Can you install a DIY built-in USB charger?

[Guest001]

You can buy those little boards as a kit from some ****y Smith stores or Jaycar Have used them for stepdowns to run rear view cameras on caravans. Jaycar Part no KA1797 $7.95 Or a better one with 4 amp output KC5463 $17.95

[scobb]

Pretty happy with the solution I came up with, with a USB extension cable wired back to the fuse box. Allows me to plug in any USB powered device e.g. my iPhone and TomTom. Very discreet and no dangling cables when not in use. Just need to remove the pillar trim and cut a USB-sized hole in it.

[Guest001]

Pretty happy with the solution I came up with, with a USB extension cable wired back to the fuse box. Allows me to plug in any USB powered device e.g. my iPhone and TomTom. Very discreet and no dangling cables when not in use. Just need to remove the pillar trim and cut a USB-sized hole in it.

Looks neat but would only give 12v wouldnt it

[scobb]

No, 5v, via a regulator, similar to JustCruisn's solution (sorry, should have been clearer in my post).

[Guest001]

No, 5v, via a regulator, similar to JustCruisn's solution (sorry, should have been clearer in my post).

Ah yes makes a difference or you would have a molten mass on the end LOL

[gavs]

Can you install a DIY built-in USB charger?

That's a good install scobb. Though, there is an airbag there, is everything clear so that the plastic trim can still pop off in a crash?

[Guest001]

That's a good install scobb. Though, there is an airbag there, is everything clear so that the plastic trim can still pop off in a crash?

How does the panel come off as I wold like to loosen one to get the dashcam wire in behind it and worried about disturbing the airbag.
Thanks

[gavs]

Can you install a DIY built-in USB charger?

With great care! Just get some plastic trim tools and lever it off parallel to the panel itself. Once popped off, you new to lift up to disengage the tab that goes behind the dash.

[Guest001]

With great care! Just get some plastic trim tools and lever it off parallel to the panel itself. Once popped off, you new to lift up to disengage the tab that goes behind the dash.

I take that to mean it comes straight out from the pillar across the car without moving back from or towards the windscreen I only need to move it less that 10mm out to get a wire down behind it.

At present it goes up the edge of the screen and across the top where that A pillar panel joins the roof panel and am worried it might get tangled with an airbag if it goes off.

Will probably have more to worry about than that if it does I guess LOL

[scobb]

OK, time to come clean, I didn't actually do the install myself, but got a professional auto electrician to do it (and it took him a while to understand that "i" devices (iPhones etc) need to be wired in a very specific way or they won't charge; this article explains how to do it.

That said, the car went in to VW last week to get the factory-standard Bluetooth module upgraded to the full A2DP-capable module that is fully integrated into the RCD510. They had to mount a new microphone in the plastic module near the the interior lights in the roof, so must have popped a side panel to run a new cable from the microphone to the RCD510. So I guess it's safe.

Slightly off-topic, but don't the curtain airbags emerge from the headlining where it meets the side windows?

[Guest001]

OK, time to come clean, I didn't actually do the install myself, but got a professional auto electrician to do it (and it took him a while to understand that "i" devices (iPhones etc) need to be wired in a very specific way or they won't charge; this article explains how to do it.

That said, the car went in to VW last week to get the factory-standard Bluetooth module upgraded to the full A2DP-capable module that is fully integrated into the RCD510. They had to mount a new microphone in the plastic module near the the interior lights in the roof, so must have popped a side panel to run a new cable from the microphone to the RCD510. So I guess it's safe.

Slightly off-topic, but don't the curtain airbags emerge from the headlining where it meets the side windows?

LOL Sprung Yes they do but was worried that the wire across the top might get snagged so wanted to pull it through nearer the bottom as it has to go int the dash