wiring a car stereo to a cigarette-lighter-socket plug

[tomandsophie]

Our 240v stereo has just given up. I am thinking about replacing it with a 12v car stereo to save on power (not using the inverter must save us some power methinks). However, the 12v wiring in our boat is all neatly hidden away and very hard to get to. What we do have available is a cigarette-lighter socket, so I'm wondering about simply wiring up the car stereo to a compatible plug - hopefully just a case of wiring the +ve to the +ve and the -ve to the -ve.

Any suggestions?

[Yoda]

Our 240v stereo has just given up. I am thinking about replacing it with a 12v car stereo to save on power (not using the inverter must save us some power methinks). However, the 12v wiring in our boat is all neatly hidden away and very hard to get to. What we do have available is a cigarette-lighter socket, so I'm wondering about simply wiring up the car stereo to a compatible plug - hopefully just a case of wiring the +ve to the +ve and the -ve to the -ve.

Any suggestions?

 

Think you can get plugs in most places and in markets as well.

[John Orentas]

In terms of power consumption there will be 'nothing in it' however I always think that automotive things are generally better quality, mechanically more robust and much more tolerant about radio interference and poor power supplies. But find something better that cigar lighter plugs, they are rubbish.

[bottle]

Yes it is possible and simple to carry out.

 

Any car accessorie shop/maplin will have the plug better to go for the 'din' type more positive connection, even if it means changing the socket as well.

 

Just ensure that you check polarity on the socket and make sure the plug is wired the same way.

 

I think you already were aware of that.

 

Do not switch on the unit unless speakers are connected (has been known to blow the amplifier)

[pagan witch]

Yes, it will work and the plugs are easily available from car spares shops. There are of course varying qualities, the cheap and nasty brittle plastic jobs will not last long, so it is worth spending a little more on a decent one, ideally with a fuse built in (check out the fuse rating required on the car radio).

 

However . . .

 

Be aware that unless you are talking about a really simple car radio it may well have only one - (negative)but will probably have more than one + (positive) and how you wire this up is a matter of choice.

 

If it is a radio that has pre-sets then it needs a permanent live feed to protect these memories or every time you unplug it you will need to re-tune it. The other live, which would normally be switched via the car ignition is the one that makes the thing 'work' and won't care if you unplug it or not. On top of that there may well be a + to the car light system so that it dims when the lights are on, this one doesn't care if it is unplugged or not either.

 

Either way, if you have such easy access to the cigarette lighter socket can you not remove it (they normally pull out from the front) and make a full time connection to it at the rear thus saving the socket for other things ?

[David Schweizer]

Our 240v stereo has just given up. I am thinking about replacing it with a 12v car stereo to save on power (not using the inverter must save us some power methinks). However, the 12v wiring in our boat is all neatly hidden away and very hard to get to. What we do have available is a cigarette-lighter socket, so I'm wondering about simply wiring up the car stereo to a compatible plug - hopefully just a case of wiring the +ve to the +ve and the -ve to the -ve.

Any suggestions?

Three suggestions:-

 

1) Remove the cigarette lighter socket and replace it with 5amp round pin socket, which will give a far more reliable connection.

 

2) If you still need the cigarette lighter socket, fit a 5amp round pin socket next to it and connect it to the terminals on the back of the cigarette lighter socket.

 

3) Connect a cable to the terminals on the rear of the cigarette lighter socket and run it as unobtrusively as possible to the radio.

 

Of course the best solution is still to take the plunge and remove the cladding, and run an extension from the existing power circuit.

Edited October 22, 2006 by David Schweizer

[DHutch]

So in summary.

- Yes it possable to do.

- But no, its not great.

 

I'd go along with david, depending on eactly what where up against, i would eather go the full hog and wire it in properly, or atleast change the socket for a decent one.

- Cigarette lighter sockets are poor at best, even the modified, fairly incompatable, postive locking ones are only mediocre.

 

But yeah, it could be done.

- Also, as 'pagan witch' says, it will have two postive leads, one of which would idealy be conected to a switch supply. As it would be installed in a car.

 

 

Daniel

[Noah]

My car-type stereo is connected to the back of a 12V socket rather than wired all the way back to the batteries. It's a pain having to reprogramme when I visit the boat because the master switch has been turned off and the stereo has lost memory. Has anyone tried one of these "memory saver" devices for car stereos? I assume they contain a dry cell battery, but what about a rechargeable one and a relay that switches over when the main power is turned off?

 

Noah

[Smudge]

we removed a down lighter from under the floating peninsular unit and wired our stereo straight into that! my dad also made us a box for it out of matching wood so that it doesn't look out of place

[Bones]

My boat used to have one with a CD changer but I got rid of it. The boat also had a series of cigarette lighter sockets, but I got rid of those too as they really weren't ideal AT ALL!

 

I would be interested to know how the power consuption compares to a normal stereo.

[bottle]

I would be interested to know how the power consuption compares to a normal stereo.

 

Hi

 

Not being flippant it will depend on the unit used, they are all different.

 

A 'mains' one will also require the invertor to be on so this will use power as well, a 12volt model will be wired direct.

[Ricardo]

 

Do not switch on the unit unless speakers are connected (has been known to blow the amplifier)

 

It's OK to power up the amp if there are no speaker cables connected, the damage is done when the bare ends of the cables touch so there's no load on the amp but you make a circuit. The lower the resistance of the speaker the more power the amp puts out, no resistance = kaboom!

 

The only amps that must always have a load are valve amps, you must never run those without speakers connected.

 

Ric.

 

 

I would be interested to know how the power consuption compares to a normal stereo.

 

 

It will also depend on what music you listen to, more bass = more power.

 

Ric.

[bottle]

 

It's OK to power up the amp if there are no speaker cables connected, the damage is done when the bare ends of the cables touch so there's no load on the amp but you make a circuit. The lower the resistance of the speaker the more power the amp puts out, no resistance = kaboom!

 

The only amps that must always have a load are valve amps, you must never run those without speakers connected.

 

Ric.

 

 

 

Showing my age, can remember valves

[Ricardo]

Showing my age, can remember valves

 

 

Yeah, my first car had 16 valves, but 8 of those were in the radio.

 

Ric.

[pagan witch]

 

I would be interested to know how the power consuption compares to a normal stereo.

 

 

Almost certainly the dedicated 12v version will be lower because just about all 'mains' radios, cd players, videos, dvd players etc. start by dropping the mains supply to a more manageable voltage anyway, typically around the 12v mark. This used to be achieved (and still is in the really cheap stuff) by use of a small step down transformer, but is now more commonly done by a switch mode power supply that accepts just about anything between 90 & 250 v AC and still puts out a stable low voltage DC supply. By using switch mode supplies the manufacturer doesn't have to worry about supply voltage or frequency so only has to make one type of power supply for the entire world market. Switch modes also don not have transformer 'hum'.

 

If using an inverter to power a mains unit you are efectively stepping the 12v up to mains, feeding it into a unit (in this case a radio), which then steps it back down again.

[pedroinlondon]

Yes, it will work and the plugs are easily available from car spares shops. There are of course varying qualities, the cheap and nasty brittle plastic jobs will not last long, so it is worth spending a little more on a decent one, ideally with a fuse built in (check out the fuse rating required on the car radio).However . . .Be aware that unless you are talking about a really simple car radio it may well have only one - (negative)but will probably have more than one + (positive) and how you wire this up is a matter of choice.If it is a radio that has pre-sets then it needs a permanent live feed to protect these memories or every time you unplug it you will need to re-tune it. The other live, which would normally be switched via the car ignition is the one that makes the thing 'work' and won't care if you unplug it or not. On top of that there may well be a + to the car light system so that it dims when the lights are on, this one doesn't care if it is unplugged or not either.Either way, if you have such easy access to the cigarette lighter socket can you not remove it (they normally pull out from the front) and make a full time connection to it at the rear thus saving the socket for other things ?

So, if I connect the black to negative and the yellow+orange+orange/white to positive it should work ok?

[Arthur Brown]

Remember that your car stereo loses it's mind every timer it is powered down including the PIN number.

[DaveC]

The yellow could be for an automatic aerial so check that before connecting it to 12v +.

 

If the radio loses its memory when power is turned off when you leave the boat it doesn't take long to retune. I have to do that when out cruising anyway and on my car-type radio it's just one press of a button on the remote control. (Why a car radio beeds a remote control I don't know but mine has - it came from Lidl and is a great set.)

 

Dave

[dor]

When I fitted my car radio I thought the "always on" connection was just for the memory so ran a small wire (with in-line fuse) from the battery, the main feed going through the distribution board. However I found that the CD player wouldn't work, probably because the voltage drop was too high through the small wire when the drive was operating. For some reason the CD player needed a constant feed - presumably something to do with the CD player being able to do something after the ignition was turned off if a CD was playing at the time. I replaced the direct feed with a thicker wire and it was fine.