Hardwire a Garmin Nuvi 200W

[JHG120]

Guys,
Just got the above GPS and want to do a direct hardwire, since my cigarette lighter is already being used.

Any ideas on what power and ground wires to use?

I know I'll need the acc power, which I know is behind the stereo, but is there anywhere else where I can find this or use to power this. I'd like the Garmin to turn on and off according to the key being turned on and off.

The ground wire will be easy, so mainly just the power.

Thanks guys.

 

[oplitic]

Guys,
Just got the above GPS and want to do a direct hardwire, since my cigarette lighter is already being used.

Any ideas on what power and ground wires to use?

I know I'll need the acc power, which I know is behind the stereo, but is there anywhere else where I can find this or use to power this. I'd like the Garmin to turn on and off according to the key being turned on and off.

The ground wire will be easy, so mainly just the power.

Thanks guys.

Because they take such little power (I bet it's like a 3amp fuse, maybe 5 in the cig plug on the GPS) you should be fine hooking it up to the radio wire. I would use the acc wire behind the radio to trip a relay though and ahve it get power off the 12v wire in the ignition harness, just in case. Or instead of going behind the radio and the ignition harness, just use the acc wire in the ignition harness to trip the relay.

 

[JHG120]

Awesome, thanks. Any idea what wire/color it is behind the ignition?

I've tried looking for a wire schematic but found nothing.

Thanks.

 

[oplitic]

Awesome, thanks. Any idea what wire/color it is behind the ignition?

I've tried looking for a wire schematic but found nothing.

Thanks.

yep, one sec and I'll post it.

 

[oplitic]

Acc. is dk. green/lt. green and constant 12v is yellow.

 

[JHG120]

Thanks. Now the fun part.

 

[aldive]

I hardwired my Garmin c330 using its power cord and tapped into 12v and ground in the overhead console.

 

[The RadMan]

Acc. is dk. green/lt. green and constant 12v is yellow.

Beg to differ; its the opposite; Green is at the end, its +12V power, and the Yellow/traceBlack is the switched ACC+, which actually comes from the 15A fuse, which I made 20Amps. I used an older 5.5Vdc convertor circuit and wired a mini-USB typeB up to the position above the rearview mirror, and mounted the suctionBall mount above the rearview mirror (stock windshield was replaced and the installers lowered the rearviewmirror).

Opinion: Yes, the ACC switched at the Radio connector is the safest tap for the 1Amp convertor for a GPS; the USB DC-DC convertor only draws 730mA for 500mA out maximum to a USB (charging always starts at 5.5Vdc or so)

Green/trace is always at the end of connector J1, but switched ACC with YELLOW is second from the end, right beside the power.

Garmin; the night-vision screen is still too bright and messes up ppl's night-vision; it only dims at the UTC-timezone listing for sunset which varies in the *winter* here in Canada.

 

[Joe Dirt]

There are hardwire harnesses on Amazon, I wouldn't advise cutting the cig harness, the fuse for the Garmin is on the cig lighter plug. If you cut that off, you have no protection and can fry your Garmin, since it runs on such low voltage. The hardwire kits have a fusable box with them to replace/fix this.

I had one of these:

CLICK ME

and replaced it with one of these:

CLICK ME

The mini-usb connector is much better on the second one. After a few months, the first one would lose good connection, and would constantly run the battery down on my Garmin. The second unit has a much better and beefy connector.

Figured I'd add it to this thread, it is an easy install, I added it to my aftermarket radio wiring, on with the ignition, off with the key. My favorite mod next to my homelink in the headliner.

 

[celly]

There are hardwire harnesses on Amazon, I wouldn't advise cutting the cig harness, the fuse for the Garmin is on the cig lighter plug. If you cut that off, you have no protection and can fry your Garmin, since it runs on such low voltage. The hardwire kits have a fusable box with them to replace/fix this.

I had one of these:

CLICK ME

and replaced it with one of these:

CLICK ME

The mini-usb connector is much better on the second one. After a few months, the first one would lose good connection, and would constantly run the battery down on my Garmin. The second unit has a much better and beefy connector.

Figured I'd add it to this thread, it is an easy install, I added it to my aftermarket radio wiring, on with the ignition, off with the key. My favorite mod next to my homelink in the headliner.

Interesting. So far I'm using your "first choice" (on your earlier recommendation) and it holds well. Then again, I've only had it for 2-3 months. I'll hunt down the second product if the first one gives me grief.

 

[jrford]

The first one is what i got too, roundish, i don't unplug mine usually, it justs sits on the dash. . hum.

 

[oplitic]

Beg to differ; its the opposite; Green is at the end, its +12V power, and the Yellow/traceBlack is the switched ACC+, which actually comes from the 15A fuse, which I made 20Amps. I used an older 5.5Vdc convertor circuit and wired a mini-USB typeB up to the position above the rearview mirror, and mounted the suctionBall mount above the rearview mirror (stock windshield was replaced and the installers lowered the rearviewmirror).

Opinion: Yes, the ACC switched at the Radio connector is the safest tap for the 1Amp convertor for a GPS; the USB DC-DC convertor only draws 730mA for 500mA out maximum to a USB (charging always starts at 5.5Vdc or so)

Green/trace is always at the end of connector J1, but switched ACC with YELLOW is second from the end, right beside the power.

Garmin; the night-vision screen is still too bright and messes up ppl's night-vision; it only dims at the UTC-timezone listing for sunset which varies in the *winter* here in Canada.

15amps is very low for the main power in an ignition harness. It's powering everything, acc, ignition, sending power to the starter, all from the same wire. Sometimes there is an extra power smaller power wire too though, so maybe that was the one you found.

Might want to check again:

Copied from directtechs.com, a site by directed electronics that we use for remote starters, alarms, etc.:

2005 Ford Explorer:

12 Volts yellow (30A) + ignition harness
Starter red + ignition harness
Ignition red/lt. green + ignition harness
Accessory dk. green/lt. green + ignition harness

Copied from techservices.codesystems.com, a site by code alarm, makes remote starters, alarms, etc.:

Battery YELLOW (+) AT IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Ignition 1 RED/GREEN (+) AT IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Ignition 2 GREY/YELLOW (+) AT IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Accessory 1 GREEN/LT.GREEN (+) AT IGNITION SWITCH HARNESS
Starter 1 RED (+) AT IGNITION SWITCH HARNESs

 

[Joe Dirt]

Mine didn't get unplugged much at all. It may have been my plug on the harness I had, but it seemed like it just didn't have a lot of wire on the plug to make a connection- like when plugged it, it barely made contact with the Garmin. It worked for about 7-8 months, then it started losing charge, I think the weak connection was making it use the battery a little somehow, becasue after a few 3-4 days it would start flashing, and I had to take it into my computer to ressurect it.

The new one has a much more positive feel to the plug, like a digital camera mini-usb. I haven't had nary a problem with it in the month it's been on, and my Nuvi remains fully charged.

Still either way- a great mod. So much cleaner than a wire hanging all over the dash.

 

[JD52]

New to the forums here. Questions about the topic in this thread.

I have a 2004 EB Explorer with the 6 disc cd changer in dash.

I prefer to have my Garmin in the lower left hand corner on the windshield. I think based on the above posts the best tie in would be the ACC to the head unit. Since I haven't actually taken the any of the dash apart yet I would appreciate if anyone with thorough knowledge of the dash could recommend a good routing path for the cable over to the left.

I'm thinking there could also be a better tie in point over on the left.

Advice would be appreciated.

 

[techboj]

My Garmin C330 is hardwired to the rear windshield washer switch. I've had it like this since 2006



The only difference is that the C330 can utilize two different power sources. The cradle has onboard contacts that take 12v direct or optionally, it can take 5V usb via the small usb port. The advantage of using the direct 12 on the cradle is that I do not have to disconnect the power wire when I detach the GPS. The power connector is retained on the cradle. A small gauge wire is sufficient and runs down the between the bezel/ac vents. It has a 5amp inline fuse.

The radio acc may also be used. Since the nuvi200 only charges via usb cable you could probably hardwire the included power adaptor. You can also purchase the hardwire kit if you want. Or last alternate is you can open up any portable phone charger that uses USB. I did this on a 255WT and used a generic motorola razor charger

Place the gps on the cradle and start the vehicle - the gps receives power automatically. Turn of the ignition and the gps countsdown and asks to either continue under it own internal battery or shuts down

 

[jrford]

my 250w is wired off the acc behind the radio using a USB 12v to 6v converter. there is a lot of room under my '04 defroster vent to run wires. On the far left sits my radar detector, it runs off 12v i run the wire along and under the vent with no problem. I used those push plug splices for 12v Acc and Neg off the HU.

 

[thegaffney]

i killed my tom tom back in the day wiring it right to 12v, didnt even think that the cig lighters dumbed down the voltage to 5.5 v gots a magelin now

 

[celly]

i killed my tom tom back in the day wiring it right to 12v, didnt even think that the cig lighters dumbed down the voltage to 5.5 v gots a magelin now

Those adapters that Joe Dirt talked about work great with my TomTom (I've got the Gilsson version). There seems to be a transformer wired inline between the power and the GPS to prevent band things from happening.