Hey folks, Looking at wiring my Garmin Zumo 395lm satnav in using the provided power lead. Can anyone advise how they have done this? Theres not much to see under my seat on the abs model so finding something ignition live may not be so easy. Or do i just go for permanent live feed straight from the battery. Thanks in advance.
You could take the power directly from the battery terminals. There are quite a few USB to battery leads on the market. These are similar to a battery trickle charger. You connect one end to the +ve and -ve terminals on the battery and feed the lead thru your body work to a place you want it to be. The other end is normally a USB interface so you can plug in more than your Garmin. There are some that are switched so they only draw current when the device is plugged in. The other option is to look at something like a optimate USB charger.
it is best to use an ignition live feed through a relay so that it does not flatten your battery .i have my ignition switched feed from the rear light wire ,as the lights come on with the ignition.
Thanks guys. A relay would probably be handy too if I fitted heated grips later but I'm just thinking, is there room to neatly put that under the seat lol I've yet to see what the connection to the garmin is, presumably just a mini usb?
Just having a look just now to see what I can find Ok, so probably looking at using a 20A 4 pin micro relay, measures 25x25x13mm. I'll see where I can fit one of those in. A daft question perhaps, but where is the easiest place to take a tap from the tail light supply? Under the main seat or under the cowl? Cheers
About 15 years ago I bought some Gerbing heated gear and since then have powered everything off the Gerbing lead, satnav, intercom etc. I even altered my Optimate lead to connect up to it. You can buy all sorts of leads, splitters, coiled etc Dead simple and I've never walked away from the bike and forgotten to unplug ( they also do an in-line on/ off switch)
I have the CTEK charger lead under the seat cowl just now so I can use the additional cable to plug in a cigar lighter type socket. I have just ordered a micro relay and holder to squeeze in somewhere. I will upload pics as and when im done.
Definitely run it through a relay, i used the number plate light to energise the relay, I also used the normally open side of the relay to connect my trickle charger to, so If I start the bike in the garage I don't blow the charger off the wall. From the relay, I run a 2m long 2.5mm 12VDC power jack upto my headstock (female end) then I fitted the male end to the garmin lead, so when I leave the bike, the power lead is dead, and I can loosen the bracket with the sat nav attached, and just pull it away from the bike. And as you said, heated grips should always be run through a relay too due to the load they pull. If you can wait til about 1730 I'll post some photos and Ebay items I used.
That would be awesome if you could mate. Sounds like a very similar setup to what I am looking for. I'll be leaving my charger lead as permanent live though so I can use it for my charger or a cigar lighter type socket for phone charger.
This is where the female supply end of my 2.5mm jack lives, it now has a sharpie pen lid on the end of it, which fits suspiciously well
That's pretty much what I want, looking forward to seeing more pics and parts required. So did you just cut the cable from the garmin cradle and fit a connector?
Yeah that's exactly what I did, my lead is about 300mm long, I used shrink solder joints to connect the end of the jack to the end of the garmin lead, so you'll need a heat gun, also a pair of ratchet crimpers to crimp the spade connectors so they fit the relay legs. I'm a sparkly so I have all these things at my disposal, I'll do a little write up and parts/tools list when I get home.
Why " definitely " run it through a relay? I've run my system for 15 years ( on about 8 bikes ) and NEVER had a single issue. The more complicated you make it the more there is to go wrong. I take the view if any of the 3 different Garmins I've run in that time needed to be run through a relay they would have either been supplied with them or the instructions would have recommended them.
I can see the point on both sides here, I'm a spark also but to be honest I prefer the mechanical side of cars and bikes. But I would much prefer my satnav to be ignition live rather than permanent live.
its just a better way of doing things, where everything is isolated from its power source when you turn the bike off. Some accessories you have to give a permanent live, like my scottoiler e-system, but I run my heater grips and sat nav feed through the normally open side of the relay and my charger lead through the normally closed side.
got my satnav today so I'm now clued up as to how the satnav mounts and electrical connection to it. definitely going to need to fit some connectors on the cable so I can remove it.
rite then, just been and got the photos i promised, my bike is an ABS model too, so i feel your pain with space restrictions. this is the routing of my power cable, it goes through the clutch cable retention loop, this allows plenty of movement, lock to lock, and keeps it from getting caught up in anything. How the cable lies while its in use. This is where I've fitted the relay under the pillion seat, the screw is used to fix the black plastic under tray in place, and is plenty long enough to still do its job and hold my relay in place. the relay i used was from halyards, i did buy a cheap one off ebay for almost nothing, but it broke almost instantly, so pay the higher price and it's last, plus if it does give up, you can get it replaced locally. http://www.halfords.com/workshop-to...s-fixings/halfords-hef557-relay-12v-30a-5-pin you'll need 5 of these, depending what cable size you use, you'll have to choose what size you use, i think i used blue for the common and neutral links to the battery, then red crimps for all the accessories. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50-x-4-8m...989319?hash=item1c62855447:g:cc0AAOSwmmxW1yuP my lead from the side of the garmin cradle is 500mm long, any longer, it'll get caught up in the steering, any shorter and it restricts the movement lock to lock. this is how my joint is set out beneath the shrink sleeving, i used solder string joints, which i was very impressed with, the silver band in the middle is solder with flux in it so it melts and spreads through the cables well, the red bands are glue, and the clear shrink sleeving has adhesive in it so it seals the joint, the black shrink sleeving i covered it with is also adhesive lined, so its fully waterproof and sealed from the outside elements, i used the 9.5mm black shrink sleeving. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-Adh...hash=item3ab6911ab4:m:mjxKb6SOPbbreXN1kZqGFmw http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Heat-Shri...hash=item236cd4449d:m:mnlvmzKSz79aBC6dkrPjzvg this is the lead i used, its a 2m long 2.5mm jack, they're used in CCTV to extent the pre made power cables. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-Power-...hash=item3cf8b844dc:m:mOLEmxchIAwKBfyEJp7_dcA Obviously i used an inline fuse between the battery and the Common terminal on the relay meaning the relay and all accessories attached to it are protected at source. this is the route i took to get the cables unto the head stock, i run with the loom where i could, and come from the left side of the bike to the right hand side with the looms you'll see when your under the tank. My heated grips are run along the left hand side of the air box, and the garmin and scottoiler e-system cables are run along the right hand side. you can just see the garmin cable under the front edge of the air box, i fed the whole cable into the bike from this gab between the air box and the frame, you can lift the air box away from the frame slightly to make it easier.
I like what you have done there Bradley. Never thought of mounting the relay where you have but I may well copy that idea. I used to use those solder sleeves at work quite alot so should have some of them kicking about if not ill buy some as they are a million times better than the crimp solder sleeves. That just leaves me to find a connector and get this job started i guess. Thanks for that
ounce you've got all the bits, its easy, you just need to make do a mock up of how your joint is going to be set out, you'll have to stagger the solder joints or it'll be massive. if you need any help let me know and ill do whatever i can do help.
