12V Accesory ports for middle row?

[marcfj60]

I'm getting tired of all the cords and cables coming from the front dash cig lighter and accessory port or out of the center console running to the middle row for my kids' DVD players and iPods. Has anyone added accessory ports to the back side of the center console, above the cup holder? I was thinking I could just tap into the circuit already powering the port that's hidden inside the lower bucket of the center console. I did a search but didn't find much useful info on this.

I realize there is a current limit on the existing circuit of the 3 aux power ports in the truck (next to cig lighter, center console and rear cargo area). I will be careful not to exceed that current limit with the extra ports. It just seems like the easiest thing to do is tap into the circuit where the port in the center console is located.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

The actual cig lighter on the dashboard is on a different circuit than the other 2. I believe with a larger fuse. I'd tap into that one. There is a decently sized empty space on the rear of the center console where headphone audio controls are in later models. I'd drill the 1.25" holes and place a 12v outlet and a USB port 12v outlet there, tapped into the cigarette lighter wiring.

 

[AimCOtaco]

Yeah, that should work just fine, I put a BlueSea cig plug in the removable panel just above the cup holders. Mine is powered from an aux fuse panel but no reason you couldn't pull the power where you describe.
There is not a ton of depth behind that panel so not all cig outlets may fit.

 

[CappyKD]

I put two blue sea outlets in the same locaton as AimCOtaco. I ran a dedicated fused circuit. Personally I would pull a new circuit all the way from the battery, it's not that hard and you will be happier in the long run, especially if you ever get a fridge or other voltage sensative accessory. The new circuit if done correctly will have less resistance than the factory circuit and be able to deliver more volts and amps (use a good quality wire of sufficient gauge for the load you intend to use). Now would be a great time to run a feed from your battery to an aux fuse block, then trigger the new outlets from a relay off of the factory outlet in the console, this way you will still have a switched outlet. I put a series of switched and un-switched outlets in my LX. You may want more power inside the truck down the road. With a tiny bit of research, this is a 2 job at most.

Good luck, if you decide to go aux fuse block, post up any questions you may have here on this thread.

 

[consalvochris]

Would a 0 gauge wire be too much for a fuse block with future intentions of running a fridge, lights, power outlets for tools, etc? I'm asking because I have some laying around my garage from a amp install.

 

[CappyKD]

Not as long as you get a good fuse block to allow for the future expansion. I have 2/0 running into the cab.

 

[mobi-arc]

It's overkill but no harm in using it.

Would a 0 gauge wire be too much for a fuse block with future intentions of running a fridge, lights, power outlets for tools, etc? I'm asking because I have some laying around my garage from a amp install.

 

[KlausVanWinkle]

It's overkill but no harm in using it.

Do it. I unnecessarily used 1/0 g wire. If there's anything I learned from my pro audio days, it's bigger is better!

 

[AimCOtaco]

Marc,
If you do elect to add some auxiliary power, remember that for HAM use it can be beneficial to also run a parallel ground cable. My aux block has both power and ground distribution and I fed it with a 2x #6 cable so power and ground are parallel and evenly spaced all the way to the battery. This helps to eliminate ground loops and the #6 should be sufficient to keep voltage drop low for my uses such as radios and a future fridge. I have no intention of running a huge inverter at this point so the #6 should more than do it.

The'always on' low voltage drop power is great for charging devices or using handheld radios around camp when the truck is off.

The bigger the cable the better as it's effectively like moving your device closer to the battery but the trade offs obviously are weight/cost/space/install difficulty, for these same reasons the factory wiring is tiny and voltage drops do occur with higher drain devices.

 

[coldwiz]

this is from a previous post. Blue Sea USB outlet in the same location as others posted. I tapped into the 12v outlet in the center console. I never use this outlet so I wasn't worried about overloading. The kids use it regularly and it has gotten rid of a lot of the cords strewn everywhere and kids asking me to plug things up while I am driving.

This was my afternoon project. I got tired of the kids always wanting me to plug in their stuff so I added a USB outlet for the back seat passengers. I ordered the outlet from Sierra Expeditions.



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[marcfj60]

I just ordered the Blue Sea double USB port and the 12V accessory ports from Sierra Expeditions. Now I just need to figure out the location and whether to tie into the cig or accessory circuits or run a new circuit. I'm leaning toward tying into existing for simplicity and because these are just powering things like phone chargers and iPod chargers. I'm probably going to do it just like you did, coldwiz.

 

[Dwight S]

I want to do this as well, but the rear of my console has the rear heat controls. I wish someone made a double USB port that was smaller to fit between the heat controls and the cup holder. Maybe locating it above the controls and the top of the console is an option... Anybody looked at locating it there?

 

[marcfj60]

Done

I completed the mod over the weekend. The details are posted here: Socket Install

There were two things that proved most difficult. The first was figuring out how to remove the cupholder from the slides. The picture below is poor but it shows the locking tabs that hold the cupholder in place. You have to slip a thin piece of metal between the two parts of the slide to push on that tab and release the mechanism.

The second challenge was figuring how to route and secure the harness in a way that didn't interfere with the cup holder motion. I used some adhesive backed zip-tie anchors to secure to. Sorry, no pictures of the cable routing.