I want to be able to listen to my radio and
charge my phone even if my car isn't running.
How do I do that?

Thanks!

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

Its designed to be only turned on with the car running so you dont run down your battery.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 211K,Dealership serviced its whole life
1991 190E 2.6(120k)
1983 300D(300k)
1977 300D(211k)

Yes, I know.

But charging my phone in my car won't run down my battery.

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

Turn the ignition key to accessory.

-Jason

__________________
1991 350SDL. 230,000 miles (new motor @ 150,000). Blown head gasket

Tesla Model 3. 205,000 miles. Been to 48 states!
Past: A fleet of VW TDIs.... including a V10,a Dieselgate Passat, and 2 ECOdiesels.
2014 Cadillac ELR
2013 Fiat 500E.

Either run a fused wire from the battery, or tap into a constant 12V wire somewhere inside and connect to the cig lighter/radio. The ignition wiring comes to mind for a constant 12V source.

__________________
2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

^^^^ This guy has the right answer ppl.

__________________
http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42

Tap into a continuosly hot power source, or run a new fused circuit to the radio and cig lighter.

__________________
RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

99 W210 E300 Turbo Diesel, chipped, DPF/Converter Delete. Still needs EGR Delete, 232K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

Gone and still missed...1982 w123 300D, 1991 w124 300D

Easiest way is to connect a new wire to the + terminal of the battery. Use something like 14 or 16 gage wire, and put an in-line fuse. I forget what 16 gage is good for, but 15 amps should be safe (someone will correct me if i'm wrong). Then run that through the firewall to the back of your cigarette lighter (or install a new one somewhere) and also to the radio power.

That way you're not adding any load to any existing wires, and you don't have to mess with the fuse box. One downfall is you always have to turn off the radio when you turn off the car. I do it anyway out of habit, but its something you'll have to get used to.

My radio can be turned on when the car is off..its a feature of the radio. I guess it uses the power for the internal clock to power the radio. But I did this to another car, and even when I turned off the radio, the clock stayed lit because it thought the car was running. Never had a problem, but it was draining a little more than it should have been. So when you're driving around sometime, turn off the radio and look at it. That's what it'll look like when the car is off. If there;s any lights that are on on the face, they'll be on all the time.

Good luck.

__________________
1985 300TD-euro 352,000 mi
1974 240D (1?)52,000 mi - has a new home now

I always turn off everything before I turn off the car.
Radio, climate control and anything else. I've done this
forever and it's ahabit.

But I'd like to sit in my car with it off eating my McDs breakfast and
listen to the radio while charging my phone before I go in the bar and
starting my day.

Thanks for the help!

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

And when my phone starts to die I'd like to be able to take it out
and plug it into my car so it charges a bit so I can still communicate.

__________________
Ginny in Denver-ish
78 300SD, 265K (mine)

In terms of the radio....i would go ahead with the new wire for it with an inline fuse, but lso put an inline switch in, so you dont have to hassle all the time with turning it off when u get out of the car..

1. Leave radio on.
2. Turn OFF car.
3. Turn key slightly to the right until radio comes on. GP indicator does NOT come on. If you go further and the GP indicator comes one, you've turned too much.

There. You've just discovered the accessory spot on the ignition.

__________________
1987 300TD
1984 300D
755,000 KM and going strong
BC Canada

I think the acces position runs other stuff too, it will run battery down.

I just bought a cig adapter from the Shack and wired it in to 1 of the always hot wires near the radio. So Ive got a cig lighter hook up which sits under the center arm rest. A fuse would be good too.

All this because I ditched my ashtray in favor of the wvo console to mount fuel gauge, lights, and switch.

__________________
Paul
Benz-less
I need an SDL !

The radio has two power wires going to it. One wire has 12V all the time and keeps the memory. The other wire is powered when the ignition switch is on and allows the radio to operate.

All you need to do is to supply both radio leads with the same battery voltage that is currently on the single lead. I believe one of them is red and the other is yellow. One has 12V all the time.

But, you must turn the radio off every time you leave the vehicle.

The accessory position is usually the better choice.