How-To: Make your cell phone charger hidden

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:00 am

Ok, I did this the other day because I was tired of having my cord to my phone charger hanging in "plain sight". The way I did it permanently wires it up for power (switched) so you will not be able to remove to charger if you need to take it to another car (which I never do, so I do not care). Very simple if you have an understanding of electronics. I will post pictures later if I feel there is a need.

1) remove HVAC Cover by popping out the a/c vents and removing two screws - panel pulls right off.

2) remove the radio by removing the four screws in the corners; remove the rear defrost panel below radio by removing the two screws on the side; remove all connections/wires and place to the side.

3) by this point, the entire front panel should be open and free to work with. Now comes the fun part: on your phone charger plug (some are different) the end screws off and you can remove the casing to the innards by popping it apart - save all parts!

4) Once opem, there should be a board with resistors, capacitors, etc - keep all this! Remove the connection to the fuse by snipping at the soldered end and attach a butt connector. Do each wire one at a time, so you do not mix up the positive and negative connections.

5) add a length of wire to the butt connector. This will be the wire that you attach to your power source. I used the red wire coming off the back of the stereo (aftermarket!!!) plug adapter. You can also use the red wire that is on the 12V AC plug (cigarette lighter). Splice back a small amount of wire (not fully cutting connection!) and attach to wire by wrapping it and covering it in tape - if you are good with a soldering iron, this is a good time to break it out and add a dab to ensure solid hold. Wrap in electrical tape.

6) repeat above for negative connection, except attach to the black wire (on either stereo or 12V AC).

7) now wrap the whole thing in electrical tape to protect all the circuits. carefully pull thewires down towards the back behind the bottom "pocket" and underneath to give it that clean, look. This way, all you have to do when the wire is not in use is stick it in the change holder! Viola! Out of the way.

Installation is reverse. If there are any hints or tips you wish to add, please feel free - constructive criticism is welcome! If I made any mistakes or left anything unclear, please ask!

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 8:20 am

Great idea! I think I might do the same, but I'm going to use the constant 12v source and not switched with the ignition. I used to wonder why my phone was never charged until I realized the cigar plug only has power when the key is on...

LaidNeon · Post by **LaidNeon** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 7:03 pm

pics would be nice

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:37 pm

Very creative bro! I likey.

seisephiroth · Post by **seisephiroth** » Fri Mar 17, 2006 3:43 pm

Pics please!

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 12:07 am

As soon as I get moved in and find my camera, I will post some pics for y'all. Sorry for being lazy before

LaidNeon · Post by **LaidNeon** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 12:52 pm

no exscuse, haha j/k

seisephiroth · Post by **seisephiroth** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:01 pm

*Bump* so how are those pics coming

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:02 pm

Ok, here are some pics, sorry it took so long, but I moved and, well, you know how that goes - but it has been three weeks, so no more excuses!

Here is a picture of the center console now. I removed that faux carbon fiber crap and replaced it with flat black. The wire hangs right below it.

The circled object is the 'innards' from my phone charger.

The circled object are the positive and negative wire taps that go into the stereo 12V and -Neg wires.

A straight on shot of the wires all tucked away - nice and pretty!

One last shot of the finished product.

Here is the view from below - that 'cutout' was already there, so I assume there is some sort of delete panel that is supposed to go there. It is really clean - I just tuck it into that pocket when not in use.

Now the phone sits nice and neat in the passenger cup holder (or driver if it is in use).

seisephiroth · Post by **seisephiroth** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 11:36 am

I'm gonna have some wiring fun this weekend

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:28 pm

seisephiroth wrote:I'm gonna have some wiring fun this weekend

lemme see it when you get it installed!

seisephiroth · Post by **seisephiroth** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 12:03 am

I would take pics if I had a digital camera. I will try to get my friends camera

Jenni · Post by **Jenni** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:37 am

my idea: (not only a charger - is a complete professional handsfree with selfmade mounting, wiring is hidden inside)

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:39 pm

Niiiiiiice.

Mach · Post by **Mach** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:11 pm

Make sure that puppy is secure. It would suck to loose it out the window during a turn.

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:25 pm

Another way to do it would be to wire in another plug so that when you switch cell phones you can just unplug and then plug in the new one.

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:36 pm

racer12306 wrote:Another way to do it would be to wire in another plug so that when you switch cell phones you can just unplug and then plug in the new one.

Pfft, not all of us are ballers like you and can afford more than one phone.

Post by **racer12306** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 6:47 am

I don't mean at the same time, I mean when you upgrade after a couple years.

But I do have 2 phones and thankfully i only pay for one.

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:21 pm

racer 12306 if you guys are wondering i know radio shack circuit city best buy sell femal cigarette lighter plugs with positive and negitive wires of the back for like 5-10 bucks thats how idid my radar detector and my cell charger

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:23 pm

It's zombie post back from the dead!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat Oct 11, 2008 7:15 pm

Halloween is comming you know! (Insert goulish Emoticon here.)

Meh, it was only 4 months since the last post, could've been worse...