What ampage fuse would you recommend?

Use the same as the one fitted into the cigarette lighter plug.

If that is a brodit one there should be an option for one for permanent installation with a molex connector. I think it might cost a bit more but you won't need to butcher it.

With the fag lighter version there should be a fuse located in the end of the charger, you should be able to unscrew the end and there will be a glass fuse inside.

What phone have you got by the way?

Got an N95 8GB, looked everywhere, but seems only the PDA mounts come with a molex end? Can't find a Nokia one that has a molex option.

Will likely end up butchering it I think.

Cheers again everyone.

to avoid any butchery you could always but a fag lighter socket from Maplin and wire it in then plug the charger in, tape it together and hide that inside the dash. That will avoid any warrenty problems later down the line. That willl set you back a whole £1.49 plus some wire tape etc.

It's weird that Brodit only do permanent wired options for PDAs and not normal phones.

Yeah, it's been suggested earlier, but I need to cut/open the lead to get it through the switch blank, so may as well go the whole hog and re-house it into a nice small box from Maplin so I can make the most of the space behind the dash.

I'd guess that only the PDA mounts have Molex connectors as most PDA's are ok taking a direct 12v as opposed to phones that are around 5v?

On my holder the power connector is screwed to the body of the holder so you may be able to remove it and feed the cable through the hole. They obviously use the same body for the powered and unpowered holders

I have an octavia and I can't really remember what a fabia dash looks like and don't know how big the holes behind the switches are.

Hmm, think I may have to re-visit this when I have a holder in my hand.

Then I'll be back with all the 'where the hell is the 12v wire on the symphony Headunit?' questions

Okies, found the soldering iron in the garage

Butchered an old USB socketed cigarette adapter rather than getting the brodit and trying straight on that - outputs 5v @ 1000mA so the Phone should be fine only wanting 5v @ 800mA; just finished it now, so need to plug in a 12v supply and make sure the output is a nice 5v @1A as it should be, and then it's a case of wiring it into the car and attaching the brodit holder.

Need to find a part No and order a blank switch, yank out the HU, find the space for said box and also figure out which is the switched live and ground on the HU and spur off those I think?

Just an update for those who might care.

Good to hear you're making progress

Steve

Cool... thats a good plan! Looks pretty neat!

Glad you've fused it and put it into a box to avoid any damage to your car!

I would have thought that the switched live behind the stereo will be yellow but obviously check with someone who know for sure!

So were you routing the wire? Still putting it through a blank switch?

So were you routing the wire? Still putting it through a blank switch?

Plan is to wire the output from the box into a 2.1mm DC socket in the blank, which will then let me chop the wire from the phone mount and wire a DC jack into it. Simply so that if I wanted to take the holder & mount off for any reason (dodgy neighbourhood etc etc.) then all that's there is a small DC socket in a blank. (could also mean I can make up some other wires for charging other stuff (GPS etc.) without having to use the cig socket.

Ideally I wanted a smaller socket, but it's all Maplin had. May look for a smaller one though depending on how quickly I try and get this in the car.

Thats a good plan!

Like you say you can then wire uo you're own charger leads with a plug to plug in and charge ipod or anything etc.

So were you routing the wire? Still putting it through a blank switch?

That's what I did first time round, just took a small section out of the bottom right of a blank switch. Looked OK, but if I were doing it again, I might feed the wire through then smooth the hole over with some black sealant.

Steve

Why not just wire in a fag lighter socket somewhere around the back and mount it so it can't rattle. Plenty of space behind the glovebox.

It's the same thing, but this gives me more flexibility. Besides, it was a laugh.

It's the same thing, but this gives me more flexibility. Besides, it was a laugh.

I can see point 1 and point 3.... but how is it more flexible?

I now have a DC socket outputting 5v@1A that can plug into anything I make a lead up for. Adding a cig socket behind the dash means I can only wire one thing in?

I now have a DC socket outputting 5v@1A that can plug into anything I make a lead up for. Adding a cig socket behind the dash means I can only wire one thing in?

But how many 5v 1A devices have you got?

Devices can be anything but are usually 3v3, 5v or 12v and the currents all vary.

I was thinking along the lines of if you have a hidden cigar lighter socket you could then plug in anything that comes with a cigar socket.

Both work of course.

I was thinking along the lines of if you have a hidden cigar lighter socket you could then plug in anything that comes with a cigar socket.

The whole point though is to have it 'hardwired' in, so cables aren't going all over the cabin, having a 2nd cigarette lighter still means anything needs to be wired all over the shop? And it needs to be accessible to plug stuff in, so 'hidden' becomes more of a chore when swapping devices etc...

My iPod takes 5v @ 1A (thats what the charger was originally for) and my TomTom Bluetooth receiver takes 5v too, the phone is 5v@800mA. And that's everything I really charge in my car. So it's going to be rather flexible for me specifically?

Fair does.

Would be nice is car manufacturers started to dot around 5v or 3v3 outlets via mini usb at a few points such as the A pillar and near the radio as there are so many devices these days that a fag lighter is a pain.

Yeah, this is basically what I wanted. Still debating whether to put a USB/Mini-USB socket in the blank instead of a DC jack. Guess it's all aesthetics really. I wanted something subtle, but vaguely OEM looking. Even considered a 3.5mm headphone jack (though that may get confusing).

Might spur off a 2nd into the back of the 'cubby hole' where I keep the bluetooth GPS so that can be 'hardwired' in at the same time if this works.

Mini USB is good as a lot of devices take a mini usb and have a USB on the other end.

Also usb has voltage pins so even if you did connect something up by mistake you wouldn't cook anything by putting voltage down it.

Goddamn, a Female Mini-USB socket is hard to find... :confused:

Mini usb, firewire, smt, sockets, power sockets, and jacks, for mobile phones, pda's, mp3 players etc. by for Pda, pda's, phones, laptops, mobiles, etc.

USB overview and Plug & Receptacle pinouts

Mini USB Socket

These links might be useful, but i'd suggest the first one would be most useful.

These links might be useful, but i'd suggest the first one would be most useful.

£9.95 +vat each!!

eBay seems more useful! 49p

(tis possibly the wrong one though, so I'll save judgment totally), rather get something totally different than spend a tenner on a socket though!

have you done this yet?