Cig socket power problem.

[Ixion]

Yep, those plugs are pure crap. The 'o nly when running' thing will be voltage drop. Engine off, battery maybe not a youthful virgin with pert little breasts any more, and the drain of the headlights (cos you've wired it so the RD only works when the lights are on ?) drops the voltage below what the RD wants.

[Gremlin]

Still only works while the bike is running tho.

If you wired it off your headlight circuit... umm.... it would make a lot of sense that it don't work when the bike is off.... thats the idea

skiddy... I put one bike's wire on the headlight, and another on the fuel pump... they work fine.

[The Pastor]

You can pretty much regard that as non-existant - a fuse needs to be as close to the power supply as practiable to actually be of any use.

Its as close as it can get. the one i took out is about 1-2cm of wire away from the plug's fuse.

[Max Preload]

If you wired it off your headlight circuit... umm.... it would make a lot of sense that it don't work when the bike is off.... thats the idea

No - not off - just not running - he means ignition on, engine not running. That points to a poor battery. You need to invest in a proper meter (they're not exactly expensive) and measure the battery voltage and load test it to see how low the voltage drops when loaded - that is the best indication as to the servicability of a lead-acid battery.

the plug has a fuse built in.

...the socket has no fuse.

Its as close as it can get. the one i took out is about 1-2cm of wire away from the plug's fuse.

Ok, consider me confused. What one you took out? I was saying the built-in plug fuse is pointless - fuses are to protect the wiring not the device - there needs to be a fuse BEFORE the wiring to the socket as close as practicible to the power supply or the wiring size change. In the event of a short in the 12V wiring to the socket, the only fuse that will come into play will be the headlight one (with the way you have it wired) and if the wiring to the socket is lighter, it could very well overheat with the short, melt the insulation and start a fire. Or if the wiring is heavy enough a short could develop and it could take out the headlight fuse. Not a particularly desirable situation on a moonless night in the twisties...

[The Pastor]

the socket that i wired into my bike had a fuse buit in, i had to take it out to wire it in (its one of those 1 into 2 adaptors).

The plug that plugs into the socket has a 2amp fuse built in.

the fuse has worked before.

does anyone know of a good quailty cig power adaptor I can get? this one falls to pices.

[Max Preload]

Ok - one last time... A fuse cannot protect any wiring from a short if it installed AFTER that wiring. The fuse in the plug will only protect the circuit if a short occurs between the plug and the RD. In the more likely event that a short occurs in the RD wiring from the headlight splice for power to the socket, there is no protection without a fuse immediately adjacent to the splice - the headlight fuse may or may not blow depending on the wiring size to the socket and if it doesn't blow, you could simply start a fire.

In short forget the fuse in the plug or in the socket - that's a half measure. There needs to be a fuse near the power splice.

Good luck.

[Max Preload]

does anyone know of a good quailty cig power adaptor I can get? this one falls to pices.

If you mean a socket, try a marine chandler like Burnsco.

Personally, I'd use a small 3.5mm flush mount socket and either make up a new RD power lead or adapt the RD power lead I had. Better still I'd simply avoid the socket altogether for the RD application and hard wire in a fused lead (assuming the RD plug is a standard style). The less connections the better.

[The Pastor]

yeah, thanks for your advice (still not sure on the fuse - tho i am an idiot)

I wanted to adapt the RD's power cable too, but its a telephone cable and i dont know how to fix it (theres 4 wires man).

I have it working atm so thats all that matters, I will be revisiting this when RD's become illgal (have to hide it hehe)

[Ixion]

I used an old modem cable to hard wire the RD on von Klunken. On mine it was the two centre connections that carried power, but yours might be different. Plug in the ciggy thing and use your tester to see which connections at the plug are live and polarity (you may need a proper multimeter for that - they'r eonly $8 FCS) . Then just hard wire the modem cable in.

[The Pastor]

what RD do you use? I have a V1.

[The Pastor]

and if only 2 use power, what do the other 2 do? and what should I do with them? just leave them hanging?

[Ixion]

Bel summut or uvver. Yes, just leave the other two clipped off. You only need two wires, +ve and -ve. Just a matter of figuring out which one is which at the RD socket. 'S easy. You know the present cable works. So just plug it in to the ciggy lighter, don't plug the RD end in. Now put one probe of y'r meter on bike earth (meter set to DC volts). Probe the 4 copper strips on the plug. One will show voltage. That's +ve (assuming your bike is -ve earth). Now switch the meter to ohms and probe the other strips. One (only) should show near zero ohms. That's -ve (earth). Take an old modem cable , locate the strips on the plug end of it that correspond to the ones you identified on your ciggy lighter cord. Note the colours of the wires attached to them (squint through the translucent plug, or peer down the end). Connect the other end of those wires to a switched fused supply, and earth. And wire it up acordingly. Sorted.

[Ixion]

Oh, ar uh, one VERY important point. Check that the output from the ciggy lighter really IS 12v ! My GPS has what looks like an ordinary ciggy lighter plug, but it actually drops the output voltage to 5v Wouldn't want to hard wire that to 12v ! Bloody pain in the neck actually.

BTW if you want a decent removeable power plug, get the type BMW ,and some Euro cars use. Different sdesign, infinitely superior.

[The Pastor]

Oh, ar uh, one VERY important point. Check that the output from the ciggy lighter really IS 12v ! My GPS has what looks like an ordinary ciggy lighter plug, but it actually drops the output voltage to 5v Wouldn't want to hard wire that to 12v ! Bloody pain in the neck actually.

BTW if you want a decent removeable power plug, get the type BMW ,and some Euro cars use. Different sdesign, infinitely superior.

where do you get the BMW ones from?

[Ixion]

BMW ! Or Tardme.