Console 12v realy voltage?

[SedonaBound]

Console 12v relay voltage?

I want to put a relay on one of the 12v outlets below the radio so I can leave the GPS/Bluetooth plugged in, but found no easily accessible ACC switched 12v behind the trim cover that would work. I tried the power lead on rear wiper switch, but with the wiper switch OFF the wiper runs when I connect the relay ground!

Relay hook-up I used:
#30 to existing 12v/20A lead
#87 to 12v outlet
#86 to switched 12v
#85 ground

Ideas?

 

[alrock]

Maybe I'm overthinking this (or underthinking it) but I'm not sure why you need a relay in this situation? Doesn't the 12V accessory outlet just have a hot wire and a ground? You won't be pulling much power through it.

It may be simpler to use an Add A Fuse straight to the fuse box and through the firewall. Yes, you have to go through the firewall but you don't have to mess with other circuits. Some of the empty slots in the fuse box are switched and some are always on. But even if you do go with other circuits under the dash, wouldn't simply tapping that power suffice without adding a relay? F5 used the power window line to power my CB for me - switched power, no relay utilized. I've changed my setup since them but I think it met your objectives

I also like the idea of going to the fuse box as you then have clean power for some other future mods that need switched power.

 

[SedonaBound]

... I'm not sure why you need a relay in this situation?

I need a relay that's energized by switched ACC power to control the dash outlet so it's on only when the ignition (ACC) is on. The factory set-up for the outlets is always hot. With 12v outlets next to each other, I wish they'd have made one of them switched.

I haven't tried to get at the bottom of the fuse panel...is it difficult?

 

[alrock]

Are you trying to add a socket or modify one of the existing sockets? If you're modifying one of them it may be easier to simply cut the power line to it and change the source to a switched power line.

Getting to the fuse box is easy - open the good, undo the tabs on the cover. Fuses are right there.

Once someone else helps identify a good switched power source under the hood you can just tap into that line and then use it for the 12V accessory socket. If you're only going to use GPS then I don't think you necessarily need to go to a source like the fuse box. If you anticipate running higher draw items through there every now and then I would get clean power so you're not overloading a shared circuit, like power windows.

 

[SedonaBound]

Are you trying to add a socket or modify one of the existing sockets? If you're modifying one of them it may be easier to simply cut the power line to it and change the source to a switched power line.

Getting to the fuse box is easy - open the good, undo the tabs on the cover. Fuses are right there.

Once someone else helps identify a good switched power source under the hood you can just tap into that line and then use it for the 12V accessory socket. If you're only going to use GPS then I don't think you necessarily need to go to a source like the fuse box. If you anticipate running higher draw items through there every now and then I would get clean power so you're not overloading a shared circuit, like power windows.

Your suggestion may be the way to go, but using the the "add-a-circuit" instead of "add-a-fuse"; that will let me piggy-back the relay on a switched fuse and use the existing power lead for the outlet. I can run one wire to the console area and ground the relay on the radio mounting screw.

 

[SedonaBound]

I found step-by-step instructions and a clear diagram in the Tech Section that let me do the whole job right in the fuse box. It was for an H1, but the idea's the same: http://www.hummer4x4offroad.com/for...ched-Cigar-Lighters-Outlets&p=44799#post44799

Instead of piggy-backing fuses I put the 'add-a-circuit' pigtail for the relay in empty fuse slot #10 with a single 3A fuse. A relay now controls the 20A circuit for the RH outlet via fuse slot #51.

 

[Steve #1]

I have used one of the wires at the rear wiper switch for switched accesory power. I found out later that it loses power when the rear window washer is used. I don't use the rear washer enough to mess with rewiring it. Your relay setup probably needed a diode between the switch and the relay.

 

[SedonaBound]

I have used one of the wires at the rear wiper switch for switched accesory power. I found out later that it loses power when the rear window washer is used. I don't use the rear washer enough to mess with rewiring it. Your relay setup probably needed a diode between the switch and the relay.

I checked all the 10A fuse slots looking for an energizer for the new relay and all were hot at the fuse regardless of key position. I think the ACC delay function (on 'til a door opens) puts most switched accessories that would traditionally be sources for switched power on always-hot fuses via a secondary, logic-controlled relay. When I tried to use the leads in the dash, the three I tried were all affected by the relay ground, and unuseable. Fuse slot 10 (a spare) is labeled "Accessory SPO"; I assume for "switched power on" and was the only slot I found that worked in the traditional way with the key. It also would be helpful to know what the other spare fuse slots in the panel are are connected to, if anything. Nothing's simple anymore.

 

[Steve #1]

Yes, just about everything is controlled by the BCM. It will throw you for a loop when the switch uses a + signal then you find the BCM uses a - signal to control the device.