Connecting 12v power outlet where old lighter used to be
 

I have an 85 300TD wagon and Im trying to connect a new 12v power outlet in place of the old ashtray/lighter. (Ive had to get rid of it to make room for a greasecar computer) Ive been getting strange activity coming from the wires that originally plugged into the ashtray assembly.

I simply used the same 2 wires to connect the power outlet but the power turns on and off when I plug something in. I took a reading with a volt meter and it gave me nothing and once in a while when I moved the terminals around the voltage would jump around a bit. The wires are in good shape it seems but Im not sure if they are supposed to be carrying 12v or not.

I did blow a white fuse messing with it. I wondered if anyone could say weather simply connecting some wires directly to the battery and ground, and just fed them through the firewall, if I could use that as a connection for such a power source?

I'm no expert in electronics but would that do the job? of course there would be no fuse attached, but what kind of a risk could I be running? I'd be then using an inverter to plug in electronics for a long car ride but it would only be temporary. I just dont have time to figure out why I'm not getting 12V from the lighter wires.
Thanks
Michael

Maybe the diesel fairy is telling you not to run it on WVO !!!!! :D

:angel:

:grim:

the two wires in the ashtray are both positive.
one is for the light in the tray, the other feeds the positive for the cigar lighter.
ground is gotten from the metal clips on the tray itself. no wires.
so to make it work for your 12v outlet, you need to supply a ground.

For your purposes, I would think it best to get a positive (pre-fuse) at the fusebox, install one of those inline fuses rated for circuit load, then pick up a ground where it is convenient to your end use location.

Aha! Yes of course that makes sense now. I'm on the road now but Ill try and rig it up on the way. Perhaps I will have music in the car after all.!
Thanks!

If your installing your co-polit. PM me and I'll help out.

Thanks, the kit is already installed. I've needed to hide the co-pilot in the ashtray as we've had ours stolen once already (as well as my brothers). Looks fancy to desperate hands, probably only to go to the dumpster in the end when thye find out they cant sell it to anyone. I wish they made them smaller. For what they are, they can be made to take up way less space and serve all its puposes.
Oh well, perhaps in the future.

So the two wires in the ashtray(actually what I meant is the ashtray housing) are indeed both positive and ground. I tested them with a volt meter and they gave off a reading of 12V when i was testing them earlier and getting inconsistent readings it was because I forgot to switch the voltmeter to read DC.

The strange thing is, when you connect a power consumer the voltage drops below operating levels (to 90s) and as soon as you take away the power consumer it goes back up. I had to get an inverter that had the option of connecting clamps directly to the battery terminals and then I ran an extension cord into the cab. worked for the time being.

However I'm wondering why I cant get a consistent output from the ashtray wires. doesn't it simply connect directly to the battery except for the fuse box? or is there some more complicated electronics somewhere linked up to all that?

Hey azitizz, did you ever figure this one out? I'd like to have an outlet too, and the cigarette lighter seems like the easiest power source. Did you just cut off the little plastic clip and use the two wires that clip to the side of the ashtray unit?

take a picture of your setup. There may be a ground in there. It would be brown if it is.
If the wires are any other color, they are switched hots. Cig lighter should be a black wire, but you could also be seeing the antenna motor signal wire. I think it's black with a stripe on it... Been a while since I was in a 123...

Yes I did end up figuring it out... at least Im pretty sure. Funny though, Ive never had a use for it in all these years...

But what Ive done is taken out the whole ashtray to make space for a greasecar (WVO) computer controller, (which in my opinion is way bigger than it needs to be. ) This way we can close up the cover when were done so its out of sight. Its been stolen out of the car before as could look like a gps or something fancy, which really has no other use and is in fact very expensive...

I bought a generic 12V power outlet, and I cant rememeber the wires, but it was fairly straight forward. Ill go look again and see.

Something is finicky with it though as I get power and on a volt meter it reads as it should but some kind of poor connection seems to lower the voltage or cut out intermittently alltogether. I did try connecting an inverter to run my laptop once or twice but the inverter, (which was an el-cheapo) could have been the culprit.