GPS wiring

[RadRacer]

I bought a Magellan RoadMate 1200 to help me with delivering Pizzas around town. I want to put it in the driver's side vent and have it come on with the car, but not entirely sure how to go about wiring it. The unit turns on with a momentary pushbutton on the top of the casing; hold it down for ~3 seconds and it'll come on, same for turning it off. Could I just pull it apart, and by-pass this, or would that hurt the GPS? If so, how should I go about wiring it? Also, I'd like to not tear it completely apart, in case it ever has to come out of the car for some reason or another. It has an internal battery; could I pull that out, wire it directly to my car and then just bypass the switch so it'll turn on when I power the car? Then be able to stick it back in when needed and put it in another car and run it off the battery charger, that way i don't have to worry about the switch anymore?

[nascar24jd]

Re: GPS wiring

Not if you still want the warranty.

Why dont you just wire it to constant power. That way if you are delivering a pizza and you turn the car off for 5 minutes the GPS will stay on. It will not hurt the battery and you will not have to turn it on every time you enter the car.

I have my satellite radio wired to constant power and I leave it on for hours with the engine off. Very small drain on the battery, no issues.

[RadRacer]

Re: GPS wiring

But, the way I want to mount it, I won't be able to get to the power button so it will ALWAYS be on, no turning off at all. Which, may not be too bad, but I don't want to overheat and stress the unit. If I could move the power button or do an auxiliary one, then it wouldn't be bad cuz I could turn it off when daily driving, or putting the car up for the weekend or w/e. Plus, my Radar detector is hardwired, but I don't think the drain from the two will be enough to kill my battery over night, will it?

[96firebird311]

Re: GPS wiring

I don't recommend trying to pry open the GPS unit itself. You'd just be asking for issues.

The key here is to note if the unit turns itself off AND ON when power is cut off and on. Vice it cutting off when power is cut.... then you give it power again, and you have to actually press the button for it to turn on.

If you have to press the button every single time regardless...... you're kinda screwed. However, I'm pretty positive most all the portable GPSs do, in fact, turn themselves on when power is given. So it's pretty simple. Either:

A) Wire it to ignition. And it will turn on and off with the car.
B) Wire it to battery and put a simple 2 position toggle switch inline. If you're at work and want to leave it on all the time, leave the switch on. When you're done for the night and going to sleep, flip the switch off. Don't forget or else it will drain your battery. I wouldn't dare leave it on over a weekend.

Regardless of the path you take, remember that most all of the portable GPSs do not run off 12V DC. Pretty sure they are 5V like the sat radios. It is stepped down in that cig lighter plug that was included with the unit. Take a look on the cig lighter plug, it should have the output listed on it. So when you're hardwiring it into the car, you must continue to use that cig lighter plug. Ground will go on the two side pieces and +12V will go on the center nipple. I solder them in place. (If you want, stop by the shop and I'll solder it for you real quick) Then hide everything in the dash. Done and done.

Keep in mind you won't be able to really use that cig lighter plug again, if you go to sell it or whatever. The solution to both problems is to buy the female cig lighter piece that has + and - wires coming out of it. Circuit City sells them, Auto Zone sells them, I'm sure you can find them around. Extra money, but it won't harm the cig lighter plug. It's up to you.

[RadRacer]

Re: GPS wiring

Ya, I was thinking of the cig plug idea. The plug I have just charges the GPS, it turns on when I push the button; if i remove the plug, I get a warning asking if I want to resume on battery power or not. I'll show you the GPS Tues (you're open, right?) if you want, and see if you can come up with any ideas. I may just stick with mounting it to my windshield, but that's just lame :P

[eric v6]

Re: GPS wiring

I mounted my gps in my drivers side ac vent and it came out good I just use the cig lighter when it needs charging

[zpwn06]

Re: GPS wiring

dude......................
don't deliver pizzas in your car. Your going to put too much miles and wear on it in too short amount of time. Its a crime.
I could never do that to mine...

[blindeyed]

Re: GPS wiring

Off topic, but who do you deliver pizzas for? I'm working for Domino's right now, used to work for Pizza Hut a while back. Used to deliver in the Firebird, but I got sick of putting all the abuse and wear and tear on it. Bought another drivers Geo Prizm now to deliver in. Cool to see another pizza guy on board.

[96firebird311]

Re: GPS wiring

Ya, I was thinking of the cig plug idea. The plug I have just charges the GPS, it turns on when I push the button; if i remove the plug, I get a warning asking if I want to resume on battery power or not. I'll show you the GPS Tues (you're open, right?) if you want, and see if you can come up with any ideas.

Right. That's how all of them work. But plug it in, turn it on, then just pull the plug. It should come up with the "continue on battery power" alert. Wait the required shutdown time or simply push "shutdown" or whatever yours has. When it turns itself off, just plug it back in. Does it automatically power up? If so, you're golden. You don't need that top power button. Connect it to constant battery power and a 2-position switch. When you turn in for the night, flip the switch to kill power. It will ask if you want to continue on battery power, push no.

Or if you feel that you will never want to leave it on when the car is not running, just connect it to ignition voltage.

That's what I just said!:)

And unfortunately, Tuesday is the only day we are closed. (It has been changing all the time) I'm there 2-6pm Monday, 3-8pm Thurs, and 12-6pm Friday. Short hours, I know. But I only work there for fun.:tup:

[Bonemaro]

Re: GPS wiring

I rewired on of my cig plugs to power on and off with the key. My Garmin sits nicely in front of the stick, with its back resting in that little storage hole to the left of the plugs.

[RadRacer]

Re: GPS wiring

I mounted my gps in my drivers side ac vent and it came out good I just use the cig lighter when it needs charging

That's how I wanted to mount it. But, how do you turn yours on/off? Have any pics of yours? I think it will fit in there nicely, but I'm not too sure if I'd be able to reach the on/off switch ontop of the unit or plug it in (on the left side of the unit).

dude......................
don't deliver pizzas in your car. Your going to put too much miles and wear on it in too short amount of time. Its a crime.
I could never do that to mine...

I know, but I know I'll take care of her. When the motor gets too old, I'll put another in. I've driven numerous other cars (we own 7 ATM), and this is the only one that I actually have fun driving. I don't mind the wear and tear, cuz I can fix it and keep her in tip-top shape

Off topic, but who do you deliver pizzas for? I'm working for Domino's right now, used to work for Pizza Hut a while back. Used to deliver in the Firebird, but I got sick of putting all the abuse and wear and tear on it. Bought another drivers Geo Prizm now to deliver in. Cool to see another pizza guy on board.

Papa Johns :) Better then Dominos', Pizza Hut, Guisseppi's, Vic's, etc all added together IMO.

Right. That's how all of them work. But plug it in, turn it on, then just pull the plug. It should come up with the "continue on battery power" alert. Wait the required shutdown time or simply push "shutdown" or whatever yours has. When it turns itself off, just plug it back in. Does it automatically power up? If so, you're golden. You don't need that top power button. Connect it to constant battery power and a 2-position switch. When you turn in for the night, flip the switch to kill power. It will ask if you want to continue on battery power, push no.

Or if you feel that you will never want to leave it on when the car is not running, just connect it to ignition voltage.

That's what I just said!

And unfortunately, Tuesday is the only day we are closed. (It has been changing all the time) I'm there 2-6pm Monday, 3-8pm Thurs, and 12-6pm Friday. Short hours, I know. But I only work there for fun.:tup:

OK, I'll give it a try. Never thought of doing that, :), and I think it will work. And you guys need to get your hours straightened out; used to be tues/thurs you were closed, then thurs I thought, now just tues? Tell them to get it right or go home :P

[96firebird311]

Re: GPS wiring

And you guys need to get your hours straightened out; used to be tues/thurs you were closed, then thurs I thought, now just tues? Tell them to get it right or go home :P

Don't I know it!

I was just thinking.... you know.... if you're only gonna leave the GPS on with the car off for a little bit..... just let it run off battery power. Wire the whole thing to ignition voltage, and when you shut down the car, touch remain on from battery power. That way, no ugly switches and no forgetting to flip it off and having dead batteries.

EDIT: I was thinking about this some more.... once you tell it to remain on from battery power, you'd have no way to switch it off until the GPS battery dies. I guess you could always key the ignition, it gets voltage again, then turn the ignition off, it will come up with the two choices again and you can press shut down. Honestly, I think that's the best solution.

[RadRacer]

Re: GPS wiring

Well, I just tried the plug/sleep/replug thing, and it didn't work. When I remove the chord, it asks if I want to remain on battery power; yes to continue or no to sleep; there also is a countdown from 15sec. till hibernation (i'd assume same thing as sleep, but why would they use a different name?). If I leave it, it'll shut down and do nothing when I plug it back in; if I hit no, it'll shut down and do nothing when I plug it back in. I'm going to try running the battery dead and see if it'll auto restart when given power. Probably not with my luck.

[96firebird311]

Re: GPS wiring

Well fudge. Guess you really need to get to that button then huh?....

[eric v6]

Re: GPS wiring

I bought the garmin 340 and I can get to my button with ease I guess because mines is the fat looking one but it really looks good I mounted it inside the ac vent and I can still feel the ac with it installed even though it covers the hole. The only downfall is that sometimes I can't get a signal with it installed like that but thats an easy fix I just remove it and the satelite works perfect