My bluetooth phone is almost never fully charged as I tend to leave it in the car overnight and because of the bluetooth function the phone is almost always less than half charged. I'm thinking of installing an aux outlet under the dash to charge the phone while the truck is off. Has anyone done this? Are there any wires under the dash that I can tap that are alwys hot? There should be because the interior lights come on without the ignition being on. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

 

I haven't done this but wouldn't you risk draining your car battery considering you're leaving it charged overnight?
Why can't you charge your phone in the house-just wondering?

But if you're still insisting on doing this, just get a cheap bulb tester and find that hot wire either from the ignition/behind the radio/or footwell-the light that comes on when you open the door.

 

I charged my phone overnight in my Ford for 10 years and never had a problem draining the battery. The amount of draw is minute.

My phone stays in my car unless I am out and taking it in to charge would be a real pain. I would really like to be able to make the accessory in the GX always on, like it was in the Ford. Does anyone know if this can be done?

I'm tired of desparately plugging my phone in every time the GX is on for 5 minutes - it can't be good for the phone, either.

 

That's good to know, thank you Silverlady.
If I get a chance and if db6 haven't found a wire yet, I'll look into this.

Wait, isn't the cig. lighter constantly on?
In my GS, I know one is constantly on and one is ignition-dependent because after taking out my key, I had to unplug the car charger for the "FEAR" that my battery might be dead in the morning.

 

I just went out again to the GX (2006) to check. Both are dead unless the key is in the acc (first) position. The rear 110V outlet is also, I believe (speaking of which, who designed it so that it is recessed and cannot take any of the transformer type plugs frequently found on chargers and electronics adaptors?)

The GX is very cautious when it comes to battery power. My Explorer would provide power to the windows and moonroof for up to 15 minutes after the engine was off, as long as nobody opened a door. The GX courtesy power is 45 seconds, just enough if you turned off the engine and realized you forgot to close them right away. Several times I needed to close the window, but sat their in the cold rather than turn the key to the necessary second position, which is a real drain.

 

I think the seat adjuster function works all the time, so this may be where I am going to tap. The issue with this one is that the seat fuse is rated at 30 watts and the tap I was going to use says it is designed to be used with 10 watts or less. Of course the phone will draw much less than 10 watts, but there still will be 30 watts going through the tap. I leave my phone in the car overnight, and with bluetooth enabled, the battery in the phone is contantly being drained. However, I can't see the small drain of a cell phone battery actually having an impact on the car battery. I too, had an Explorer and having the phone constantly charging was never an issue.

So, I'm still looking for a fuse to tap, as this is the easiest way to go. If I can't find that, I may look to a glove box light or the like that I can tap. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to here them.

Thanks in advance.

 

Fuse tap is the easiest way, if that doesn't work for you, if you remote the bottom plastic panel on the drivers side you can reach up and unplug the harness that goes to the key (with all the heavy wires in it) and it will pull down far enough to get to the wires without taking apart the rest of the dasy - there are 2 hot wires in the harness 20 Amp and 12 Amp
Battery WHITE/BLUE & WHITE/RED (+) IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
These wires run across the bottom of the dash in a bundle of wires wrapped in pink tape from the fusebox across and up to the bottom of the key - they are your best bet and easy to find if you don't want to tap a fuse ( there are fuses that are always hot and you can find them with a test light, then just buy a fuse tap at the auto store to hook into the fuse and run the wire to the lighter (just make sure you tap the side of the fuse that will give you the fuse protection or run an inline fuse incase you plug in something that has a short.

Rob

 

I agree SL. It's annoying and useless that lexus recessed that plug. I couldn't get anything in there with the transformer plug. I had to use this to bring the outlet out. This is what I mentioned along with the lack of rear power window in the barn gate in the JD power survey.

 

Very good idea GS3. I'll run out to the hardware store to get one of those.

Antonio.

 

I was thinking of using an extension cord, perhaps with multiple outlets on the other end - that will prevent the weight of the transformer from hanging on the end of the adapter. I was going to use one of the surge protectors I have lying around, but these tend to require a third wire grounded outlet.

 

Well, if you still want to use those surge protectors, you can either plug it into the orange 3 prong-to-2 prong like what I have or "break" off that third prong.
I don't think you'll have to worry too much about being grounded unless lighting strikes the car