Cigarette Lighter Tap Usb Wire

Dtaggart

Dtaggart

Well-Known Member
28
2
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Vehicle Model
Si
Body Style
Coupe
He guys, I have searched for a while but couldn't find anything. Does anyone know where I ca find a guide to add a usb wire tapped to the front cigarette lighter? I would like to do it behind that console piece and still leave the cigarette lighter functional.

Thanks!
 
Dtaggart said:
He guys, I have searched for a while but couldn't find anything. Does anyone know where I ca find a guide to add a usb wire tapped to the front cigarette lighter? I would like to do it behind that console piece and still leave the cigarette lighter functional.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

It's not too difficult, I did something similar on my 1999 Ex. Firstly, you won't want to run your USB cable at the 12V your car supplies. So unless you want to build a circuit with a voltage regulator, I suggest buying one of those usb chargers that plugs into a cigarette lighter; that will step your voltage down to a regulated 5V. Then buy an extra cigarette lighter socket with 2 wires on the back of it (car part store should have it). Tap those wires into the wires on the backside of your other cigarette lighter, plug the usb charger and usb cable in, and tape everything up really neat. Run the usb cable to your glovebox or whatever, and voila.
 
Good point, so if I do that I am not sure how to tap it to the existing one. When searching around, I have only seen people buying one that has a fuse tap with it and they just tap the existing fuse. Id rather just cleanly tag right in that console area. I don't want to just go blindly cutting into the lighters wire, would you know how to attach the two wires to the existing one?
 
Yeah on the back of the stock cigarette lighter inside the console, there will be 2 wires, probably shielded in a plastic casing. Just trim a bit of the casing back, and then use some standard T-taps (
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gZwpMdyiz8
). No cutting necessary. I'm not sure what color the wires will be, but you can test with a voltmeter to find out which is ground and which is your 12V wire. I think it's going to be an accessory power, so test this carefully while the car's accessory power is on. You could just guess, 50-50%, but I'm not sure if the cheaply made cigarette lighter to USB adapters have bridge rectifiers.
 
Sorry I'm not sure what gauge wires to expect. I must admit that I did mine a bit more crudely, with a soldering iron (my old car). Someone else here should probably be able to recommend what taps to get, and they're pretty inexpensive too. While you're adding "branches" off of an accessory power source, be aware that you'll blow the fuse if you start pulling more current than that fuse is rated for. But I don't expect you'll have a problem.
 
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