In car charger type thing?

Can you hook one of the in-car cigarette lighter things to your battery on your bike? My batt life in my tomtom is only a few hours and i would like to be able to keep up and running for longer, also think it will be good for other things phone charger and so on.

Anyone done it? expensive?

Cheers Kev

I have one on my bike.. Got the fitting from Hein Gericke, has a waterproof cover (instead of the cigar lighter), and a heat resistant cable. Use mine to charge phone and power the two way radio (when I bother to get it out), also have a AA/AAA high speed charger (for video cam batteries), just need a 12V adapter for my netbook and I'll be sorted!

Ooh not sure the price, think it was a tenner.

-Steve

You can find "marine grade" 12v sockets in all sorts of places online.

Another option I am considering for the same reason is a 12v adaptor plug that Optimate do to accompany the fittings for their battery charger. I have a fly-lead permanently attached to the battery so I can plug the charger in using a weather-proof plug hidden behind the right-rear fairing. You can also get a lead that plugs into that fly-lead and has a weather-proof 12v auxiliary socket on the other end. Job done, and it's all fused correctly.

In fact you inspired me to go and order one now and I did! If you want you can just buy the battery fly-lead and the cigarette lighter attachment without having to buy an Optimate charger - look for Optimate or AccuMate part numbers TM71 and TM68. I just found by far the cheapest source at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] (it looks like an odd place to find bike accessories but believe me, it's a lot cheaper than the bike accessory websites!). £4.60 + £6.90 + £2.75 p&p.

weasley wrote:In fact you inspired me to go and order one now and I did!

Which got me looking if there is one for the Maximizer. I too have the cable connected to the battery and is accessible through the opening in the rear part of the fairing (think seeing yours gave me the idea Paul ). It's a very good idea and also versatile.They do have one for £15.

All academic for me seeing I have gone for this, see it has gone up a quid since I got it last year (or more likely my memory has depreciated)

-Steve

Just got the combo from key safe. Will it drain the battery when the ignition is not on?

Nice find BTW.

Yes, it will drain the battery as it attaches directly to the battery, not through a switched live feed. If you wanted to go that route it'll involve some slightly more involved wiring.

FYI, I have the Optimate charger so I need access to the fly-lead from the outside, hence the lead is attached to the battery terminals and fed to the right of the under-seat tray to appear through the hole in the right-rear fairing. If you only need it for phone and sat-nav you may think about alternative routing, perhaps under the tank and up to the dashboard area? Just be careful you don't route it somewhere it can interfere with the steering.

BTW, I ordered from Keysafe on Friday and it was here the next day (and that included a wall-mount for the charger too) - awesome service!

I just used a cheap ciggie lighter socket from halfords, £2-3 iirc and fitted it under the seat via a relay that i connected to the horn i think. Could have used a waterproof one, but the tomtom leads so long anyway i'd have to wrap it up. Now the tomtom lead just comes out of the front of the seat and i push it in between the frame and the tank.

I've got one of those optimate fly leads, but I've got it reserved for powering my jacket, which is a roll of element from heat4jackets stitched into the removable lining of my leather, with an optimate plug on the end. An inline switch on the flylead from the bike (same as you get on a table lamp but filled with vaseline to keep the water out), means I've got heat any time I want it and don't need to bugger about with wearing layers etc.

My cigarette lighter socket, a standard maplin job under the seat is on the point of giving up the ghost, planning on getting one of these:

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

if I can figure out where to fit it.

You can get plugs and sockets compatible with the Optimate / Optimiser etc. chargers from Maplins for around a quid. Also the all-important in-line fuse holder.

I made a lead up for my Diversion a couple of years ago using their parts, which meant I could route it through a grommet in a side panel which seemed a neat way to do it. But on the Thundercat I have a ready-made-up lead with the socket tucked into the opening in the r.h. side panel. The advantage of this one is it has a rubber weather-proof cap. It cost just under a fiver from George White's, who have them in stock.

its sounds like you have a car tom tom which are not water proof
so where do you affix the tom tom to the bike & keep them weather proof
i have a tom tom rider with the handle bar & mirror attachment's
& it was a pig to find a place to fix it to a sports bike so had to used a little of both the attachment's & a little DIY to secure it to the bike
pete

cards wrote:its sounds like you have a car tom tom which are not water proof
so where do you affix the tom tom to the bike & keep them weather proof
i have a tom tom rider with the handle bar & mirror attachment's

pete

How about a TomTom review in the "Tech Watch Section" for GPS & Comms ?

Oh , you know along the lines of .. .. .. How to get Digitaly Lost