784cy

Firstly can i just say...what a fantastic forum this is...from what I've read so far my head has exploded.....I didnt even know you could do half the stuff people have done.....


I'm hoping my problem is a small one and can be easily sorted, but so far I'm not having alot of luck....


I purchased a zafira a couple of months ago.... I noticed a cable coming in through the glove box...at the time I left it...until I got round to looking into it.....the cable is quite long, as if it was needed to reach something......


At some point this Zaf had a roof mounted DVD player, well.... roof mounted something, because the headlining had been cut etc to fit it !!
I have rectified the headling accordingly, just so it looks smart.....


Now....back to this cable......it looks as though it has been routed from the cig lighter....I can not confirm that, as I don't really want to remove the panels......I have no cig lighter, just a hole and when I shone my torch into it, I can see cables running past it........

I have also found a rocker switch which controls this lead,so when I turn on the ignition and press the rocker switch, it powers.....the only thing I can find to plug it into is an old dictaphone, purely cos the plug is quite big...poor dictaphone....it's only 3v and it smoked.....

From the research I have done so far, it seems to be a normal running these power leads from the cig lighter feed ?

But what I am most confused about...is what I can actually plug this bloody thing into because it doesnt fit anything useful, apart from an old dictaphone...not much use !!


I've tried.....

Portable DVD player
Laptop
LCD TV.....

These have all got different size dc input's

I've loaded a picture...its not very good and I've managed to get some info off the cable itself....

(UL) E167861 SPT-2 18AWGX2C VW 105C KENIC CSA LL79248 SPT-2 18AWGX2C FT2

I'm not even sure if you call it a DC plug.....

Please help.....it would be a shame to just leave it and not use it.




Thanks

Tracy

MP3Car.com

 

Enforcer

That is a DC plug.

Now the most likely is that it is a straight 12v from the battery.

However it could be connected to anything, it might be 3v, 4.5v, 6v, 9v, the previous owner could have put a universal adapter back there.

Best thing is to put a Multimeter/Voltmeter and find out what voltage is coming through, trouble is it may give you a false reading (higher) without a load on it.

Personally I would either trace it back to it's source, or if that is too much trouble, just tape it up and tuck it away somewhere.

What I wouldn't do is just plug random things into it to see what happens.

__________________

784cy

Mmm...looks like I'll have to trace it back, because I was hoping to put a DVD player in the car...........

Moysie

Hi, Did you manage to find out any info on your cable?

Regards Michael

784cy

Nah...not found anything to fit it.....

Don't rely want to pull all the dashout to see where it's going to...all I know is, its powered by a switch located on the gearstick console !!

I did think about trying to look behind the fuse box, but I've not got round to it yet...

Moysie

Ok, cool.

Did you know you dont need to keep that connector on the end and that it can be cut off and a new one soldered/spliced on to suit the device you are wanting to use.

Do you have or know someone with a multimeter/ voltmeter. If you do you could quickly check to see what level of voltage is on the connector i.e. 12V or 5v etc.

soundman98

just a note about cutting a 2 conductor wire like that-- either triple check that there is no power going to it, and/or cut the wires one at a time-- if you cut it while there is still power, it will blow a fuse, and if you do not know where the fuse is, you will end up tearing the car apart looking for it...

Moysie

Yeah, well i didnt think of writing that as it is just something that i would do naturaly before working on any electrical/electronic circuit. I suppose i should of made that clear, so thanks for pointing that out mate.

There is the switch to isolate the power, as an additional measure as you mentioned cut one wire at a time.

I would also state that once the cable is reconnected ensure the conductors are sufficiently insulated to prevent short circuits etc.

Regards Michael

MP3Car.com

 

784cy

ok guys, thats good...I'm sure I can find someone with a voltmeter.....

Just one other question....i've seen universal adaptor connectors, you get one small double dc plug which I'd have to put onto my own cable and that then can be used on various plugs supplied in a set....do you reckon I could do that ?

thanks

Tracy

Moysie

Do you have any pictures of the conectors you are talking about?
Is it the one's with interchangable heads?

One other note about changing the connector is to ensure you get the polarity correct.

784cy

Hi moysie....

I've been looking at these .....

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...6&U=shop_N98AP....


and....wats this polarity thing ?

cheers

Moysie

Hi Tracy,

The Polarity is which way the Positive and negative are, if you reverse the connections there is a very good chance that you will cause damage to the device that will be connected to the lead.

To find out which wire is pos and neg, if you get hold of a multimeter/ Voltmeter (Maplins sell cheap ones around £5 like this )
Wth the multimeter set on "voltage DC", put the red probe onto one wire and the black probe onto the other wire and read the voltage.
If the multimeter shows negative voltage then the black probe is on the Positive and the Red probe on the Negative wire. If multimeter shows positive voltage Then red= positive, Black = negative.

TIP: Label each wire so that you know what is pos and neg, otherwise you may get muddled up and end up getting the wrong wire.

To double check that you got the wire identification correct you can take the multimeter again on "volts DC" and put the red probe to one wire and theblack wire to a earth/ground point on the car (such as ignition barrel, one of the bolts under the dash etc). One of the wires will read voltage to ground (this is the positive), and one won't read voltage to ground (this is the negative).

These types of conectors can be handy, im sure the two pins are different sizes so can only be insterted into the holder one way. One problem with this type of connection is that is is TOO EASY to change the connector. Yes i know that sounds stupid, but if you can easily change the connector to suit what ever device you want to power, plug it in and BANG!!! (Exageration) You overlooked the voltage side of things, you just plugged in a 6V device onto a 12V supply and fried the internals.

If you have any other questions let me know.

Regards Michael

784cy

Right....I understand now....

My neighbour has the gadgets to do the Voltage check, just got to catch him....

If say I wanted to power portable dvd player or Tv 12v and it's got enough volts coming through the cable, is there a standard DC plug size for such items ?

Or.....should I remove the power cable end from the DVD player and put it onto the one in the car ?


I've also looked at these

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=43094

In the hope that I can convert the exsisting plug into something smaller.....


You can probably work out that I want to do this as simple as possible...and I'm not expert, so any information would be greatly rec'd


Tracy

Moysie

Tracy,

I believe that the DC plugs are not really standardised for certain voltages/ currents etc, refer here.

In order to decide the best approach, you would have to decide/check several factors:

1. What devices are you going to use. I.e. Only DVD or additional devices as well?
2. What is the required input voltage for these devices?
3. Do all of the devices use the same size of plug?

once the above decisions and checks are done then it would be easier to decide wherer to:

1. Use the lead supplied with DVD player.

2. Use a universal incar laptop power supply like this. This device allows you to alter the supply voltage to the devices and has the interchangable plug to suit which device you want to use. If you wanted you could cut off the cigarette lighter plug and join the cable to your cable in the car.
Remember what i said earlier about the interchangable plugs and the voltage, as long as you alter the voltage before plugging in your device you;ll be fine.

3. Convert the cable to have a cigarette lighter socket on it. Most portable devices now come with incar cables/supplies.

Let me know how you get on or if you require further assistance.

Regards michael

784cy

Interesting....I didnt think about put the cig lighter socket back on it....

mmm....1 and 2 are going to be my best options...

The portable dvd player I have got does not fit the cable, hence why I'm doing all this......

I was going to get a better player when I've sorted the cable problem out, what I didnt want to do was go and get a new once and it not fit the socket....

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