VY Commodore Station Wagon Electronics

[GC]

I have a car fridge and one of those jump starter battery things with air
compressor and torch etc and I want to have power run to the back of the car
so I don't have to run cable all the way to the front cigarette lighter
socket.

Currently I have done a bit of a bodge for the battery jump starter, I have
hacked into the wires for the tail lights, so when my lights are on, its
charging... It only uses little current to charge (the 240volt charger is
only 500mA) so its kinda ok the way it is... but its shonky

I tried plugging the fridge into that point (which needs about 5 Amp to
run) and that didn't go too well The reverse lights stayed on when I
turn the fridge on hehe so something weird is happening there....

Ideally, I'd like to run a cable from the fuse box under the steering wheel
all the way to the back (unless there is other power which I can tap into
that won't send things crazy).
I am an electronics technician, so I have some wiring skills but I haven't
played much with car wiring etc.
Hopefully someone else with a VY commodore has been through this??
I don't want to pull the whole car apart to find where I'm supposed to run
the cables so I was hoping someone could point me in the right direction as
to the minimum panels that I will have to remove in order to reach cable
trays

Also regarding the fuse box...There are spare spaces like "Entertainment",
"Sub-woofer" etc so I was going to use one of those spots... I haven't
poked around with the multimeter yet, but there appears to be one terminal
there which I'm assuming is live? Then I would have to get a special
connector to poke in the wire that will go to my accessories (then put a
fuse in to close the circuit).
I was trying to get the fuse box out to see what it was like behind....
found two little clips and the fuse box moves to the left and it is loose...
I still coudnt pull it out to look at it though.... Do I need to do any
unscrewing at this stage??

Thats about all I can say... hopefully someone understands what Im trying to
do and can offer some assisstance
Thanks!

Regards
Glen

 

[D Walford]

GC wrote:

I have a car fridge and one of those jump starter battery things with air
compressor and torch etc and I want to have power run to the back of the car
so I don't have to run cable all the way to the front cigarette lighter
socket.

Currently I have done a bit of a bodge for the battery jump starter, I have
hacked into the wires for the tail lights, so when my lights are on, its
charging... It only uses little current to charge (the 240volt charger is
only 500mA) so its kinda ok the way it is... but its shonky

I tried plugging the fridge into that point (which needs about 5 Amp to
run) and that didn't go too well The reverse lights stayed on when I
turn the fridge on hehe so something weird is happening there....

Best to run a heavy cable direct from the battery which needs to be
suitably fused.
Go to an auto parts or car audio supplier and get a kit for amp which
will include the cable and fuse.



Daryl

 

[Patman]

Do what walford said and dont be an idiot!. If the fuse in your exisiting
bodge doesnt blow first then it is likely you will melt some wiring and
start a fire. The 12V battery packs draw considerable current when charging
from 12V.

Pat

"D Walford" <walford@iprimus.com.au> wrote in message
news:41DF97E2.75C92618@iprimus.com.au...

GC wrote:

I have a car fridge and one of those jump starter battery things with air
compressor and torch etc and I want to have power run to the back of the
car
so I don't have to run cable all the way to the front cigarette lighter
socket.

Currently I have done a bit of a bodge for the battery jump starter, I
have
hacked into the wires for the tail lights, so when my lights are on, its
charging... It only uses little current to charge (the 240volt charger
is
only 500mA) so its kinda ok the way it is... but its shonky

I tried plugging the fridge into that point (which needs about 5 Amp to
run) and that didn't go too well The reverse lights stayed on when I
turn the fridge on hehe so something weird is happening there....


Best to run a heavy cable direct from the battery which needs to be
suitably fused.
Go to an auto parts or car audio supplier and get a kit for amp which
will include the cable and fuse.



Daryl

 

[Mr. T]

"Patman" <patsproule@oz.com.au> wrote in message
news:K8XDd.361$Sa7.17887@nnrp1.ozemail.com.au...

Do what walford said and dont be an idiot!. If the fuse in your exisiting
bodge doesnt blow first then it is likely you will melt some wiring and
start a fire. The 12V battery packs draw considerable current when
charging
from 12V.

I agree. However running cables from the battery to the boot is not often
very easy. I'm surprised in this day and age that *All* car makers,
especially wagons, even more especially 4WD wagons, don't have a power
outlet at the back as standard. Some do, but not too many from what I've
seen.
Would be higher on my priority list than 10 cup holders and a vanity mirror


MrT.