12v accessory wire

[dt8068]

Does anyone know of any 12 volt wires under the rear seat that ONLY have power when the key is in position 2 or when the car is running? I know I could go hunting with a multimeter, but that would take forever.

[gmannino]

There should be a few wires but I would always verify with a multimeter. Its there tho.

[dt8068]

Yea there's hundreds of wires under the rear seat; I was just checking to see if someone knew for a fact of a particular 12v (only power in key position 2) wire I could tap into so I wouldn't have to cut and test through hundreds of wires until I found one.

Yea I'm lazy, and I don't know where to start.

[attack eagle]

one in the plug for the alarm

[Paul in NZ]

Yea there's hundreds of wires under the rear seat; I was just checking to see if someone knew for a fact of a particular 12v (only power in key position 2) wire I could tap into so I wouldn't have to cut and test through hundreds of wires until I found one.

Yea I'm lazy, and I don't know where to start.
dont cut....use a pin to pierce the insulation....
the wires which run through to the rear lights may be powered all the time...and are earthed to complete the circuit once the light switches are thrown.the rear fuse box may be a good place to look too,maybe some unused positions there to test.

[attack eagle]

why do you need one BTW?

[doogie]

Actually I need to find one of those too to allow me to connect a relay to disable my solar panel battery charger automatically when I start the car.... a lot of the time they're purple with white stripe.... will have a dig over the weekend if noone else answers.

[doogie]

Doesn't the alarm always have power? I only want 12v power when the ignition is turned on.
I need one to wire a relay so that when I turn the car off, my power inverter shuts off. The power inverter is wired directly to the battery.
This is for my car pc.

Is your inverter a temporary stop gap measure or a permanent solution? You would be much better using a proper car pc power supply which will do 12v (and normally 5v) regulated - mine does 19v for my Mac, 12v for my screen and 5v for my USB hub, whereas with an inverter you're going 12v -> 120 or 240 then probably back down to 19 or 12 which is not ideal!

For a proper supply you will need an acc live though anyway if you want to do auto power on and off.

[doogie]

just use a diode for that...

For my solar panel? It has a diode in built (to stop battery discharge during cloud cover/ night) but it says in the instructions to disconnect during starting and running to prevent damage, so I thought a NC relay was the best bet.

[dt8068]

one in the plug for the alarm


Doesn't the alarm always have power? I only want 12v power when the ignition is turned on.



why do you need one BTW?

I need one to wire a relay so that when I turn the car off, my power inverter shuts off. The power inverter is wired directly to the battery.
This is for my car pc.

[attack eagle]

Actually I need to find one of those too to allow me to connect a relay to disable my solar panel battery charger automatically when I start the car.... a lot of the time they're purple with white stripe.... will have a dig over the weekend if noone else answers.

just use a diode for that...
Alarms generally have 12v+ battery and ignition... otherwise you could arm the alarm while the car was running.

[Paul in NZ]

more satisfying finding it your self!

[dt8068]

I finally found a 12v accessory wire. (has power ONLY when the ignition is on). It was a purple wire in the harness for the main plug that goes into the alarm module under the rear seat. I went hunting with a multimeter and a needle to check the wires like Paul suggested. It took like freaking 35 wires before I found one that didn't have power when the key was out.

[attack eagle]

:) told ya the alarm module would have one :)

SOrry I didn't know which, but I knew there were color charts or pinouts of the thing on the net, figured you'd look it up... guess I should have also suggested doing that upfront.