Easy Project -- Add three 12V sockets. Pics.

[rich weyand]

OK, so here's an easy project.

About eight years ago, I bought a Garmin Nuvi GPS. When I got the truck, it went in the truck. No cigar lighter now, and I have to plug and unplug the thing all the time.

Then last Christmas, my brother bought my wife a backup camera kit for Christmas. She was always complaining about the restricted view out the back of the Scion xB. That's about the only thing wrong with the car. Anyway, he bought her a backup camera kit for Christmas, and he bought me one too. I installed them both, but now it's two things to plug in, and two things to plug in and unplug every time you drive.

OK, so for my birthday in July, my bro bought me a windshield camera/recorder, dashcam, whatever you call it.

What with all those cords, nothing ever got plugged in, and there were cords all over. What I really needed was three more 12V sockets, and ones that switched with the ignition. So I did that, and it worked out great. Here's how. Elapsed time: maybe two hours.

First, I found and bought the Able 2 triple socket box on the net. It's for cop cars, I think. It has three sockets, is boxed all around, has a resetting circuit breaker in it. Little dust caps on the sockets. Nice package. $17 plus shipping.

http://www.edroehrsafety.com/Able-2-...4765.943.1.htm

With that in hand, how to mount it to the dash? The ashtray mounting holes are 4" apart, and the mounting screw holes on the socket widget are about 5", I think. Dunno, I just traced them. Plus I wanted to recess the socket box a bit more. So I got a piece of 2" x 12", .032" brass at the hardware store for $7, cut a six-inch length off of it, and drilled four holes. Two holes on one edge 4" apart for the ashtray screws, and two holes on the other edge for the socket box.

I had to add about 12" to the wires that come on the box. And my fuse block ignition connections and ground block connections over by the parking brake are full (fog lights, stereo, subwoofer, backup camera, etc.), so when I put a blade terminal female on the end, I also crimped in a 3" tail with an insulated male blade terminal on it so I could piggyback one of the current connections on to it.

Here's the install view showing the brass plate, the dash view, and the overall pic with all the stuff plugged in. Now all those widgets turn on with the ignition.

And the bonus is that I got my cigar lighter back.