My front power outlet is always on

[BC246T]

Tired of having to reprogram/restart my portable nav unit each time I restarted the E, I was looking for an easy way to mod the front accessory outlet to be constantly hot. I also had a few other parameters:

1. Front outlet always hot
2. Rear outlet on only with ignition switched to ON or ACC
3. Both outlets fused for 15 amps
4. No Add-A-Circuit or running additional positive leads from battery
5. Easily reversible to stock

Here’s what I’ve come up with. Images are in pdf format; I did that to preserve the details. First illustration is the stock circuit diagram for the front and rear power outlets.

Second is the diagram for Epod’s rear outlet always on mod, by jumpering the relay socket. Relay is, of course, removed for this mod.

Third is my mod. Again, relay is removed to do the mod. I cut the yellow/white wire running to the front power outlet, spliced on two leads, and attached the lead coming from the front power outlet to the hot side of the relay socket (the side coming from fuse #2). That makes the front outlet always hot.

I then ran the other lead from the yel/wht wire (the one coming from fuse #18 ) to the rear outlet side of the relay socket, making the rear outlet now controlled by the ignition switch (powered when ignition is ON or ACC).

Both leads are attached to the same two socket connectors Epod used in his mod. To reverse the mod back to stock, all I have to do is remove the two leads, jumper them together with a double female connector, and replace the relay.

(Added detail)

In order to keep you from having to figure out which contact is which on the relay socket, I've figured it out for you:

As seen from the top, looking down, the socket has four contacts:

The two towards the front of the vehicle look like this:
_ a
_ b

The two towards the rear of the vehicle look like this:

c d
| |

You want to use the two towards the front of the vehicle. The frontmost contact (a) is the hot side, and you use this contact to connect to the yellow/white wire going to the front outlet.

The rearmost contact of the two (b) is the side which provides power to the rear outlet. Use this contact for the other yel/wht wire which comes from the ignition switch.

And if anybody asks I'll tell you how to remove the front accessory outlet. It was impossible to do this mod without removing it. You need a special six dollar tool.

[txbxdrvr]

Come on guys (and gals).... this looks pretty good!! 92 views and no comments or changes????

FWIW - The front powerlet always on makes more sense (to me) than the rear but then again in a perfect world BOTH would be hot all the time.

I'm assuming the lack of negative (no pun intended) responses indicates this will work without frying anything. Thanks, BC246T for your diagrams - pics would round out the package nicely.

[Eriderr79]

Thanks for the info...I'm about to install an additional outlet and am making it hot on all the time. Got some good ideas from you.

[BC246T]

Originally Posted by txbxdrvr

Come on guys (and gals).... this looks pretty good!! 92 views and no comments or changes????

Thanks for the comment - I was beginning to think I was being boycotted!

I think you're right - my mod isn't super exciting, and won't cause your E to explode.

Maybe if I installed the mod I had on my '73 VW beetle, a driver's relief tube which exited through the floor, I could stir up some excitement.

[flatlander]

OK heres my atta boy and well done!

I did download the pdfs for future reference.

Thats funny about the relief tube you put in your bug. I did that once to a rusted out Datsun 210 I owned.

[txbxdrvr]

So... to make both outlets hot all the time you would do something like this, correct??? Of course you'd need to pay attention to the total load for BOTH outlets and make sure they didn't exceed the 15 amp limit since there's only one fuse now. Note: The relay IS REMOVED AS NOTED ABOVE.

[BC246T]

Yes, that would accomplish what you say.

Originally Posted by txbxdrvr

So... to make both outlets hot all the time you would do something like this, correct??? Of course you'd need to pay attention to the total load for BOTH outlets and make sure they didn't exceed the 15 amp limit since there's only one fuse now. Note: The relay IS REMOVED AS NOTED ABOVE.

Attachment 36811

[txbxdrvr]

Big Thanks, Honda Tech.... I always seem to complicate things. For those interested in having BOTH outlets always on here is how I did it using HT's method.

The pigtail harness doesn't have to be fancy - I used crimp lugs that I had laying around and a wire nut. No soldering needed. The heatshrink tubing was used because my spade lugs were uninsulated.

The different color wire was only used for clarity - you can use any color you want. I used 16-18 gage wire and that was huge compared to the wire gage on the factory harness. The two orange wired spades had some "ears" that I ground off as other posts show. The yellow spade had to be made much narrower than the orange one - look at the relay to see what I mean. The pigtail looks like this.....






The installation is straight forward... the two orange wires plug into the two slots furthest away (flat side of spade lug faces you). The yellow (narrowed) spade lug had to go to the "hot" side of the relay energizer circuit - NOT the ground side. A simple multimeter check confirmed the slot on the left is the proper connection point for the yellow wire. Nothing is used in the remaining "grounded" slot. Final install should look something like this....



A couple of final notes..... Be sure to remove the #18 fuse from the interior fuse box - consult the owners manual for location and access. Also, these pictures were for an automatic transmission vehicle - the manual transmission will have a slightly different relay location and possible set-up.

[BC246T]

Well done, txbxdrvr, but you may want to remind everyone that BOTH outlets are now being powered through ONE 15-amp fuse (#2).

[txbxdrvr]

Originally Posted by BC246T

....remind everyone that BOTH outlets are now being powered through ONE 15-amp fuse (#2).

Yup... as Honda Tech mentioned in his post.