Putting in another 12v socket in the cab of my Boxer.

[CamperJack]

This should be straight forward, or so I thought. But as a total novice, a slight deviation from the expected can throw you off. And that's what's happened here.

I opened the panel up and found three cables, not the expected two - I was hoping to see a red and a black one.

However there is some odd white block shaped connection. Quickly onto youtube and I found a video of this guy. He just clips off the white block, crimps on a spade connector and attaches the positive and negative to the socket, tapes up the unused wire and away it goes. All working. So I thought I'd copy him. But my wires are a different colour to his! He does say he's working on a Fiat though.



Now, I have a black wire, a red/blue striped wire and a yellow/green striped wire. I assume the two I need are the black and the red/blue because the green/yellow is thinner guage.

What I need to know is which wire do I connect to the positive side and negative side of the socket and which is the unneeded one to tape up?

I bet you're all rolling your eyes at me!

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[MisterB]

You need a tester of some sort. I initially thought it might be 240v due to the green/yellow coloured earth, but it's more likely that someone has used earth sleeving as an insulator. . It might still be an earth to chassis though. Treat yourself to a multimeter, it will be a good long term investment and not just for safety reasons !!

What are you actually removing ??

 

[Two on Tour]

Third cable is for the bulb that lights up the orange ring around the socket when the side and headlights are on.

 

[CamperJack]

You need a tester of some sort. I initially thought it might be 240v due to the green/yellow coloured earth, but it's more likely that someone has used earth sleeving as an insulator. . It might still be an earth to chassis though. Treat yourself to a multimeter, it will be a good long term investment and not just for safety reasons !!

What are you actually removing ??

There is one cigarette lighter socket connected via one of those white things. Next to it there is a blank section in the dash, with the photoed white connector.

The existing one works but is rather wobbly. The plan was to replace the existing one and put another in the blank section.

 

[CamperJack]

Third cable is for the bulb that lights up the orange ring around the socket when the side and headlights are on.

I don't really care about keeping that. I want to replace the existing one (wobbly fitting) and put another in the blank space. Do you know which wire is positive and which is negative so I can fit replacement 12v sockets?

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[Nasher]

I have just checked with the one I removed from my 2011 Pug Boxer

The thin wire is the one that needs taping up - it is to illuminate the socket when the vehicle lights are on

The Middle wire is Positive and should go to the Positive of your new 12v socket (mine is Yellow!)

The Outer wire is Negative (black on mine) and goes to the Negative of your new 12v socket

It would be good if you check with a multimeter first

Hope this helps

 

[CamperJack]

I have just checked with the one I removed from my 2011 Pug Boxer

The thin wire is the one that needs taping up - it is to illuminate the socket when the vehicle lights are on

The Middle wire is Positive and should go to the Positive of you new 12v socket (mine is Yellow!)

The Outer wire is Negative (black on mine) and goes to the Negative of your new 12v socket

It would be good if you check with a multimeter first

Hope this helps

Sounds like I should invest in a multimeter. Thanks a lot for your help.

 

[MisterB]

Sounds like I should invest in a multimeter. Thanks a lot for your help.

lol, its a pretty good investment to be honest. once you have made one 'improvement' you will want to make more and more ....... it happens to everyone when they gain a bit of confidence in what they are doing !!

i think its great that people try to do stuff themselves, it really personalises their van !!

i still have some more improvements to do to mine, its quite fun really ....

 

[Two on Tour]

Sounds like I should invest in a multimeter. Thanks a lot for your help.

Make sure the one you get has a continuity test feature with a buzzer to indicate continuity which you will find very useful to have, specially when you have you head stuffed in a dark space and you can't see the meter.

 

[Vipar]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=202267389503

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[Stealaway]

Always check the pos and neg with a meter, they can be any colours in campervan
You don't want to get a usb socket the wrong way around

 

[XxAnthxX]

After you test the live and ground, if they are the black end connection and grey central connection in your image as suspected, depending on the centres of the spades on your new socket....you should be able to slide the white connector onto your new connector, just offset so the spare terminal is to one side.

That way your oem connector remains intact without butchering your loom and you don’t need to insulate the lights live feed as it’s still inside the white plug.

 

[Vipar]

Put tags on them to show poss and neg for next owner

 

[namwaldog]

I did mine ( on a Fiat) a few weeks ago with a lot of help from Funsters...
This is the thread...

Fiat Ducato - Convert Cigar lighter to twin USB Port.

I am wanting to convert the cigar lighter, on our Fiat Ducato based MH, to a twin USB port. There is a good video on YouTube explaining the process..... A couple of questions arise.... 1. There are three wires to the existing connector plug, black, yellow & yellow/blue. Which of these are...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Good Luck.

Barry