12 Volts DC - Available in cabin?

[FarAway]

"Welcome to Virginia"

Lots of speed traps and vigorous enforcement. The accompanying penalties make VA. one of the worst states to get caught speeding. If driving 20 mph over the posted limit or over 85mph (only recently raised from 80mph) anywhere it is considered "reckless driving", which can be a class 6 felony. Judges routinely give out jail time for anything over 90mph.

Don't speed in Virginia.

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[Outdoors]

Don't forget DC. Washington DC that is. While not a state. No radar detector use. Also in all states if you run a DOT number on 5 ton+ those are a no go.

 

[Tito]

Yea power up there would be nice for an aftermarket digital rear view mirror that is needed with the current visibility.

I will continue today. I think I found some, but had to leave to dinner.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

I will continue today. I think I found some, but had to leave to dinner.

Ooohhh keep us posted on that... I have a Uniden R7 in a perma mount in my F350 that hangs off the rearview mirror. It looks OEM. My goal was to remove the CT rearview mirror and mount the perma mount on the rearview stem and tap into the 48v up there and add in a small 48v->12v buck converter. I would love to do it all up there rather than the second best option which is to add the 48v->12v brick in the frunk and route the wires up there.

More pics or a video please ;-). You should Youtube it and I betcha get a crap load of views

If not you then.... "PAGING @UTECHPIA and @denniscw ... please come to a white telephone..."

 

[Tito]

Ooohhh keep us posted on that... I have a Uniden R7 in a perma mount in my F350 that hangs off the rearview mirror. It looks OEM. My goal was to remove the CT rearview mirror and mount the perma mount on the rearview stem and tap into the 48v up there and add in a small 48v->12v buck converter. I would love to do it all up there rather than the second best option which is to add the 48v->12v brick in the frunk and route the wires up there.

More pics or a video please ;-). You should Youtube it and I betcha get a crap load of views

If not you then.... "PAGING @UTECHPIA and @denniscw ... please come to a white telephone..."

Sneak peak

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Sneak peak

Alright dude... give up the goods!!!! Need the whole how-to! NICELY DONE!!!!

 

[Tito]

Alright dude... give up the goods!!!! Need the whole how-to! NICELY DONE!!!!

I mounted it using a double sided mount that I typically use on all of my vehicles because it is very minimalistic. I am looking at this as a permanent mounting location as it does not take windshield real estate and did not have to poke any holes for wiring as I am using rear view mirror door.

Long story short after testing a few leads I found this has Switched 12V power that turns off when truck goes to light sleep. It seems to power a small fan and possibly the temp/humidity sensor there.

This is just for information purposes, I reccomend you do proper research before wiring anything up!

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Thank you for this... this is a HUGE contribution to the community. Having 12v up there is massive and shows Tesla was thinking when they did this. This is going to be my first mod when I get it. Outstanding job!

Let us know when you have time if the 12v is not ignition based...

OTOH...these things suck little energy and Uniden is really good about the auto-off. I would rather have that 12V than have to wire buck converters, etc for the ignition.

Now you have me thinking about accessory switches for that....

 

[JBee]

I mounted it using a double sided mount that I typically use on all of my vehicles because it is very minimalistic. The Velcro up front is temporary. I am looking at that as mounting location for now as it does not take and windshield real estate and did not have to poke any holes for wiring as I am using rear view mirror door.

Long story short after testing a few leads I found this that has constant 12V and is power for all accessories here. It might always on, I will test soon enough, however my radar has an auto off feauture so personally not worried about that.

Whats the power draw on your detector?
I would check to see what the 12V is powering before using it without knowing the rating for that cable. Maybe measure the voltage drop on it when you turn the detectorr on?

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

"Welcome to Virginia"

Lots of speed traps and vigorous enforcement. The accompanying penalties make VA. one of the worst states to get caught speeding. If driving 20 mph over the posted limit or over 85mph (only recently raised from 80mph) anywhere it is considered "reckless driving", which can be a class 6 felony. Judges routinely give out jail time for anything over 90mph.

Don't speed in Virginia.

In California, 20 mph over is 'careless' driving, unless there is an accident, in which case it is reckless driving.

Personally, I am hard core against people playing their own games in a car. If someone is driving 20 mph and above over the limit I have no remorse whatsoever in them being ticketed. If someone is convicted of DUI I don't ever want them on the road again. If someone causes a traffic accident while using a cell phone I think they should be barred from using a cell phone in a car unless it is the car's cell service and hands free. I don't think this is on thread but it is my soapbox for the moment.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Whats the power draw on your detector?
I would check to see what the 12V is powering before using it without knowing the rating for that cable. Maybe measure the voltage drop on it when you turn the detectorr on?

Its between 275-400ma depending on whether its detecting radar or not. That looks like 16-18ga wire which means it can likely handle up to 10A without too much trouble for a short run.

10:1 that 12v is for accessories... there is almost no need to have 12V in there unless its for third party products.

 

[gaubong053]

I removed rear view and poked around for 12v power and had no luck. I am also looking for a way to mount my mostly legal Uniden R8.

Have you found any 48V wires in there? If yes, a cheap bulk converter can do a job. I will do the same when receive my CB for Uniden R8.

 

[JBee]

Its between 275-400ma depending on whether its detecting radar or not. That looks like 16-18ga wire which means it can likely handle up to 10A without too much trouble for a short run.

10:1 that 12v is for accessories... there is almost no need to have 12V in there unless its for third party products.

Those power levels should be ok, but I wouldn't be going by the cable size to determine the rating, as cables are normally oversized to reduce resistance especially on things that are on all the time. Cable size might also be required because there is a load of that size on there already. A DC clamp current meter will tell you whats going through it when its on, and measuring the voltage sag when you turn your devices on will give you an idea if theres enough available.

Remember that every low votage under 48V you find on the CT now comes from a buck converter not a 12V battery, so peak watt output will be severely limited in comparison to the battery.

Also theres no reason to guess what the cables are for, you can look it up on the electrical schematic in the service manual online.

I do wish that they would include more LV power connections throughout the vehicle and I also wonder how much power is available for RV charging through 12V. Electric trailer brakes take a few amps too so there should be a spec for that somewhere.

 

[M0unt41nm4n]

Those power levels should be ok, but I wouldn't be going by the cable size to determine the rating, as cables are normally oversized to reduce resistance especially on things that are on all the time. Cable size might also be required because there is a load of that size on there already. A DC clamp current meter will tell you whats going through it when its on, and measuring the voltage sag when you turn your devices on will give you an idea if theres enough available.

Remember that every low votage under 48V you find on the CT now comes from a buck converter not a 12V battery, so peak watt output will be severely limited in comparison to the battery.

Also theres no reason to guess what the cables are for, you can look it up on the electrical schematic in the service manual online.

I do wish that they would include more LV power connections throughout the vehicle and I also wonder how much power is available for RV charging through 12V. Electric trailer brakes take a few amps too so there should be a spec for that somewhere.

Amps on my comment are by rated values... see here:

https://wiringproducts.com/pages/wire-amperage-capacity-chart

The cables are within spec.

 

[JBee]

Amps on my comment are by rated values... see here:

https://wiringproducts.com/pages/wire-amperage-capacity-chart

The cables are within spec.

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.

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