- Apr 13, 2019
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Sorry, must have missed something here. Is the OP suggesting charging the engine battery from.......................... the engine battery? 'Cos my dash sockets are wired to the engine battery.
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It will work on a Ford but not on a Fiat as Fiat socket is only on with the ignition.
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Yes, in theory that's possible. When I go away for more than a couple of weeks, I do exactly that with the car on the driveway. I use a smart charger that goes into float mode when fully charged. But a trickle charger could do the job instead.Does anyone know if it is possible to charge a 12v cab battery in the engine bay via a 12v cigarette socket in the Motorhome internal dashboard?
Yes that’s it!I think (hope) Captain Yoghurtpot intends to put a male cig lighter plug on the output lead of his mains battery charger.
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My fiat Ducato has a live cig socket with ignition off but can’t find a way to get cables through the bulkhead to the engine bay to connect direct to the battery.I have 2 sockets on the dash. One is only on with ignition and the other is always on. The radio was also wired for always on but I changed that. I guess this is a mod as I found a cable with a 15a fuse attached directly to the battery and socket goes off if the fuse is removed.
For charging the starter battery I attached cables with a socket that came with my charger.
Don’t be daft, but I see your point.Perhaps he's going to start the vehicle and power a battery charger from the ciggy socket
See further explanation, cheers.Sorry, must have missed something here. Is the OP suggesting charging the engine battery from.......................... the engine battery? 'Cos my dash sockets are wired to the engine battery.
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A mains powered 12v trickle charger.What will be supplying the cigarette socket with the power?
Yes Mr. Pappajohn, got that but would have a sticker or similar warning notice to avoid that scenario, but good advice all the same thanks.Only up to the rated amperage of the cig socket wiring/socket.
Either 10a or 15a normally
BUT..... forget to unplug before attempting a start and either the fuse, if fitted, or the wiring will suffer drastically.
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No my battery is in the engine bay not under the floor.If you buy an optimate 2 or similar, it comes with a small lead to go on the battery with a connector to disconnect it. The engine battery is under the floor in the cab so it's super easy to wire it on. Then the plug sits under the drivers seat when not in use.
Sorry, damn predictive text, Optimate.No my battery is in the engine bay not under the floor.
My van is a 2000/2001 model. 18 years old.
But optimists is a range I have been looking at , thanks for the thought.
Thanks for the comment.Theoretically I think the answer is yes.
I have a small solar panel plugged into cig socket as it is always live in my old Ducato.
What I would be unsure of is the ampage it could hold.
And secondly, why you feel the need to do this? (not taking the p*ss, genuinely don't know why you would want to?)
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Hi SpriddlerI'd fit a second cig lighter in the hab section, wired direct to the vehicle battery.
After retiring I used to help out a pal who fitted car electrical accessories. He used to get a power supply into the cab part by removing a wire (any wire) from inside the cab/dashboard, attaching two new wires to it and pulling the original wire (identified by the colour coding on the original wire) from the cab through to the inside of engine bay together with the two new wires. They find their own way through the bulkhead.
Only one of the new wires was needed for the extra cig lighter as the cig lighter's 'Earth' could be connected to the body inside the cab.
One end of one of the new wires was connected to the vehicle battery (with a fuse) and the other end connected to the cig lighter in the cab. The other new wire was pulled back into the cab, using it just as a 'mouse' together with the original wire which he refitted to where it had previously been removed.
You do need a bit of courage though, and be sure to attach the two new wires very securely to the original wire or if they come adrift you'll end up worse than before. He used to solder them all together and put heat shrink tube over where the three wires were joined to prevent the join from snagging as it passed though the bulkhead and help to secure them all together. Best to disconnect the vehicle battery before fiddling with the wires. You can get small quantities of heat shrink from accessory shops.
You don't need another one if your existing cig lighter is permanently live. If it isn't you could simply rewire it with a permanently live feed instead of via the ign switch.Hi Spriddler
Thanks but surely if my existing 12v cig lighter socket is a direct feed to the battery, why would I need a second one?
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I use a CTEK MXS5.0 smart charger. It has a special connector on the output wires. You can buy a range of ends that just plug into this connector. It comes with standard croc clips, but you can get cig lighter plug, terminal eyelets, extension wires etc. Not cheap but bomb-proof and plug-and-play.I use a smart charger that goes into float mode when fully charged. But a trickle charger could do the job instead.
There are at least two possibilities. The 'split charge relay' connects the starter battery to leisure battery while the engine is running. The relay might be in the engine bay, or it might be near or inside the 12V electrics fuse box. You could make a connection to that.Problem to overcome: how to get the wires from the trickle charger to the engine bay internally.
I cannot for the life of me find a grommet or lug access to get wires through, hence the idea of going internally via the cig socket.