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Magnetic Trickle Charger Connector

15K views 63 replies 20 participants last post by  quattro574 
#1 ·
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!
 
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#3 ·
Good work!

Amazon UK will not ship to me here.
 
#7 ·
Thanks. I got the part on eBay, not Amazon. This shipping was a little ugly (like $13.00 on a $40 part) but they shipped it to me in VA.

Love this. How did you make the connection to the battery from the magnetic connector?
Thanks.

The back side of the magnetic connector is just two spade terminals. I made a jumper cable to go from the existing trickle charger pigtail (because A- it was already hard-wired to the battery and B- it has a in-line fuse) to the back of the connector.

What I did for the whole project was bought a 25' charger extension cable...and cut it in half. I used one half (which had 12+ feet of wire, plus the connector I needed) for the part to go from the charger to the car, and the other half to go from the plug on the battery to the connector on the back end of the car.

The only thing I had to do to the cable inside the car was crimp a couple of spade plugs on the end of it to plug into the backside of the connector.

If I didn't already have the pigtail, I would have installed an in-line fuse, and terminated the wire with some ring terminals. But, with the charger pigtail already there, the inside of the car was the easy part.
 
#6 ·
Awesome diy!
My trickle charger is a bit of a PITA to plug in so I don't do it as often as I should. This would definitely alleviate that issue.
Looks like they're out of stock now though. Hopefully more sets will be available soon.
 
#11 ·
I certainly could. But, that still means opening the door, plugging it in, closing the door...and reversing the process to take it off the charger.

The external connection makes life much easier, and the magnetic connection makes it effortless (and idiot-proof - you CAN'T connect it backwards)
 
#13 ·
For anyone curious, a quick update.

The "oops, I forgot to unplug it" feature actually works!

Yesterday...I forgot to unplug it. We were going out to dinner, and I had to move some vehicles around last-minute to get it out of the driveway. Jumped in the car, pulled out of the carport, and heard a "click"...and realized what it was!

Everything was fine. The connector popped off just as it was designed to. Very handy.
 
#16 ·
I don't imagine any insurmountable challenges, but you might have to get a little more creative with the wire routing than I did.

On a clam hinge install, where is the battery? Is it relocated to somewhere that doesn't move, or does it stay in the OEM location?

No matter what, there's wiring in the clam (for the taillights and the license plate lights) that has to be dealt with on a now-moving piece. I think, whatever the solution for that could be duplicated with the wiring for the charger connector.
 
#20 ·
Would love to see what you come up with!

I might be your first (and possibly only) customer for one.

I just made a simple bracket out of some sheet aluminum I had lying around the basement.
 
#27 ·
Another +1 for interest in a custom bracket.
Alright well 3D printing isn't all that great for mass production but I imagine the interest in this would be pretty low volume anyway so I could make some for you guys. Maybe I could share the design too since I know I am not the only 3D printing nerd with an Elige and there are 3D printing services like 3dhubs.com.

I just got a notification that the magnetic pieces shipped. When I have a design ready for printing I think I am going to print in a nylon or PET based material. That area of the car can get quite warm and the traditional ABS and PLA filaments probably wont hold up as years/miles go by. The nylon I prefer now starts off a milky white/transparent color but is easily died with Rit clothing fabric dye.

This is a set of mounts I made for a light bar for my 4runner. The ones it came with were too tall to tuck the bar into the lower grille opening so I made some new ones. They are printed in nylon and then dyed black. They have only been on there for a few months but I think they are going to hold up just fine as someone made an intake manifold for a diesel motor out of this material.
 

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#24 ·
I would be interested for both Evora and Elise. It would need to be mounted externally (this is the whole point) and the magnet would need to plug in to the standard deltran battery tender quick connect. A nice option would be a weatherproof cover for the attachment point to keep it safe and hide it.

Currently, I open the rear hatch and plug in after every drive. It would be nice to simply attach a magnet externally.

I haven't looked into options, but the simplest solution may be a diy with off the shelf parts though it may not be easily reversable if drilling was required.


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#25 ·
I would be interested for both Evora and Elise. It would need to be mounted externally (this is the whole point) and the magnet would need to plug in to the standard deltran battery tender quick connect. A nice option would be a weatherproof cover for the attachment point to keep it safe and hide it.

Currently, I open the rear hatch and plug in after every drive. It would be nice to simply attach a magnet externally.

I haven't looked into options, but the simplest solution may be a diy with off the shelf parts though it may not be easily reversable if drilling was required.
Ummm...this is what I did...exactly. It mounts externally, it plugs into a standard Deltran battery tender quick connect plug, it's waterproof, it has a spring-loaded cover, and I made it with off-the-shelf parts. Oh...and it's completely reversible.

See post #1.
 
#30 ·
I bought one of these connectors, but not for Elise.

That solution was simpler.

I have the BT end zip tied to louver and pull that out to charge, push it in when done.

This did require a small screw on the RH side of the LH louver, but works wonderfully.

Invisible when not being used.
 

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#34 ·
My project is done. It worked the day I posted the OP.

Handy as heck, too.

At least 2 times, I've driven off and forgotten to unhook the charger. And the GF has done it at least once as well.

Takes absolutely zero effort to put in on...or take it off...the charger. I'm back there anyway, putting the roof in or taking the roof out of the trunk.
@fjohn624 was talking about 3D printing a mount. Not sure where he's at with that project. I just cut the mounting plate from a sheet of aluminum that I had lying around (cut it with a scroll saw). Works great and required zero modifications to the car.
 
#36 ·
No problem at all. It was my project to start with. I'm the "expert", I guess.

I'm hoping @fjohn624 comes up with something cool.
 
#37 ·
I have one prototype which I like the way it looks and another that honestly is way easier to print and install so that is likely the one I am going with. I suddenly got really busy and have been out of town. I will pick back up this weekend.

I tried to get it to mount behind the plate/frame and then go around it but it makes it stick up too high and too far out. The next version will probably bolt on top of the plate. Not as sexy but its necessary.
 

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#39 ·
I found a great glue for plastic, 2 part epoxy.

Cut a piece of metal for a spacer and glued it all to the car.

Pushing on the device does not move it.

Sorry for bad picture.

(Elise? See previous post for 5 cent installation of BT connector)
 

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#40 ·
So I gave up on the behind the plate style mount. Its possible to use but its so cramped I just don't like it. If I move the charge port hole down any farther there wont be any support left for it and it could just snap off. I have resorted to the original idea which mounts in front of a plate.

For those that have printers or use 3d printing services I am going to post the printable file up on thingiverse later and I'll add a link to this thread since I can't attach an stl file here.

As for material I settled on PETG as it is strong and resists heat better than PLA and ABS. Nylon materials were a good test but unnecessary and not worth the trouble for people who would like to print this on printers without heated build chambers.

For those that would like me to print them for them, I will try to get a few of these done in the next couple of weeks for the select few that have been interested. I am sorry it has taken this long, I just have been very busy and was behind on printer maintenance/modification projects.
 

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