Electical for GPS system

[mgsimon]

I have a Garmin nuvi 255w, that I want to hook to my Sled. The sled does not have a 12 vt lighter style plug. Can I just hook this to any 12 vt source, such as where I hook my elec sheild? My concern is that there could be sometype of voltage adapter in the light plug that came with the GPS. I can't find any info on Garmin's site.

Thanks

MGSimon

 

[G]

Both the electric shield people and the GPS people warn against tapping into dedicated circuits. In other words they don't want you running both the GPS and the shield off the same wire. If your set-up is like mine each of these accessories draws about 2.5 amps. I found that the cigarette/type adaptor didn't work that well anyway for the GPS. The connection wasn't that good and the constant shaking would cause power interruptions. I ended up using the existing power point on my sled for my shield. I wired a new fused wire straight from the bat to power the GPS. Works for me.

 

[G]

Sorry -just re-read your original post. Yes - you will want to run it through the voltage adaptor on the GPS cord. Either buy a female cigarette type adaptor and tape the two together very tightly or cut the wire between the voltage adaptor and the male cigarette adaptor the gps came with and splice in a new wire to the bat. The dissadvantage to this last option would be that you wouldn't be able to use the cord for anything else unless you respliced the male cigarette type connection back on. Hope this makes sense.

 

[jimfsr]

make sure you have 12v DC only, if you dont have a battery, you will need to rectify the AC from the sled stator, to DC. Your heated shield could be AC or DC, Need to be sure.

 

[Falcon20]

This is the plug I use. It locks with a turn. Can be found at West Marine. Your GPS device will be wired to it. Garmin does sell power cords with free ends so a person can wire however for power.

 

[polarfreek]

jimfsr is right. I had to buy a rectifier for a NON-battery system for some heated gloves. It regulates voltage to 12V.

 

[mgsimon]

Thanks for all the input, I will check Garmin's site again for the power cord.

 

[5_spot]

I use the lighter cord for my Lowrance XOG, i just have xtra wire and put it in my windshield bags. No problems. I did have to wire in a bridge rectifier and voltage regulator (less than $5 from Radio Shack). Without these the fuse in the plug blew instantly, now no problems.

 

[mgsimon]

Falcon2:

I looked on Garmin's site and could not find a cord with a free end. Is it possible for you to post the link. Thanks

MGSimon

 

[Falcon20]

Try this link www.gpsdiscount.com. They do not appear to have what I was talking about. A power cord w/bare wires for your unit or for a 265WT which seems to be the next model up. A phone call to them may be in order. Good people to talk to. I ordered all my 276C assessories from them. Good luck!

 

[simonsr1]

I just used the cigarette lighter adapter that came with the gps unit, then I went out and bought a power receptacle(female side, looks lighter lighter socket), that had battery clamps on it, cut off the clamps and soldered wire eyelets onto the wires and then connected to the battery, works great.
and I also taped the adapters together

 

[mgsimon]

I ended up following Simonsr1's suggested and bought a rubberized light exstention and hooked directly to the battery on my Saber cat worked Great.