So, I got sick of opening my trunk every time I drove the car (to unplug the trickle charger) and every time I parked the car (to plug the trickle charger in).
Here's my solution - a 12V magnetic connector mounted on the bottom of the license plate, with a mating connector pigtailed to my existing charger cable.
Takes me a grand total of two seconds to connect the charger now...and one more second to remove the car from the charger.
Here's a (really) quick video of the system in action...
I ordered the connector kit through eBay (got it from the UK, took about a week to get it delivered).
Here's the link (don't know how long this link will work, though)
If the link no longer works, try searching for "12 Volt DC Power Magnetic Connector".
The connector comes in pieces...
Which I wired to an extra charger cable I had...
Here's a picture of the completed harness...
Next, I had to make a bracket for the car. Rather than drilling a 1-1/8" hole in the rear clam, I made a bracket that simply attached behind the license plate (using the license plate screws on one side). Here's the bracket; it's cut from some 1/8" aluminum plate I had lying around...
Here's a picture of the bracket with the connector installed, before I installed it on the car...
In order to get the wire through the clam and over the battery, I notched out a small...notch...in the license plate light, to allow room for the flat power cable to snake through. Again, I didn't want to drill holes in the clam and, this was really the only part I had to irreversibly modify (and I could get a new one if I need to)...
And, finally, one of the greatest features of this is, if I forget and leave the trickle charger connected...and drive off...the connector simply pops off (and the dust cover on the car snaps closed). To ensure that nothing bad happens, I put a small anchor in the wall of the carport, and tie-wrapped the cable to it, so it would pull on the wire, not on the charger...
This is how I spent my Saturday afternoon. The whole thing took me (and a friend) about 3 hours, and cost about $50.00.
As with any post I make, questions and comments are always welcome!
Here's my solution - a 12V magnetic connector mounted on the bottom of the license plate, with a mating connector pigtailed to my existing charger cable.
Takes me a grand total of two seconds to connect the charger now...and one more second to remove the car from the charger.
Here's a (really) quick video of the system in action...
I ordered the connector kit through eBay (got it from the UK, took about a week to get it delivered).
Here's the link (don't know how long this link will work, though)
If the link no longer works, try searching for "12 Volt DC Power Magnetic Connector".
The connector comes in pieces...
Which I wired to an extra charger cable I had...
Here's a picture of the completed harness...
Next, I had to make a bracket for the car. Rather than drilling a 1-1/8" hole in the rear clam, I made a bracket that simply attached behind the license plate (using the license plate screws on one side). Here's the bracket; it's cut from some 1/8" aluminum plate I had lying around...
Here's a picture of the bracket with the connector installed, before I installed it on the car...
In order to get the wire through the clam and over the battery, I notched out a small...notch...in the license plate light, to allow room for the flat power cable to snake through. Again, I didn't want to drill holes in the clam and, this was really the only part I had to irreversibly modify (and I could get a new one if I need to)...
And, finally, one of the greatest features of this is, if I forget and leave the trickle charger connected...and drive off...the connector simply pops off (and the dust cover on the car snaps closed). To ensure that nothing bad happens, I put a small anchor in the wall of the carport, and tie-wrapped the cable to it, so it would pull on the wire, not on the charger...
This is how I spent my Saturday afternoon. The whole thing took me (and a friend) about 3 hours, and cost about $50.00.
As with any post I make, questions and comments are always welcome!