Richard V Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 Some wisdom required... I have decided to fit GPS to my TR4. Im sure many others have been down this road, so Im hoping that you may be able to point me in the right direction. Ok so all I'm doing is fitting a cigar lighter, not rocket science you may say, but as the sensitive GPS (Garmin) may not get on well with Lucas the dark lord and his dastardly dynamo, Im not sure where to take power from for the lighter. Earth - will be easy, straight to the shell not far from the negative battery terminal. Live - I have a spare terminal on the back of the ammeter (not the one with the connection to the battery, the other one) A suitable fuse will also be included. A future installation will be a hidden radio, taking power from the same source. Is the back of the ammeter a safe place to take power for a GPS, radio, or a fuse box? Cheers, Richard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeF Posted February 28, 2011 Report Share Posted February 28, 2011 (edited) Hi I run a Garmin from a 3 socket unit I got in Halfords. The reason for the 3 sockets is that they happen to have an electronic voltage regulator circuit built in, which I figured would filter out any transients from the rest of the car. That made the connection to car uncritical So I wired to the most convenient live I could find which - as i was doing other stuff at the time - was the igntion switch. I don't see any problem with your suggestion, save - if I remember the wiring diagram correctly - it means the socket would be 'on' all the time . I mounted the socket to the glove box support strut. Its out of sight but easy enough to reach. BTW it doesn't make any difference which terminal of the ammeter you connect to. Mike Edited February 28, 2011 by MikeF Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Richard V Posted March 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 Thanks for the confirmation Mike, I chose the Ammeter as I want the socket to remain live with the car at rest. I am also fitting the socket under and behind the dash. An other thread (from around 2008) showed a socket mounted in the dash top ashtray on a TR6, out of sight when the ashtray is closed and just in the right spot for a screen mounted GPS with no unsightly wires hanging down the dash.... genius....shame the 4 doesnt have a dash top ashtray. Cheers, Richard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RogerH Posted March 1, 2011 Report Share Posted March 1, 2011 (edited) Hi Richard, as you have mentioned the electrics from a dynamo (and alternator) can be rather noisy. However the Garmin will have a fair bit of filtering on its input. I fitted a 60amp filter from the alternator/Battery to a power line that feeds the radio and Satnav. These can be obtained form any motor factor that does car radios - Halfords etc. It will not give a perfect noise free 12V DC but will help. Roger Edited March 1, 2011 by RogerH Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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