C30 Electrics : Installing some USB ports

[MGB204]

I have a 2007 C30 with the High Performance sound system and an Aux in socket. Six months from buying the car (which won't eject CDs cleanly), I decided enough was enough and I had to find a better solution to a temporary power cable and 3.5" audio between my phone and car.

I got lucky and the day I found out about the Pure Highway 600, I found a second hand one listed online and got it delivered for just 50€. Installed it over the weekend and I am very happy to finally have handsfree calls and music piped wirelessly over bluetooth. However, currently this is all running from a 12v dual USB socket which sits in the cigarette lighter.

I've always preferred to have a hardwired solution in the past, so I want to add two USB ports (not visible) that are wired to be on whenever the ignition power is. A couple of questions about that:

1 - Where would be best to tap into the car's Power/Ground, usually I do this via the stereo harness, but I suspect this isn't an option. Can I wire this into the cigarette lighter wiring?

2 - Can anyone recommend a good spot to locate these USB ports (thinking of using something like this), so that they remain completely hidden from view. Is there some space under the little tray behind the waterfall for example?

3 - If I wired into the Cig Lighter wiring, is there the possibility of overloading the circuit?

Appreciate any tips on this you might have.

[iainmd]

I have a similar setup. All the wiring is behind the panel that's behind the waterfall. The AUX cable is run under the centre console tunnel and up through the access panel at the bottom of that storage compartment. The 12V power is tapped into the back of the cigarette lighter then run to one of the attached which has a dual usb socket adapter in it. One socket powers my phone mount and the other powers the Pure/Alipne unit.

There's space under the stereo and infotainment module for all that wiring.

End result looks like this.

[IainG]

Hi
On my V50 I tapped in to the back of the cigarette lighter socket as well. The panel for it pulls out and there is room inside for the USB sockets. I have used similar for my dash cam but actually hard wired the dash cam PSU to the back of the lighter socket. The wires for the dash cam just tuck up under the lower edge of the centre console and go to the dash out of sight,

[MGB204]

Thanks for the advice.

I've got everything now and had a quick look at the wiring for the Aux power socket today. Perhaps it's a silly question but it's been a while since I was tinkering like this so I just want to be certain. The White/Grey wire is power and the black one is earth?

The USB lead (intended for a motorbike) comes with an in-line fuse, but the Aux power is already fused, so I won't need that right? Would a second fuse offer some additional protection?

I'll probably just cut the original connector to add the new wires, I don't see a great alternative, unless I'm missing something?

[IainG]

Hi
No harm in keeping the new fuse as well, it is just another layer of protection. If the new unit fails it should just blow its own fuse and leave the main circuit live.
I made up 2 small "Y" harness's with male / female crimps so that the socket still remains live and usable, and if needed the plug in harness can just easily be removed and all goes back to original.

The male ends of the harness's just plug into the socket on the loom, the female end just plugs back into the socket (keeping it live) and the 3rd wires can be inline crimped to the new unit.

[MGB204]

Thanks again for the tip IainG, I bought some spade connectors and have created a sort of extension cable for the Aux power, which I can then tap into without messing with the original wiring. I have everything together and even tested it successfully, but then ran into a problem before I could properly route the new wiring.

I can't get the black facia for the stereo/display to come off, I got the right side (LHD car) out, but after 30 further minutes of prying, the left side doesn't move. I am convinced if I apply any more force I'm going to break the facia. I watched some tutorials on this and some say pry from the top, others from the sides? Perhaps I should use a better tool, can anyone advise on either?

Failing that, if I have to use brute force, is it going to be expensive to source another facia when I inevitably break it?

I think it would be possible to get the wires in without removing the waterfall, although it will make it much trickier. Plus it has to come out at some point, for example I still need to fix the CD/Disk drive's eject function.

[eric19371]

You might find this useful regarding dismantling the waterfall area.

https://youtu.be/F9tuGqqZkzY?si=_T-Pl5VAcaMTfFqb

[StatusRed]

I've added 2x USB C outputs on my car, both using different methods. First one was tapping into the wiring for the rear passenger's 12V socket for the back seats (use an inline fuse at least!), then using a 12V -> 5V converter (a few quid off eBay).

Second method is a piggy back fuse tap from the fuse box, I referenced the manual to find something that was ignition live, not critical to the car and unused (might have been like bending xenon lights, something that isn't fitted to my car).

[MGB204]

Had a third attempt yesterday after getting a proper set of pry tools... however as expected the Top Left clip snapped when the facia came off. It seems a previous owner/'mechanic' had glued it into place, hence there was so much resistance.

With the facia off though, I made swift progress getting the waterfall out and loosing the entire centre console. The USB ports are now installed and all the cables are properly routed. Slight problem that there really is very little space behind the centre console storage for the wiring. I'll have to redo this as the ashtray/storage in the rear isn't closing completely.

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this, I'm very out of practise and everything else I've worked on was in simpler times.

A few other things came up, missing screw for the panel under the steering column and I don't know what has happened to the foam panel behind the Glovebox. At some point someone has used a cable tie, but only on one side, so it's otherwise just loosely held in place. So a few more things on the todo list.