Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing 12 v socket in heelboard.

Good morning everyone from very warm and sunny France. My friend wants to put a 12v socket into the heelboard between the seats and intends wiring the thing directly to the battery with an in-line fuse. Can he do this?

Yes ,

No problem at all. Just run 2 wires of the required size for the current envisaged from the battery to the socket . I would however ensure (or perhaps even stronger insist!) that he puts an on line fuse in the wiring. This will protect both the battery and this new circuit.

I think the only watch point is to ensure that the cable is routed away from any part of the moving parts and that it is not too close to the top of the heel board so that it could be smashed by the shock absorber hoop rising upwards on bumps.

I have done this modification to power my SatNav in the car. I used a waterproof socket just to be on the safe side.

I don't see why not, I have done so. Just make sure to use wiring rated at the correct current level for the proposed maximum current draw, and have the fuse rated below this level. Fuses are there to protect the wiring, so there's no point having a 15A fuse and wiring rated at 10A.

Since the socket will be live at all times, your friend will also need to ensure there is some form of safety cap over the socket to prevent accidental short-circuit and possible fire if anything inappropriate gets poked into the socket, and provide some means of ensuring they don't leave anything connected to it when the engine is not running, to avoid flattening the battery.

Ha! You're obviously a quicker typist than me, Andy!

I agree with the above, but I'd be tempted to look for a switched live (radio feed for example).

That is the first time I have been assessed as a quick typist

When I fitted my socket, apart from also fitting an in-line fuse, I connected the accessory socket via the main switch (on the heelboard on the '93 car, under the dash on the '76). This ensured the socket wasn't live if I removed the big red key.
I also put in a fused feed direct to the battery with a C-Tek battery charger connector.
In both cases, the leads (wires) are protected with flexible conduit as both connectors are free (floating) down by the passenger seat...

Thanks everyone. He's not very hands on and I wanted to give him safe advice.

Make sure you wire the polarity of the socket correct. Mine was incorrectly wired up when I bought it (new) and I blew two Sat Nav power cables before I realised what was going on.

There are lots of options for the types of female sockets you might use. Some for-examples here: http://burnsmoto.com .

Full disclosure - the owner of the business linked is an acquaintance of mine, but I would get nothing out of this if you were to purchase anything from him. You can probably find these items closer to home anyway.