Running power outlets with ignition off

[mylesk]

I know this may get me shouts of derision, but is there a simple way to run the power to the cigarette lighters / power outlets with the ignition off to set up a "poor man's leisure battery"?
I brought a widget years ago for my Galaxy that sat between the outlet and whatever it was you were charging, and if the power dropped too low it would shut down. I ran a camping fridge like this for a few years (if you see what I mean) with no damage to the battery / flat starts.
On some vechiles this is easy, but don't know about Bongo
I have a Ford Freda with 2 starter batteries (I think I read somewhere this means it started life in frozen north Japan before moving to sunny Bristol)
Many thanks

[westonwarrior]

its not that difficult
you can run a wire direct from the battery with a voltage sensing relay to act as a cutout

or better disconect the leisure battery and get a willinton split charge relay it will turn your second starter to a leisure battery and has the connections to run whatever you want from the leisure battery while the engine is off.

that way you have a cheap propper leisure battery

[daveblueozzie]

put a location in your profile ,then maybe someone close to you might be able to assist you.

[westonwarrior]

cough Bristol cough

[daveblueozzie]

OOPS AS USUAL SPEED READING AND NOT TAKING IT ALL IN.SORRY.

[westonwarrior]

lol

BTW fitting a willington kit is so easy, I'll offer to help

[mylesk]

thanks, this looks the right kind of thing - as I already have a battery in place I assume I could (be-a-cheap-skate-and-be-lazy) use that one (its a starter battery rather than leisure, how much difference is there?).
I know I can get this done locally as Bristol is Bongo central, but fancy saving a couple of hundred and doing it myself. Where could I get the kit? had a look on eBay, but nothing on there
many thanks
(location and Photo added )
mylesk

[westonwarrior]

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/willinton/
is your man drop him a message on ebay I did and he listed a kit for me.

as for using your second battery why not? if it doesnt last long it was still free.

pm sent as well

[phiiiiil]

As a temporary-ish measure I've just done a spot of patching to make the sockets live all the time; I've effectively moved the supply of fuse 8 from the ignition switched supply to the always-on supply from fuse 1 with a couple of wire loops with inline fuses. It certainly does the trick although there's no clever gimmickery to stop it draining the battery (although it's a twin battery Bongo so it should last a good while).

I'll replace it with a proper leisure battery system at some point, but until I get round to it this seems to work!

Phil

[mylesk]

interesting, could you send me some details of this or pictures? I was planning to use a battery guard plugged straight into the power outlet to stop it draining anyway, so I may try this until I do a proper permanent job on it with a willinton
many thanks

[BrixhamBongo]

with one of these ?
http://www.batterybrain.co.uk/

[phiiiiil]

I haven't got a picture but basically it's just a few bits plugged in to the front of the fusebox to make the "protected" side of the sockets fuse come from the always-on supply to fuse 1 instead . A wire with an inline fuse is used to replace fuse 1 with a couple of flat speaker connectors that slot into the fuse holder. Crimped into the top connector is a second wire with another inline fuse that plugs into the bottom of the fuse 8 holder using another speaker connector.

Note that even with a battery monitor in a socket this also means the radio is powered all the time too as it is on the same fuse, and I've no idea how much power that uses...

Phil

[haydn callow]

The problem with "patching" into the perm live at the fuse box is the wires to the ciggy sockets are very lightweight and not very robust...
Consider running a nice thick wire to the ciggy sockets direct from the battery and remember to put a decent inline fuse in this wire....also use the same type wire to replace the ciggy sockets earth.

[phiiiiil]

I was gobsmacked as to how puny the wire for the sockets is behind the fusebox; I spent ages thinking I must have a fusebox wired up differently! I was expecting something thin after reading posts on here but not that thin. I've hacked a few LED bike lights together that use less than an amp and always used wire thicker than that, so running two sockets, the radio and the mirrors must surely be well over what the wire is rated for?

Rewiring the sockets is on "The List" but as it works at the moment, possibly by luck rather than design, it'll wait until either it explodes or I really have nothing else to do...

Phil