How to make 12 volt charger stay on all the time.

Anyone figure out how to make the 12 volt charger stay on even when truck is off?

 

Can you explain what you mean? Sorry I'm a little slow.

 

I'm sure you could just change the power wire to a constant hot by doing a search with a test light.

 

Constantly on would drain the battery unless you use something like this.
https://www.amazon.com/Power-Magic-...D=51ebk9m%2BMmL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

 

@nk1794 my 07 Chevy had one that stayed on all the time and the battery never went dead. I would imagine that it would only drain the battery if you left something plugged in for days at a time without starting the truck. Or maybe they had something like you posted installed from factory. Who knows but it would be nice to have one stay on without having the truck running.

 

OK. I thought you were doing constant charging.....It's easy to do. Get one of these and tap into one of the fuses at the driver's foot well. Obviously you want to look for a fuse that's always on and run the wire to your outlet and swap it out. You will have to do a little cutting and crimping at that end.



You can use this tester to find and test the fuse that's always on.

 

My wife's Jeep has a constant on plug and her battery doesn't die. I don't think it would be an issue unless you were constantly using it... Also, pretty cool thing about it is you just move the fuse one oring over to either have it constant on or with ignition.

 

Heres a write up for a 3rd gen 4runner. Havent tried it yet but i plan on it. Should be the same/similiar for tundras.

 

I currently have @TundraTex looking into this, but he has a very busy schedule. I'm sure he'll get back to me very soon on it and I'll post up a DIY for everyone.

 

I have a feeling this is going to be an add-a-fuse moment. The relay seems to be stashed in the main body ECU (which i'm not even sure where that's located) and is inaccessible. I've read there is a RED wire coming from the main body ECU that powers all the 12v outlets that can be de-pinned and ran to a constant 12v fused power supply. It may be easier to just find an always hot fused 12v source and tap into it so long as you don't overload that circuit. Then run 12v constant to the outlets. Sure would be nice to find out about the de-pinning of the power outlet wire at the ECU as this would catch ALL the outlets at once.

 

EDITED: When I originally wrote this post I had only briefly looked at the wiring diagrams. After taking more time to investigate and actually crawl under the dash, there is a pretty easy way to do this. Check out Post 33 for a picture of the driver's side kick panel fuse block and an unused 12 Volt Fuse slot.

Hope this provides some food for thought. It's now number 37 on my list of things I'll do when I have the time.

 

@TundraTex have you seen this? Think it would work for the tundras? I just looked under the hood and couldn’t find a relay for the 12volt chargers? Do you know which relay it would be?

 

It's because the relay is integrated in the main body ECU. It is not able to be jumpered and/or soldered like in the Tacos and 4 Runners.

 

Just run a dedicated wire to the battery -fused of course. Can also run a heavier gauge if needed.

 

@nk1794, I see another mod with video in your future

 

You are good!

 

^^^^ Don't know how I missed that, and staying tuned.

 

I did one of my 12v lighter plugs when changing out the stereo, there is a yellow wire in the radio harness that is always hot, simple enough to drop it down to power a plug and just cap the wire that is on with the key. 2017 SR5

 

for my blackvue dashcam im using THIS to run the dashcam while the truck is off to keep the battery from draining to far down. Im sure adding a second one with a dedicated outlet or even running it strait to the outlets in the center console would work.

 

Add a fuse to the horn off the fuse panel was how I was able to power a charging USB plug to always stay active.

 

this is one thing I missed when i moved from the xterra to the tundra. All the lighter plugs were active all the time so it was nice when tailgating to be able to connect stuff without having to run the vehicle. I'll keep a watch on this thread so when the time comes I can do this mod.

 

Someone should do a DIY video on this.

 

I pulled a home run from my under hood fuse block while I was running wires for my light switches. Fuse block through firewall, then "over the river and through the woods" to the drivers side 12 volt. I only did one because I like having one always hot and one switched. I then re-used the abandoned switched wire for my dash camera. Remember to fuse the circuit to match it's original max amps.

Disclaimer: I am not now nor have I ever been a licensed electrician, automotive or other, but I do play one in barrooms.

 

Nice job!

 

You read my mind
That way folks like me have detailed step by step

 

I'll do one for you, Skippy.

 

Tap the yellow wire in the radio, and that way if I EVER get around to my front camera install I can kill 2 birds with one stone

 

Looks like it’s going to be a really short video.

 

Anybody working on a video or step by step?

 

planning on a video