12 Volts DC - Available in cabin?

[rcoleblack]

Just wanna add to the thread. I tied into the cabin camera power. Came out to 15.5v. Tapped in with a rj11 phone cable. Power draw on the detector is pretty low. Been running it all day without any issues or warnings so tolerance on the efuse must be pretty high.

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[CactusPilot]

Just wanna add to the thread. I tied into the cabin camera power. Came out to 15.5v. Tapped in with a rj11 phone cable. Power draw on the detector is pretty low. Been running it all day without any issues or warnings so tolerance on the efuse must be pretty high.

I have the same Escort 360C..thanks for the input. Now I need to figure out where to tap power for the laser jammers that mount up front

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Just in case you missed my point: Cable sizes are overated, beyond the capacity of the DC converters, to improve efficiency and resistance against faults.

But that does not mean there is enough power available from the DC converter to run what you have diverted from a cable sized for 10A, even though in this particular case the radar detector load should not affect it.

Personally, I'd have a look at the schematics to check for compatibility, and in particular also that it doesn't cause interference to the already sensitive electrical systems that have been throwing now fairly common critical failures for SbW and brakes.

I missed your point. Well not really...

I'm sorry. We can agree to disagree. They are under-rated. The values are actually are conservative. I have done this stuff for years... pushing wire gages to their limits on amps. I have more accessories in my 3 trucks to where I had to rate the wire limits with amp draws and a multimeter. You are not even coming close to being convincing on that.

I dont have a CT (yet) and if I was a betting man, I would say (as I said before) Tesla gave 12V for a darned good reason (or a few):

1 - Its a truck. Truck == 3rd party accessories.
2 - Why would Tesla put this voltage in if they think it couldn't handle some amps...at the minimum? 400ma? Seriously?
3 - Imagine a Tesla not being able to handle the amps of a winch... yes a truck they advertise as an off-road vehicle. Go google the amp draw on a WARN winch.

Your points are valid... but not on a vehicle, and especially not a truck.... and most certainly not at those ratings.

Apologies @JBee ... but even with a buck converter, we are arguing about 400ma. Come on dude. I don't know many buck converters off eBay that can't handle 400ma.

 

[JBee]

I have the same Escort 360C..thanks for the input. Now I need to figure out where to tap power for the laser jammers that mount up front

No FCC rules in your state?

Can't be hard to track down a Cybertruck though atm right?

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Just wanna add to the thread. I tied into the cabin camera power. Came out to 15.5v. Tapped in with a rj11 phone cable. Power draw on the detector is pretty low. Been running it all day without any issues or warnings so tolerance on the efuse must be pretty high.

Wooohooo! It looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[CactusPilot]

No FCC rules in your state?

Can't be hard to track down a Cybertruck though atm right?

All legal here in Arizona..open carry state also

 

[JBee]

I missed your point. Well not really...

I'm sorry. We can agree to disagree. They are under-rated. The values are actually are conservative. I have done this stuff for years... pushing wire gages to their limits on amps. I have more accessories in my 3 trucks to where I had to rate the wire limits with amp draws and a multimeter. You are not even coming close to being convincing on that.

I dont have a CT (yet) and if I was a betting man, I would say (as I said before) Tesla gave 12V for a darned good reason (or a few):

1 - Its a truck. Truck == 3rd party accessories.
2 - Why would Tesla put this voltage in if they think it couldn't handle some amps...at the minimum? 400ma? Seriously?
3 - Imagine a Tesla not being able to handle the amps of a winch... yes a truck they advertise as an off-road vehicle. Go google the amp draw on a WARN winch.

Your points are valid... but not on a vehicle, and especially not a truck.... and most certainly not at those ratings.

Apologies @JBee ... but even with a buck converter, we are arguing about 400ma. Come on dude. I don't know many buck converters off eBay that can't handle 400ma.

To be clear I don't have a problem with cable sizes at all, they will handle more than what a table says they are rated for, the question there is simply how much heat they will produce instead.
I also don't have a problem with 400mA in general, but if its a critical supply, like for ADAS/FSD then some caution is warranted.

Sorry, I thought you were modding your own CT. The CT is very different to a normal vehicle, in reality, and for all intents and purposes it is a 800V battery pack and everything, including the 48V system is powered by buck converters from the main pack. The 48V battery has no meaningful capacity except to remote switch the main pack and to provide a buffer for the SbW.

All the rest of the 12V circuits are dedicated to whatever peripherals are needed on the vehicle, ranging from 12V for the main computer and vision, including cameras, to USB power outlets with PD.

None of these drive a large load, the largest being the computer with a couple of hundred watts. Thats all. Depending on the lighting used in various places, there might only be an average of around 500W of 12V supply on the vehicle in total.

The meagre 6W for the radar detector is already 1% of that, and total capacity is comparable to about 3x cigarette lighters worth in a normal ICE. This is not much, and won't run a winch or 12V air compressor without a seperate 12V power supply/battery. Cost of the buck converter is not thebissue, the CT just doesn't need it because all the other gear, from wiper motor to HVAC are 48V.

On the other hand, the 48V supply has considerably more capacity and redundancy, in the multiple kW per PCS module. So if you plan on using something higher power I'd take it from a dedicated switchable and separately fused source designated for it. Theres a 400W 48V one in the roof rack attachment point and one behind the cladding in the frunk, and both of these can be switched from the screen.

So in regards to your claim that the cable size indicates available capacity, and it being there must mean Tesla done it for your accessories, is a very loose connection of evidence at best.

If you are serious about it, then at least look at and understand the schematics
first and then mod away. They are free on the Tesla website and cleary labeled.

Btw I'm all for modding your own vehicle and your own repairs, but I'm also cautious enough to first investigate how it differs before I do so.

 

[Crissa]

The breaker levels should be set to the wire's capacity. So thinness of cabling is not a risk.

-Crissa

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

The breaker levels should be set to the wire's capacity. So thinness of cabling is not a risk.

-Crissa

That was my point… the thickness of the wires were made to handle up to a certain amperage before a fuse/breaker would blow. They wouldn’t be there if they couldn’t handle 10 amps. Even if they were tied to a 1A or 2A fuse, it would still power the radar detector.

My main point is the buck converters in the truck should be sufficient to handle 400ma, or 4.8 watts. In fact the converter from Amazon shown earlier in this thread has a 20A capacity. I am fairly sure that the CT probably isn’t too far off… and 400ma isnt even worth looking at schematics.

 

[JBee]

That was my point… the thickness of the wires were made to handle up to a certain amperage before a fuse/breaker would blow. They wouldn’t be there if they couldn’t handle 10 amps. Even if they were tied to a 1A or 2A fuse, it would still power the radar detector.

My main point is the buck converters in the truck should be sufficient to handle 400ma, or 4.8 watts. In fact the converter from Amazon shown earlier in this thread has a 20A capacity. I am fairly sure that the CT probably isn’t too far off… and 400ma isnt even worth looking at schematics.

So you really believe that the Radar detector is the only load on that cable and they put the cable there just for that?

 

[SentinelOne]

All legal here in Arizona..open carry state also

Spear LT mounted on the dash? . J/K. and you forgot AZ has epic dirt bike riding!!!! Now if the damn house prices stabilize I'm bying down there!

 

[ideaXfactory]

Just wanna add to the thread. I tied into the cabin camera power. Came out to 15.5v. Tapped in with a rj11 phone cable. Power draw on the detector is pretty low. Been running it all day without any issues or warnings so tolerance on the efuse must be pretty high.

Are those two red wires the same? Which one did you use?

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

So you really believe that the Radar detector is the only load on that cable and they put the cable there just for that?

I have no idea. I dont own one (yet). Unless they are running other items at 12v (maybe the computer or sensors?), I believe they put the 12v system for accessories… remember its a truck. By not offering that they have isolated themselves from a very rich accessory community. To me it makes perfect sense to have 12v lines for even that purpose alone.

I don't know if the radar detector is the only load on that line, but I am confident 400ma of extra current wont be an issue.

and here is the point… if it is too much current, the fuse on the line will blow.

 

[JBee]

All legal here in Arizona..open carry state also

Why no concealed carry? Why your state so up tight man? ?

The only reason I bring up FCC is that apparently there's some of dem rules around interference an all. Like ones where you shouldn't be interfereing with another device over radio waves. But maybe lazzar jammin be good?

 

[Woodrick]

That was my point… the thickness of the wires were made to handle up to a certain amperage before a fuse/breaker would blow. They wouldn’t be there if they couldn’t handle 10 amps. Even if they were tied to a 1A or 2A fuse, it would still power the radar detector.

My main point is the buck converters in the truck should be sufficient to handle 400ma, or 4.8 watts. In fact the converter from Amazon shown earlier in this thread has a 20A capacity. I am fairly sure that the CT probably isn’t too far off… and 400ma isnt even worth looking at schematics.

So, there are no breakers and just one fuse (maybe 2) in the Cybrertruck AFAIK. Tesla doesn't use them, the vehicle's computer measure power on each circuit and will disable a circuit if the draw is too much. And this doesn't mean "too much" for the wire, it's what the computer things is too much for the devices on the circuit.

So even if it works today, when everything on the circuit ramps up to full power, and there's more on the circuit than expected, the circuit may get shut down.

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