Cigarette Lighter Power Mod For Nouvo Elegance

[PhiPhi]

I need to find a way to power my GPS unit via the mini USB port, I have a car type charger and was wondering if there are any kits or shops that could provide me with a cigarette lighter type power outlet for a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance? The charger is rated at DC 12-24v input and DC 5 +/-5% 1.5A max output.

[GungaDin]

Prepress has a GPS rigged to his LCE.

Hope he sees your post.

[noahvail]

I put a waterproof fitting by powerLet. It's what's used on BMW's and it works well on my Ninja 650. With a double adapter I run both the GPS and my camera.

I found that the only place in LoS that carries them is the BMW dealer, and he can get them in from Germany in 3-4 weeks :-O I ordered from a catalog in the US, global expressed mailed them here for less than the cost in BKK.

One thing to note: they are not rated as cigarette lighters. Only to be used to power the usual devices.

[PhiPhi]

Solved the first part.

A few notes for anybody who wants to try this and knows nothing about vehicle electronics (like me!).

Buy a 1 into 2 cigar lighter from 157 baht from Tesco

1 metre USB to 5 pin mini USB cable 129 baht Fortune Tower

Cigar Lighter USB power charger 190 baht Fortune Tower

Open up the cigar lighter plug and snip the wires (marking the positive which is connected to the central pin of the plug first!)

Solder the 10 amp fuse to the end of the positive wire and soldered some spare wire to the other end of the fuse.

Connect the positive and negative wires to their respective terminals on the battery located behind the forward facing panel under the seat.

As far as this goes it works but working out how to mount it is my next task, I am thinking of mounting the power outlet on the underside of the storage compartment cover and running the USB cable inside the side panels and exiting into one of the little front storage compartments but with the rainy season coming it might be better to just run it through some surface mounted open loops from under the seat along and up from the central frame covers. The first option is more convienent but option 2 allows me to store the cable when not in use and run other cables for other devices such as mobile phone or a/c converter.

The GPS unit itself is mounted on the speedometer using a suction fitting, a bit scary but seems to hold very well (so far) and the GPS can give me my current speed so no loss in the instrumentation department.

A question for anybody who knows about these things: If I leave the USB power adaptor plugged in when not using the bike will it draw enough power to flatten the battery in a day or two with no devices connected? The adapter is rated at 5v 2amp

If you do want to try this whatever you do don't try and tap into power from head lights or side lights, I tried this at first and blew 3 adaptors!! Go directly from the battery with and make sure you wire a 10amp fuse inline.

If anybody is interested I'll take some pics once I've finished the project.

PhiPhi

[GungaDin]

A few of links which may be of use to someone.

Cig socket

8' extn cable with SAE-2 plugs

http://www.dollarrider.com/detail.cfm?mode...roduct_ID=19159

Powerlet Products

Some more good videos on the same page.

If you own an 135 LCE, (Elsie) you're stuck with no room to mount anything on the bars.

The mirror base seems the only place, any others?

Enjoy.

[Newguy70]

Solved the first part.

A few notes for anybody who wants to try this and knows nothing about vehicle electronics (like me!).

Buy a 1 into 2 cigar lighter from 157 baht from Tesco

1 metre USB to 5 pin mini USB cable 129 baht Fortune Tower

Cigar Lighter USB power charger 190 baht Fortune Tower

Open up the cigar lighter plug and snip the wires (marking the positive which is connected to the central pin of the plug first!)

Solder the 10 amp fuse to the end of the positive wire and soldered some spare wire to the other end of the fuse.

Connect the positive and negative wires to their respective terminals on the battery located behind the forward facing panel under the seat.

As far as this goes it works but working out how to mount it is my next task, I am thinking of mounting the power outlet on the underside of the storage compartment cover and running the USB cable inside the side panels and exiting into one of the little front storage compartments but with the rainy season coming it might be better to just run it through some surface mounted open loops from under the seat along and up from the central frame covers. The first option is more convienent but option 2 allows me to store the cable when not in use and run other cables for other devices such as mobile phone or a/c converter.

The GPS unit itself is mounted on the speedometer using a suction fitting, a bit scary but seems to hold very well (so far) and the GPS can give me my current speed so no loss in the instrumentation department.

A question for anybody who knows about these things: If I leave the USB power adaptor plugged in when not using the bike will it draw enough power to flatten the battery in a day or two with no devices connected? The adapter is rated at 5v 2amp

If you do want to try this whatever you do don't try and tap into power from head lights or side lights, I tried this at first and blew 3 adaptors!! Go directly from the battery with and make sure you wire a 10amp fuse inline.

If anybody is interested I'll take some pics once I've finished the project.

PhiPhi

Hi Phi Phi,

Very interested in viewing some pics of the finished product. Thnx in advance.

[GungaDin]

Solved the first part.

A few notes for anybody who wants to try this and knows nothing about vehicle electronics (like me!).

<snip>

If anybody is interested I'll take some pics once I've finished the project.

PhiPhi

Hi Phi Phi,

Very interested in viewing some pics of the finished product. Thnx in advance.

Please learn how to snip a post, reposting the whole post is just not necessary.

[PhiPhi]

Hi Phi Phi,

Very interested in viewing some pics of the finished product. Thnx in advance.

I'm not sure how to insert the thumbnail pics here so here's a link to the pics showing wiring, installation and finished set-up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikon_eyes/se...57623733619798/

I have been driving around for about 3.5 hrs today and no problems at all and when finished I coil the USB lead in the front pocket, I'll keep a plastic bag handy for rainy season. I am also going to find a suitable tether for the GPS suction stand just in case it does ever come off at least it won't fall.

PhiPhi

[thaicbr]

phiphi can i ask why you didnt use the original car charger? And could you put the 10a fuse inline rather than on the unit.

Allan

[PhiPhi]

phiphi can i ask why you didnt use the original car charger? And could you put the 10a fuse inline rather than on the unit.

Allan

Hi, I blew the original charger up when I originally tried to tap off power from the running lights! I quite like the generic USB charger as in a pinch I can carry a USB cables for phone & bluetooth for a quick charge. I would prefer to have used an inline fuse holder outside the unit but:

A: Could not find one

B: Actually keeps things tidier as not much space in the battery compartment

Downside is it's a pain to change out a blown fuse.

PhiPhi

[PhiPhi]

CORRECTION: Just noticed on the pics I call out "right panel" & "right front pocket" should read "LEFT panel" & "LEFT front pocket", not that it make a difference either side should work.

[GungaDin]

Here ya go.

Bloody good effort Phi Phi

Thanks for sharing.

How to add a cigar lighter to a Yamaha Nouvo Elegance LC135

[CMX]

PhiPhi

If I have not read ALL of the bike forum topics, I've read only most because I skipped over flaming.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST POSITIVE AND HELPFUL contributions I've ever SEEN here on the forums.

I've bookmarked it for further use.

Many thanks

Edited April 1, 2010 by CMX

[PhiPhi]

CMX & GungaDin

Thanks for the compliments. It was just something I thought would be useful to document and perhaps a good starting point for other members with the same problem, when you think about it with the prevalence of mobile devices it's amazing that the manufactures have not made some sort of outlet available as standard across the board, do they think motorcyclists don't own GPS's, phones and i-pods? Anyway enough of ranting and some observations after a few days use.

1. Need to double up on the 3m VHB tape as curved underside of the storage compartment lid does not allow good contact or heat is causing the socket to drop off.

2. Some sort of sun visor needed for GPS as very difficult to see in bright light, can still use audio headset to hear nav instructions but want to see maps, speed and stats without waiting to move into shaded area.

3. Left the USB charger plugged in for 24 hrs (no load) battery was fine, I guess it only powers the little blue LED on the charger.

4. The best idea for wet weather protection I've had is a ziploc bag and an elastic band, not ideal but always worked well for my Nikon DSLR during Sonkran holidays. For those of you with some cash to blow have a look at this: Gadget Trend Zumo 550 39,000 baht, Brilliant!!, you can see a review here:

PhiPhi

Edited April 1, 2010 by PhiPhi