-car-mini-dc-to-2.1a-usb-adaptor-591370


Now i can just do as Pie did and either open it and solder to the board, or just solder a wire onto the external contacts and cocoon it in electrical tape (i already know the spring nipple bit is +ve and the tabs on the outside are -ve) but my question is, what rating fuse shall i use for it, and i was thinking of running the power from the spare terminal on the back of the hazard switch, this was previously used as a perm live for the headunit, but since full size headunits tend to rattle on the bulkhead when you fit them fully home (and you cant really hear the stereo with an xe and standard speakers) ive removed it and want to fit the blank/coin tray thing, that should be fine to run the charger off shouldnt it (briefly asked Joff yesterday and he reckoned it should be fine) but as said ill want to fuse it aswell, what rating fuse should i use?


Any suggestions or help greatly appreciated:thumb:

[phazer]

Use a 1amp fuse, USB is usually a .5amp max draw but I'm not sure you'll get a useful fuse in that size (i.e. that's easy to sort with car wiring).

[Spudly]

Can you even get one amp fuses lol



If it only needs a small one then a 7.5 will be ample wont it:thumb:

[pie]

inline fuse?

[Spudly]

Yeah, will be the easiest way of doing it i reckon:thumb:

[phazer]

Yep, you can get automotive fuses in 1amp, new minature format though rather than the massive blades you'll find in a Nova lol

If you're going to faff about then a proper resettable fuse at 500ma on some breadboard is the right thing to do. If you must use an in-line fuse, don't use one from a plug and it it's a glass type, ensure you choose one with the correct characteristics for DC devices. Be aware that the fuse is to protect the car's harness rather than whatever USB device decides to over draw current.

[Graeme]

Why bother fusing it when the hazard switch will be fused in the main fuse box?

[Spudly]

Why bother fusing it when the hazard switch will be fused in the main fuse box?




Just wanted to make sure i dont overload the car wiring and damage it, i know the hazard switch will be fused but i was just checking as my mate said ill probably not need one either :thumb:

[Edd]

Buy a map

[Spudly]

Buy a map

Oh yes silly me, I forgot you can charge a phone up with an ordnance survey map:roll:

[Andy]

Fit a cig lighter,buy a universal car charger from asda,has a usb output-job done.
Stereo rattling? unsure what you have done wrong there,never had that trouble,do you have the right cage for the stereo?
Stereo not loud enough/xe louder than stereo-Fit louder speakers or turn the volume up-its a car,a road car not a motorbike or an f1 car.
My sony cd player NEVER rattled in that and nor was my engine too loud,and mine was straight through with nowt,my setup consisted of a cd player plus-6x9 speakers and standard nova speakers.Absolutely fine.
If its that loud,i would be more worried about section 59's and Mot in all fairness.