Din socket replacement on X250 vehicles

[Barry38]

I need to install an additional din socket adjacent to the existing on my 2009 Boxer. It seems to me that I have a number of options :-

a) Remove the existing and connect onto it's wiring - observing fuse/loadings and cable ratings etc.

b) Remove the cigarette lighter unit and fit another socket in lieu.

c) Locate the wiring loom behind the bulkhead and connect at some point along it.

 

If anyone has managed to do any of the above it would be extremely useful to know how to get access to the existing socket base and wiring etc. before getting too aggressive!

Failing that, which cables relate to the cigarette lighter and or din socket.

I am permanently wiring to accommodate a sat nav unit and traffic camera ( can't do with dangling wiring!! )

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[QFour]

If you have a radio installed then take the feed off the back of that. Trying to get the dash to bits can be fun. Screws hidden in lots of unlikely places and some parts are push fit.

 

If you need USB Power rather than 12v then you can buy the small 12v to 5v converters on Ebay.

[Derek Uzzell]

Barry

 

Won’t your Boxer’s cigarette-lighter socket accept the plug that’s normally standard on a sat-nav’s cable?

 

Advice about gaining access to the cables that connect to the two dashboard sockets is provided in Robinhood’s posting of 18 August 2016 9:20 AM here

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/12v-Accessory-Socket-2014-Ducato/43327/#M504277

 

Alternatively you might consider hard-wiring the sat-nav/dash-cam back to a fuse-box as discussed in these earlier threads

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Dash-cam-hard-wiring/41838/

 

http://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Wiring-dash-cam/41988/

 

[dougal]

Hi

 

It is most anoying that the sockets are not live with the ignition off. I too dislike wires trailing over the dash and solved the problem easily by putting in a fused feed direct off the battery with a centre off switch by the ash tray so the 12v sockets are live all the time and I can switch the reversing camera or the sat nav on with a permanent feed up through the dash. The 12v socket panel comes off easily by removing the screw under the rubber mat in the ash tray and pulling the panel up and out - do not get too enthusiastic as the wires are not very long. The 12v feed can be fed down behind the centre consul and under the floor mat into the battery box. Find which wire is the main feed to the 12v sockets and cut it and connect to the new feed. I put another loose socket above the radio under the dash for a permanent sat nav feed. On later x250's the centre dash 'map holder' does not lift up so you will have to pull the radio out to remove the screws (I drilled a hole in the panel to feed the wires for sat nav and reversing camera through. The Boxer radio has two very stiff spring clips at the bottom of the facia and needs two plastic leavers to get them off. (yes you do have to pull it that hard!). Behind the dash has lots of room to hide all the wiring you will need.

 

I soldered and shrink sleeved all the joins for safe use, but you could use connection blocks. You should not just rely on tape on all joints as it dries out and falls off with time and do put the main fuse close to the battery inside the battery box. (lol)

[mikejkay]

One one of my previous motorhomes I removed the "cigarette lighter" socket, tapped the supply line and led wires to a multiple fuse box (set up as a bus bar) which I used to supply my dashcam, Tom Tom and Garmin. The fuse box was located beneath the little locker on the dash in front of the passenger seat.

 

However, removing the "cigarette lighter" socket was a struggle and on my new (X290) motorhome I have run separate wires directly to the starter battery. These wires are individually fused alongside the battery and run to a set of three rocker switches which is mounted in the small removable panel located just above the drinks holder. On an X250 model you would have to find another location for these switches. Two of the supply leads are fitted with the 12v to 5v converters metioned by another contributer, the third supplies 12v. The leads to the dashcam etc are routed through the join between the flip up map holder and the dash. I filed grooves in the edge of the map holder so as not to pinch the wires and to hold the wires in position.

 

The advantage of this arrangement is that I can have my dashcam switched on even if the ignition is off. The disadavantage of this arrangement is that the dashcam is switched on even if the ignition is off! I have to remember to switch the dashcam on and off as required. Becoming more difficult as the grey cells atrophy. :'( In retrospect I should have used iluminated rocker switches.

[flicka]

Much easier to use a multiple socket. One with a cable would enable the multiple socket to be located so all other connection cable are minimised.

Google:- Car Cigarette Lighter (or DIN) Multi Socket Twin USB Charger Power Adaptor, will give lots of results or have a look at the Roadpro website

[Derek Uzzell]

There seems to be a conflict between Barry’s wish to avoid “dangling wires”, installing an additional DIN scket and replacing the existing cigarette-lighter socket.

 

My Garmin sat-nav’s power-cable connects into my 2015 Ducato’s cigarette-lighter socket. Like Barry, I dislike untidy dangling wires, so the sat-nav’s power-cable is coiled in the base of the adjacent can-holder and then led upwards in the ‘slot’ in the dashoard above and then under the ‘handle’ of the lift-up document-holder and on to the sat-nav’s mount that is glued to the top surface of the document holder. The cable in the ‘slot’ is covered by a piece of black insulation tape and, although the result is not as invisible as if I had adapted the sat-nav’s power-cable, drilled a hloe in the dashboard and hard-wired to a 12V power-source (which is what I did when I front-lit the instrument-cluster) it’s neat enough not to offend.

 

My Ford Transit-based Hobby had permanently-live dashboard power-sockets, whereas (as has been said above) the Ducato’s are ‘ignition-on live’. I don’t care much either way as far as the sat-nav is concerned.