X250 and others Cab 12 volt socket change

Techno

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Leeds the one up North
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12,905
MH
Rapido 7090F 3 litre 160
Exp
May 2010
The reason for the change is that 12 volt plugs usually keep coming out of contact over bumps causing loss of power to sat navs/ chargers etc without you realising until it proves inconvenient.
These twist lock sockets prevent this
Pictures a bit out of sequence as I've already fitted the new sockets.
First remove the rubber seat for the ashtray cup holder. Then remove the T25 torqs screw.
CA_08091418434088-L.jpg

CA_08091418440608-L.jpg

The whole switch panel then pulls up on the front edge nearest you and out towards you.
The pair of original connectors have a seperate small +ve wire for illumination of the cigarette lighter socket, this wont be needed so cut off and tape back.
The large yellow +ve requires a blue female 6.3mm spade and the -ve black a red 6.3mm
CA_08091418443476-L.jpg

CA_08091418445251-L.jpg

CA_08091418450920-L.jpg

CA_08091418452714-L.jpg
 
Great post, and a really good idea.(y)(y)
 
I bought the sockets from ebay China cheap. A UK seller Autostar is VERY expensive for the same items
 
Yes, I have a bell rigged up and when a non-political post comes on, it rings, allowing me to respond poste-haste.....;);)

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Thanks Andy - good timing; was just looking at this..........
 
One of these days you're going to find that you have nothing left to alter/improve and you're gonna be soooooo bored that you will have to buy another MH to start all over again. :Eeek:
 
I bought here
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but lower available
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I think next job will be making one of them always on, probably do that this week or at Malvern.

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BTW I did this while parked at Cite de Europe last night
 
Also a big thanks to Eddie VanBitz for the bike loop extension (Strikeback alarm). I witnessed immigrants climbing out the back of a Romanian registered HGV right in front of the police station so for the first time I used it and tested it which gave me some peace of mind (y)

BTW the immigrants were not Romanians but English speaking black men or at least the one who spoke to me and he was actually polite before they disappeared through the trees at the bottom of the parking area. So my conclusion is the RO drivers are taking a big bung
 
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While doing this you could easily replace one socket with a twin USB
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Edit even better less than £5
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Last edited:
While doing this you could easily replace one socket with a twin USB
Broken Link Removed

Edit even better less than £5
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Andy, i have been looking at your mod for the usb charger.
My MH already has 2 x cigar type fittings side by side .......... will your mod for the twin usb fitting slot straight in place of one of these.
 
How do these manage to lock a plug not designed to lock ?

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Hmmmmm ... don't think we'll be changing ours for the fixed twist ones! Today we set off for our 'new to us' static caravan and stopped at Lidl for a few supplies, when we returned to the van one of the dogs had somehow caught the power cable going from the 12v cab socket to the sat nav and one part of the 'plug' casing and the inner parts were dangling and the other half of the casing was playing hide and seek - I eventually found it behind the passenger seat! Unfortunately the lead was well busted so we had to return home to get our spare one. If the plug hadn't been pulled out of the socket it could easily have damaged the sat nav cradle instead which would have been VERY expensive ... I had suggested that hubby puts in a twin socket specifically for the sat nav and camera underneath the steering wheel where there's a 'little shelf' so that we don't have wires dangling and monopolising the 12v sockets anyway ... guess what his FIRST job is when we get home! :sneaky:
 
Beware of the very cheap Chinese twin usb adapters from eBay which plug into the 12v socket. Mine decided to output 14.4 volts, instead of 5 volts, and it destroyed my dash camera and gps module. Well worth paying a few pounds more and getting a branded unit such as Veetop or Griffin. Saying that, there are more fakes of the branded products than the real thing, so it's best to buy direct from the manufacturer. I learrned the expensive way!
 
How do these manage to lock a plug not designed to lock ?

All plugs lock in this socket as it is the socket that is different, you just line up the negative contacts with the arrows
 
I had suggested that hubby puts in a twin socket specifically for the sat nav and camera underneath the steering wheel where there's a 'little shelf' so that we don't have wires dangling and monopolising the 12v sockets anyway ... guess what his FIRST job is when we get home!
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Andy, i have been looking at your mod for the usb charger.
My MH already has 2 x cigar type fittings side by side .......... will your mod for the twin usb fitting slot straight in place of one of these.
CA_11021415201101-XL.jpg

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I am going to do this, have already bought the socket (just one) as soon as I can figure out how to get the panel off. My satnav(s) keep going off as a result of loose plugs.

Perhaps someone on here knows (Mercedes Sprinter 07 vintage) No visible fixings, the panel in question is down below the pull out ashtray/cupholder/cig lighter.
 
I've been tinkering again and I want more dashboard sockets and USB's
Thread coming to a forum near you very soon :p
 
The reason for the change is that 12 volt plugs usually keep coming out of contact over bumps causing loss of power to sat navs/ chargers etc without you realising until it proves inconvenient.
These twist lock sockets prevent this
Pictures a bit out of sequence as I've already fitted the new sockets.
First remove the rubber seat for the ashtray cup holder. Then remove the T25 torqs screw.
CA_08091418434088-L.jpg

CA_08091418440608-L.jpg

The whole switch panel then pulls up on the front edge nearest you and out towards you.
The pair of original connectors have a seperate small +ve wire for illumination of the cigarette lighter socket, this wont be needed so cut off and tape back.
The large yellow +ve requires a blue female 6.3mm spade and the -ve black a red 6.3mm
CA_08091418443476-L.jpg

CA_08091418445251-L.jpg

CA_08091418450920-L.jpg

CA_08091418452714-L.jpg

I'm going to take a feed from the wires on the back of the 12V sockets down to a twin USB socket in the glove box.

Could you please confirm the yellow wire is +positive and the black wire is - negative ? Its the colour of your connectors that's throwing me !

Thanks.

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