Tipidave Posted January 26, 2022 Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 Hi all, I am currently fitting a usb socket in the ashtray of my herald 1200. I am wanting to know whether the spare 12v spade terminal on the coil would be a suitable place to pick up a supply for the usb… or will it be too ‘dirty’ with noise from the ht circuit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josef Posted January 26, 2022 Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 I’d probably take it off the accessory / radio position on the ignition switch myself. If nothing else it’s a bit closer to where you’ll need it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted January 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 Thanks for the reply… I already have this terminal in use for the radio and a Bluetooth adapter… didn’t really fancy disturbing it all again as it is a bit difficult to get at… hence thinking about the coil spade. 😀👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted January 26, 2022 Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 First point to consider is do you want a supply that is live all the time or only when the ignition is on? I installed a 12v 'cigar lighter' socket via a dedicated cable from the battery,of course, so I had a permanent live power source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted January 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2022 I had thought that a switched terminal would be best… however now you mention that I guess I could also install a socket to allow the connection of my battery conditioner without a need to open bonnet if it were a permanent live…. Hmmm! 😀👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 On 26/01/2022 at 19:44, Tipidave said: I had thought that a switched terminal would be best… however now you mention that I guess I could also install a socket to allow the connection of my battery conditioner without a need to open bonnet if it were a permanent live…. Hmmm! 😀👍 One thing to consider is that some usb chargers take a small current even when not being used, so if on a permanent live, they could be draining the battery. Probably very slowly so may not be an issue but some appear to have a switch fitted to turn them on, so perhaps it is 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 13 minutes ago, cliff.b said: One thing to consider is that some usb chargers take a small current even when not being used, so if on a permanent live, they could be draining the battery. Probably very slowly so may not be an issue but some appear to have a switch fitted to turn them on, so perhaps it is 🤔 I found my flat battery issues were down to a USB charger, took a couple of weeks. It was drawing 0.1 amps, which appears insignificant, but 2.4AH a day, 17AH/week. When the battery is a 44AH one, 2 weeks and the car won't start. Solution, remember to pull it out after use! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonMember Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 2 hours ago, clive said: It was drawing 0.1 amps, which appears insignificant, No, that's nowhere near insignificant. The Ford "quiescent current limit" specification for ECUs in the late 1990s was only a few milliamps... and then they tightened it up so that using the car battery for RAM retention ceased to be viable. To be honest, a USB charger with nothing plugged in has no excuse to be drawing as much as 0.1A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff.b Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 2 hours ago, clive said: I found my flat battery issues were down to a USB charger, took a couple of weeks. It was drawing 0.1 amps, which appears insignificant, but 2.4AH a day, 17AH/week. When the battery is a 44AH one, 2 weeks and the car won't start. Solution, remember to pull it out after use! Always good advice 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 1 hour ago, NonMember said: No, that's nowhere near insignificant. The Ford "quiescent current limit" specification for ECUs in the late 1990s was only a few milliamps... and then they tightened it up so that using the car battery for RAM retention ceased to be viable. To be honest, a USB charger with nothing plugged in has no excuse to be drawing as much as 0.1A What s worse, it took a bit of finding. It is hidden away in the passenger "glovebox" on the tunnel side, so as not to be obvious. But I forgot about it, especially as no LED fitted. Still, was one of the first times I used my Megger 711 MFT, a very handy bit of kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted January 28, 2022 Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 run the feed on a relay so when ign is off its OFF Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted January 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2022 That was my intention by taking a feed off the spare coil spade … still not sure if it will carry a lot of “noise” and interfere with the 12v to 5v part in the usb unit. Maybe I will just give it a go and see… should be here in about a week . Will update when done 😀👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted February 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2022 Thanks for the helpful suggestions… Have to say that I am rather pleased with the result. A useful pair of USB ports quietly hiding in the otherwise redundant ashtray 😀😀👍👍 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjit Posted February 11, 2022 Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 Where did you get that USB socket panel from? I'm looking to do something similar but that's much neater than what I had planned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 11, 2022 Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 That is superb! Where did you end up taking the feed from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted February 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 1 hour ago, Mjit said: Where did you get that USB socket panel from? I'm looking to do something similar but that's much neater than what I had planned! https://www.classicchargers.com/ chap called Phil (in Canada) made it up for me. I gave him a photo and a few measurements. And he had it designed and made in a couple of days. In the end it needed a little bit of minor adjustment to fit. Overall it works well and no one would know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tipidave Posted February 11, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2022 48 minutes ago, Colin Lindsay said: That is superb! Where did you end up taking the feed from? I used the existing feed to the radio that is switched via ignition barrel on both ignition and accessory side. I figured that 2.1amps at 5.5 volts is only 1 amp at 12v. I left it all on for quite a while and felt terminals and they were still cold…and it is protected by an in line fuse. Neat job and v happy 👍😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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