A wiring question and a beeping question

[Lovejoy]

Hi all,

Just joined up, having only had my 97 Bongo for 4 weeks, great to be on board and browsing this forum I am impressed at the helpfullness of everyone.
Hope someone can help with a couple of questions I have which I have not managed to find an answer to by searching the forum:

Question 1:
At the week-end I want to put some electrics in my bongo. I have a rear kitchen unit with the water pump running off the existing rear socket, but I don't want to attach too much else to that as I suspect it's not man enough - and besides, it only comes on with the ignition fully on.

What I want to do is run a new cable from my leisure battery to a surface mounted 12v socket which I will mount behind the kitchen unit.
Into that socket I want to plug a 3 x 12v socket adaptor (So I can unplug and take the kitchen unit out leaving all the electrics attached to the unit, and just the socket in place).

Into the adaptor I want to put the water pump (so it works without the ignition on), a cable to a 12v socket mounted into the side of the kitchen unit, and a 150w inverter which I will mount behind the kitchen unit, and then take a cable to a 240v 3 pin socket also mounted on the side of the kitchen unit.

With me so far ?

The 240v socket will just be used to run a portable TV/DVD, Laptop etc - nothing more powerful.
The 12v socket will be there, erm, in case I need it. I know, to charge my mobile phone up

Somewhere in the cable leading to the new surface mounted 12v socket I will put a switch so I can isolate the power to the back of the van (but keep the original 12v socket on the ignition switch as a 'spare').

After all that, the question is simple - what size of cable should I run from the leisure battery to my new surface mounted socket?
Some folk I speak to say 8 amps is enough, others say I need at least 25 amp because of the distance the cable is going. So i'm confused.

Is it best to just fit the biggest I can get ?

Also, can anyone see any fatal flaws in what I plan to do


Question 2:

How easy is it to disable the bleep bleep bleep which drives me mad when I have the key in the ignition but the ignition off and the front door(s) open while working on the Bongo ?

Last week-end I fitted a new stereo and dash clock and it was bloomin' hot. I wanted the key left in so I could easily put the ignition on and off as I checked my wiring, but the bleeping was driving me mad, so I had to shut the doors. And I got very hot.

Can this 'safety' feature be disabled ???

That's it. Do I get some kind of prize (or derision) for posting the longest first post

[neilfraser]

Hi Lovejoy - can't answer your first question as I'm rubbish at electrics, However you stated that your rear 12v accessory socket only cam on when the ignition was on - my understanding was that it was on all the time?

WRT Q2 the beeper is in the drivers footwell on the front right hand side. There are plenty of topics coevering disabling thi s- just do a search and you should get teh answer you need.

HTH

Neil

[Vanmanerik]

To see how to stop the beep goto:-

http://www.bongoogle.co.uk/details.asp? ... 1&artID=41

Hope this helps.

[Lovejoy]

Thanks neil. No, my rear socket definitely only comes on when the ignition is switched on. Not just on the accessory setting, but it has to be fully on - with the dash lights all lit. Not very useful really.
Thanks for the tip on the bleeper.

[Lovejoy]

Thanks Vanmanerik. Not sure if I want to cancel all beeps, I quite like the roof one, and the reversing one. It's that that darn 'door open' bleep which is getting me hot under the collar - literally!

[maxheadroom]

If you wish to temporally disable the beeping just push the plunger switch in (the one that works the interior lights on the front doors) and hold it in with tape or even a matchstick. The tape has to be good sticky stuff though.

[ParkerNorris]

There appears to be some variation in when there is power to the standard rear socket.

I, from reading this forum, thought that it was constantly on, independent of the ignition switch. However, my rear socket is only powered up when the ignition key is in the 'ACC' position. That is until I wire my leisure battery in...

[francophile1947]

Hi Lovejoy
The more powerful the wire the better - nothing less than 25A (I used 40A).
I have 150W inverter and it won't work a laptop, so I got one of these (Ebay item number 220114774105) - it works a treat. Most LCD TVs seem to be 12V, so you don't need the inverter for them.
Your multiple socket might cause problems - I have a double socket wired in, using the original curly wire, which is rated at 15A max. - this wire gets quite warm when using the laptop AND coolbox off it.

[dandywarhol]

Above the steering column height lever, under the lower column cowl is a white single connector. Disconnect that and the annoying bleep will disarm when the key is in

[Lovejoy]

Hi John,

Well I never knew you could get a cigar lighter lead to run a laptop. I thought that would be the one thing which required the 3 pin 240v socket.

Now I have to think of something else to run from my 3 pin socket. I mean, I've bought it now, so it has to go in !

[francophile1947]

Yeh Lovejoy - it steps the voltage up to whatever you require (22V max) and works a treat. I bought my inverter for the same purpose, and found it wouldn't work the laptop anyway - no idea why, but I have heard others having the same problem. I also work my 15" TV (with DVD player built in) direct from the 12V sockets.

[Lovejoy]

Oh dear Mike, as I thought.

There are lots of things I would like to do. Most of them would probably never get used, but I must admit to being a bit of a fiddler too.
But hopefully by the end of this week the important stuff will be done and I can enjoy the Bongo for a while before embarking on the next improvement/enhancement.

One thing I do want to do is get the blinds working off the leisure battery as already we have been parked up and someone has come and parked right up close to the offside.
Even with smoked glass on the side windows, I prefer to drop the blinds so no one can see in, but I never remember to leave the key in the accessory position.

I have seen this can be done, and it would make sense, as it would not draw too much power from the battery.

Then I need a remote for the stereo, as it's quite a stretch over the front seats to reach the controls, especially as I have the centre seats reversed, so I have to lean over the backs of those too.

Then ..... you get the picture

[Ginge]

Lovejoy, Ref dropping the blinds even though they are electrically operated , you can move them up and down manually with no adverse effects. Very handy when you are caught short and need to limbo under them in the middle of the night.

[Lovejoy]

Really Ginge, just push them up and down ? Cool.

Not as cool as just sitting there and having them glide down electronically to block out nosey kids, but if it can be done then that's great, as it takes one thing off my list of things to do.
I had assumed I would break the motors in some way by manually closing them.
Cheers for that tip.

Now, I suppose if I got a long stick, or one of those litter picker upper thingys, I wouldn't have to get a remote for the stereo either.

I can see this Bongo ownership malarky requires a certain amount of lateral thinking and ingenuity.

[Lovejoy]

Help - I've had a fire.

I knew I should have let someone else do this for me.

OK. I got my cable and ran it to the back of the Bongo - nothing connected either end.

I put an illuminated switch in the passenger footwell so we can isolate the rear electrics when not in use.

I connected the wire from the +ve terminal of the leisure battery to the supply terminal of the switch.
I then connected the next section of the wire from the +ve terminal to the Load terminal of the switch (going to the back of the bongo - nothing connected)
The switch Earth terminal (for the bulb in the switch) I connected to the vehicle metalwork with a seperate bit of wire.

Connected the wires to the leisure battery, and the bulb in the switch lit up. No dramatics, just a nice green glow.

Then I switched the switch off and all hell broke loose. Smoke everywhere and flames.

The earth cable running between the switch and the vehicle frame completely burnt out - sheathing melted and virtually nothing left of it.

Can someone please offer any suggestions why that happened.

Is it because I earthed the switch to the vehicle bodywork where presumably the main battery is also earthed ?
If so, where should I earth it ?

If not, any other clues ? - I have fitted loads of illuminated vehicle switches before and have never had this happen.

HELP.