How do I wire an 12V Socket Duplicator to car electrical (instead of cig ltr)?
 

Hello CL,
I got an Auto Socket Duplicator today for my Laser detector etc.. I hate the wire coming out of my ashtray and having to remove, hide it when I exit. I want to mount it and permanently wire it in.
I have no electrical experience so detail is appreciated.
It has the fuse built into the cig lighter end that I am going to cut off so I will need to add a fuse.
Can I use power from somewhere behind my radio or should I wire straight to the battery somehow like my amp is wired?

What is the proper way to do this?

Cut the end off of that plug, then tap into the 2 wires that power your original cigarette plug. Your original plug is already fused.

WOW! That should be even easier then I thought!

I'd assume the side with the white stripe is positive on the device wire. Is the positive wire red on the car wiring?

Thank You!

I forgot the colors of the factory wires. Best to find out for both is to see which wire goes to the "tip" of the plug. The tip of the cig plug is positive. The sides of the plug are negative.

IIRC the positive wire for the cig ligher is blue with a white or red stripe. Pull the ashtray out, its the small blue plug. Just use a multimeter with the ACC on and double-check the blue wire, then find your ground and splice in.

Thank You!
Perhaps some years are different but I found a picture from a Kalogerus thread.

If mine looks like this where do I splice/connect positive and negative wires? (i assume the red is positive)

(My total ignorance is embarrassing but I fear an electrical fire that I caused)

If I remember correctly they're mostly the same throughout all years. The red wire with the white plug in the middle of the lighter is positive and the white/black wire attached to the right side is negative.

Instead of splicing I'd trace where those wires (+ and -) go into the male plug coming from the car and attach the aftermarket wires accordingly into the plug itself to preserve the harness.

Awesome!
Thank You!!!!

Kalogerus,
I'm happy to do it the best way. Would you please describe in detail what I'm tracing back to, and how I properly connect when I get there. Sorry to be SO clueless but I don't want to make ANY mistakes. Fire scares me ;-)

Thanks!

Its kinda hard to explain without pics, but I'll try my best. Note that this method works for me only because I can reverse the process easily and not have to cut the harness itself.

In the picture attached, the arrows point to the 2 wires you will need, so trace them to the pins they connect to in the blue plug. You can either wrap the aftermarket wires around the pins and put the plug back together, or get some wire pins of the appropriate size such as the picture below, attach them to the aftermarket wires and plug them into the blue plug directly where they're supposed to go (the other end of the blue plug, not the one in the pic).

http://www.mobilehomerepair.com/medi...02-08-1002.jpg

Other options can be cutting the OEM wire between the OEM lighter and the blue plug (a little below where the arrows point), again it is easier to source a lighter/ashtray assembly than to mess with the harness coming from the car.

Either way, there is a fuse for the cig lighter as well as if you'll install the aftermarket fuse so you should be pretty much fire safe.

Hope this helps, if you have further questions please ask.

Kalogerus!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
That is just what I needed!
Really nice of you to put that together for me.
1UZ