Title pretty much says it all. I have a 2004 Honda Civic, and my phone and my Bluetooth unit are (sometimes) plugged into the cigarette lighter (euphemistically renamed the 12V Power Adapter). Problem is, when I shut off the car, the power adapter shuts off, depriving my phone and/or Bluetooth unit of a sometimes much-needed charge. My Suburban keeps the adapters on even when the power is shut off, and I love it.
Is there an easy way to fix this?
You would need to disconnect the wire for the power adapter from the switched power circuit and wire it to a constant-on power circuit, such as the circuit that powers the radio memory leg. You will need to consult a fuse diagram for your car to figure out which circuit to hook it up to.
If the power port is the ONLY thing on the fuse, you can do this easily. Pull the fuse, turn the key to the acc position and measure which of the 2 terminals just you uncovered has 12v. Now plug a spade terminal (looks like half the fuse) with a wire into it. Find a fuse that is always connected to the battery by turning off the car and removing fuses until you find one terminal that has 12v. Get a fuse tap from the auto parts store that has 2 fuses, one to replace the one you just yanked and another for the accessory. Put the power port fuse into the acc fuse spot and attach the wire from that fuse to the wire you installed earlier. You now have “jumped” the power port over from 12v all-the-time and it is all still fused properly.
If there is other stuff on the power port fuse you wouldn’t like to be ON all the time, don’t do this. Go @shadowfax 's route.
The easiest way to do this would be the following.
Remove fuse #18, 15 amp from the interior fuse box. This is the fuse that currently protects the power port circuit.
Then with a test light, determine which side of the fuse received voltage in the fuse box.
With a length of 12 gauge wire and an in-line 15 amp fuse, remove the in-line fuse and connect to the positive battery post clamp.
Run the wire from the battery thru the firewall into the interior of the vehicle. Make sure the wire at the firewall is protected from being cut or chaffed.
Inside the vehicle crimp a spade terminal to the end of the wire. Make sure the spade terminal is the same size as the terminals on the 15 amp fuse that was removed from the fuse box.
Plug the terminal connected to the wire into the fuse box on the side of the fuse that didn’t receive voltage.
Now plug in the in-line fuse at the battery.
The power port now has constant voltage.
Tester
Thanks folks! I’ll try it and see what happens.
I would just install a second Power Port with its own inline fuse. Locate a “always hot” terminal in the fuse block or the starter motor and connect your hot (+) wire there. For the ground, use any good ground connection point…If you can’t find a convenient spot on the dash to mount your port, inside the glove-box usually works…You could use the glove-box light wire for your hot lead but it will only be good for 5 amps or less before the fuse blows…They are usually hot all the time…
Last fall on my 1999 Civic I did what Caddyman suggests above. I mounted a cigarette lighter socket that came with its own bracket onto the nut at the right side of the fuse block, under the dash. That nut mounts the fuse block to a metal bracket, so it’s a good ground. I hooked the wire to the the fuse for the lighter/power port circuit, using a thin electrical connector made for that exact purpose. If you want power all the time, you will find it at other fuses down there.
That was the easy part. I then removed the small plastic cover where the windshield meets the center of the dash, and with much patient persistence and not a few small cuts on my hands and forearms I ran the wire for my Garmin GPS from there down to the new socket. Voila: no more dangling cord, no bulky plug interfering with the cupholder, and a GPS that turns itself on and back off without any intervention from me.
We have 2 power ports on our car, 1 is always live as a possible easy solution. Some cars have easily removable mini panels and usb or powerpoint adapters.
@Mustangman
“If the power port is the ONLY thing on the fuse, you can do this easily. Pull the fuse, turn the key to the acc position and measure which of the 2 terminals just you uncovered has 12v. Now plug a spade terminal (looks like half the fuse) with a wire into it.”
Maybe I’m having a brain fart but shouldn’t the tap go into the load terminal and not the source terminal for the fuse? The terminal that does not have any voltage would be the one going to the power port (load)…
@Twin Turbo You are correct! MY brain fart. Thanks for the catch.