| Author |
Message |
    
John Moore (Jmoore)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 07:33 am: | 
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I have a Garmin EMap that I want to mount on the dash of my 1999 D2. It has a "cigarette" type power supply. I would like to install a female "cigarette" plug somewhere on top of the dash to power the GPS, or for use with a cell or Radar detector as needed.
Has anyone done this before, or do you have other suggestions for powering my GPS? I guess I could hard wire it somehow.
Where did you tap in for power?
TIA
-John |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 09:50 am: |
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John, although I just sold my GPS, I've had it hardwired into the home link wiring and hanging from the over head console.
I do think there is room in the back of the binacle to mount a Cig. plug if your really want one there, and it would be easy enought to remove, route wiring to the fuse box below, and drill a hole to mount the cig. outlet in. I would mount one with a rubber cover so you can cover when not in use, but you might want to just consider a different type of plug. Maybe go to radio shack, and buy a small plug in D/C style male and female setup, hardwire the female side to the fuse box, then hardwire the male side to a short pig tail and female cig. plug.
Then, just plug that into your accessory, and then into the DC plug. This would create a much smaller hole in the dash, and when not in use would be less obvious.
Another option, would be to try to find a beige rubber cap.
good luck,
gp |
Tripp Westbrook (Tripp)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 11:22 am: |
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Hey Greg, do you have any pics of that set-up? I like the idea of mounting it overhead.
thanks,
T- |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 11:51 am: |
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Hot off the press.
 |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 11:53 am: |
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And the antenna
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John Moore (Jmoore)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:23 pm: |
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Pretty slick!
-John |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:32 pm: |
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Thanks John. I actually just sold the 176c. I wasn't using it all that much, in fact, only about 4 times have I actually used it. I'll probably convert to a hand held unit at some point, to get the non chart plotting features. About all I ended up using mine for was speed and basic map reference. The few trips I used the 176c on, I found it to be less than accurate in a car, as it plots on a straight line method (marine use), and it doesn't seem to have a great map base when it comes to things like road names and multiple direction splits in the road. Also, without on the spot plotting, for new courses, it can be limited in what you need.
The ideal unit would be a Garmin 2010 with the auto routing features of the gps V, but I guess we won't get anything that wonderful for car use anytime soon. |
Brian Lewis (Thejekyll)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:42 pm: |
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Greg,
I am also doing this set up were I want to hardwire my GPS. That is a great idea were you mounted yours. What wires in the homelink system did you wire too? Is that a Ram Mount that is holding your GPS ? When wiring to the homelink did the GPS still have power when the ignition was off ?
Thanks,
Brian |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:45 pm: |
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Brian,
That is the mount that is actually included with the Garmin 176 series. I think it is truly meant to be a marine mount, but it works. The wiring from the home link: In my case, I cut the connector off the homelink and connected it to my gps wiring, as I wasn't using the home link. Now that I'm removing my gps, I'll reconnect the homelink connector. The homelink is simply powered by a positive and ground wire, that is switched with the ignition.
gp |
Brian Lewis (Thejekyll)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:49 pm: |
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Greg,
Thanks for the info. Do you think I can tap into the Homelink wires without hurting anything (as far as to much draw on the gauge wires there)& still keep the homelink hooked up.
Thanks,
Brian |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:53 pm: |
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I don't personally think it would be a problem. I would have done that if I needed the homelink at the same time also. I think the gps pulls less than an amp, if I'm remembering correctly. At any rate, it doesn't pull much at all. I think the wiring going to the homelink is like 16 gauge or so, and it is on an adequate fuse, so in my opinion you should be fine.
However, don't make the decision on that alone. Check with someone certified in your area if you can't safely determine the wiring capability. |
John Moore (Jmoore)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 05:10 pm: |
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My Emap has fairly decent cartography. I use it on trips all the time. I used to use my in the boat too. As much as I like your set up, I may go dash mount so I don't have to buy an external antenna.
Now that I sold the boat, maybe I will go with a hardwire set up.
I'll let you know what I do.
Thanks for the input.
-John |
Greg P. (Gparrish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 05:19 pm: |
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John, I should warn you, it has recently been pointed out elsewhere that I am not very knowledgeable about automotive wares and whatnot, so I would be careful taking my advice or using my work as a reference.
Just felt I should let you know.
Good luck with your hardwire setup. The dash location should be fine, and many use that location well without an external antenna. Going hardwire at that point is easy also, as you can route your wiring into the binacle and down to the fuse box. |
John Friederich
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 10:44 pm: |
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I 'hardwired' my Garmin StreetPilot III in my '02 recently. Tapped into the 'constant' power wire on the big ignition plug under the steering wheel drop down door.
The StreetPilot III is really quite satisfactory for getting around, and the Topo map is good for offroad.
John F |
Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver)
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 - 04:50 am: |
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John,
I added a 3-cig outlet block to the passenger side of the center console (foot area.) I tapped the pos battery terminal (constant fused link) and I rigged some lighted toggle switches where the sunroof controls go to turn the entire thing on/off. You can get all of these things @ radio shack.
This setup works well (and has been for almost a year.) I've got my cell, a scanner and a portable gps plugged into it. I can take some photos over the holiday if you'd like.
-Tommy |
John Moore (Jmoore)
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 - 12:01 pm: |
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Thanks, Tommy
I have the same 3-cig lighter adapter from "The Shack"! I used it formally in the cargo area of my 88RRC. I may use that option, but I am considering hardwiring it because I don't want all the cords hanging down my dash.
I also may put a cig adapter in the back of my cubby to run the boy's TV/VCR on long trips. I was somewhat surprised that there wasn't one in that location, I had one in my old truck.
Can't wait to start playin' with my new rig!
Thanks for the feed back! |
Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver)
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 - 02:37 pm: |
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My 2001 DII came with a cig adapter in the back on the driver's side (cubby area.)
I also put in a TV/VCR/DVD player to keep my kids busy during trips as well. One of the switches I added was an 'entertainment' kill switch so I don't leave that stuff on by accident and wind up with a dead battery. 
Good luck & Have Fun!
-Tommy |
Tommy Dougherty (Skydiver)
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 - 02:40 pm: |
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One other addition... one reason I love my disco is that it's so 'modular' - for lack of a better word. Everything pretty much either unclips or unscrews. I've run wires in so many oddball places , which would have been a total b*tch to do in another vehicle.
Good luck!
-Tommy |
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