nmikmik

I just bought a solar panel to keep my battery from going low. It goes in the windshield or on dash when the car is parked outside.
Unfortunately, just like all Toyota products, at least from my experience, the cigaret lighter outlet is hot only with ignition on.
Does anyone have any experience of converting this outlet to "constant on"?
I realize it could be considered a modification by insurance company, but compare to the supping up the whole thing or dropping the suspension.... I suspect it's minor.
Thanks,

LEX ES300

What about the 12v outlet in the front centre arm rest/storage compartment. Is that on constantly?

KING

iTrader: (1)

Both of these outlets are off when the car is not in the on position.
You will have to jack from the battery itself I guess, I can't think of another electric source that is currently on.

Also,
I really don't see why a solar panel is necessary, it might even degrade the look of the car. Is your dynamo not working correctly?

nmikmik

That is correct, the power to the armrest is off without ignition on.
I am not planing on driving it with the panel sitting in my windshield (it's pretty good projectile) , but need it becasue I am not driving the car every day. It's not very old battery but it's not fresh from the factory either...

BradTank

I don't know if you've ever actually looked at how much electricity those car solar panels generate, but it's a more of a novelty than anything.

It's literally like 1 watt of power and most likely MUCH less than that as it's usually behind your windshield. I've seen ones that are rated at something like 1260mW which is 1.26 watts. You would need about 15 of them outside your vehicle on a cloudless day to power your dome light.

I wouldn't even waste your time with it, it's certainly not going to keep your battery from draining.

phanham

Whether a solar panel works or not, I think there is still benefit from a hack to keep an outlet hot. For example, just last weekend my wife's phone needed to be charged while we were shopping out of town. Would have been nice to have been able to leave her phone charging while in a store so she could use later. My Expedition did this, and it was handy at times...

Slvr surfr

iTrader: (1)

Run a hot, fused wire from the battery or a battery sourced point to the "hot" wire of the acc/cig point you're trying to use. Make sure you cut/disconnect the existing hot wire so there is no back feed to any other circuit. Do make sure its fused, 10A is good enough and make sure the wires are hidden and concealed in a safe way.

campisi

Anyone have the schematics for the LS430 handy? I've done this on other cars - it's usually fairly easy and can be done such that no wires are cut and it is reversible. Might be able to do something similar on the LS. It is nice to be able to charge your phone or tablet while you're away from your car.

nmikmik

Yep, it sure helps. My 16yo Saturn has constant "hot" & it's very useful even as a little theft deterrent (probably just in my mind) becasue it keeps my auxiliary 3 prong power outlet's light on at night.
I guess 1wt would be better than nothing. Not that it's going to save it from draining, just delay the inevitable. With our gas prices it's becoming more and more expensive to drive
Oh & please do not leave anything valuable or perceived as valuable out, visible in the car. I know someone that got a hard lesson with broken window right in the parking lot.

KING

iTrader: (1)

Seriously, you are over exaggerating. You really don't need the solar power. Lexus engineers didn't forget to put one, the car can have sufficient energy at start up as long as your battery is healthy. And as long as your dynamo is doing a good job of recharging.

Don't give yourself too much of a headache.

zeekster

What is this 'dynamo' you speak of?

campisi

chunkyda

Just to add: Do a search for "VW solar charger" and see this video I picked one up for my daughter's science fair project.
If your car sits for long periods this can be a wise sub $40 purchase.

RushNatU

Maybe you could tap into the hazard switch constant hot wire and run it to the power outlet...you could also put an inline switch somewhere hidden so you can turn it off and on at your leisure.