I know they make lighter plugs that have usb connectors.. but I hate lighter plugs.. they are HUGE.
Thinking of opening one up and pulling the guts out then hard wiring it all to a blank plate in the dash. So its all hidden then i can power all my junk .. like the gps, charge up the hands free, or charge the cellphone.

Anyone do this yet?

 

USB = 5v @ 500mA

Cant do it, sorry.

 

Well you can't just run 12V to it, you are right there. But saying it can't be done is outragous...

Because the lighter port runs at 12V you could "gut" that so you have all the proper circuitry to convert the 12V to 5V USB power. I don't have a schematic handy if you were looking to make it from scratch, but you could cannibalize a lighter charger and have a female USB port mounted behind say a clock block plate or some location such as that. Just hide the guts from the lighter charger somewhere behind the dash. Maybe enclose it in a small electronics project box and go from there.

www.mouser.com is where I get all of my electronic components. They have all the stuff you would need for pretty cheap.

 

well have you done it yet?

easy-peasy = get dc/ac inverter (for wall plug) then plug USB wall charger into it + male to female USB cable (mount female cable end in dash)

mouser ftw

 

They make voltage regulators, both in a set voltage and variable depending on the resistance across two of the three leads. Or yeah, put the plug behind the dash and a USB port somewhere.

 

why don't you get one of those 12v to usb things and just take that apart and put it into somewhere? easier and less work.

 

Unless there's something I'm missing... why would you want a usb outlet in your car?
Usb for computers? Or is there another usb thing I'm missing?

 

USB carries 5V across 2 pins in the normal USB A cable or mini USB. You can charge cell phones, GPS units, mp3 players, etc off of this using the data transfer cables or a plain mini USB cable for some things.

 

I got my 12v outlet that I use, and I can charge my cell and gps and that...
is there a difference?

 

pretty sure there's a 12v line in there too. 12v 5v 5v Gnd i think is how the pins go. and i still stick with what i said about taking one of those usb things apart and just mounting it somewhere.

 

wow guys I guess I didnt clarify things.. I'm going to beak apart a cig lighter adapter that has a usb in it.. IE it has the 5v step down transformer in it already....
I'll take that and hide it behind the dash. and have a panel mount female usb coming through a blank on the dash. Thereby getting rig of the huge cigarette plugs most things have.. as well as some stupidly long cords.
I don't know.. I thought it would be a cool idea

 

my at&t iphone charger had a usb port in it so i can charge usb items at the same time as my iphone..

what i would do is get something like this


then pull out ur cig. lighter socket, and hide it behind the pannels with the adapter in it..
then take a usb extension and run it anywhere you want..

 

yeah, that sounds good, you can make a round piece of plastic make a hole and glue the usb "female" to it, and put that were the cigarrete lighter was, it should look great, i think...

 

or something like this, i think its easier!




it looks flush!


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The link before i forget were i saw it!:
http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/miniature...ter-p17362.htm


NOW! can someone PLEASE be kind enough to tell me if its normal that there are no buttons on the "reply" window of honda-tech
Buttons like : (B,I,U, image, quote, url, etc etc)