Rear power outlet on a 2012 wagon?

[Coldcomfort]

Hi all,

I have just installed a second battery in my truck. Mainly to supply my fridge in the rear. There is a 12v outlet in the rear from the factory. I want to use this and use the existing wires. I have been told that I can intercept these wires behind the passenger kick panel. Has anyone else ever done this? Any info on wire colors etc?

Cheers all.

[Hodge]

Hey mate. Is your battery at the rear or under bonnet?
If it's up front. Honestly, you're far better of running a dedicated fused proper sized wire to feed the fridge at the back.
From memory that factory socket is 120W. I tapped into it during early days of owning the GU and the Volt drop was massive. Even when I gutted that rear passenger end, the wiring behind the socket was too small to feed 10 amps, it's supposedly rated to.
Just my 2c.
Edit: I forgot to mention I never spliced into it, I just used it off the factory battery as it was.

[Hodge]

If you decide to splice in. Here is what I believe it is from the Patrols service manual "LW" = Blue-white wire.

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[Coldcomfort]

Hey Hodge, computer says no. Invalid attachment. I have the service manuals in PDF but they are a night mare to find what you might need. I'd be keen to see what you found.

[Hodge]

Interesting why it didn't work. I'll try again here.

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[Coldcomfort]

Hi all,

after some poking around I identified the wire that connects to the rear power outlet in the rear of a 2012 wagon.

Its is a green wire with a red trace. Hopefully the picture will convey more info than I ever could hacking away at the keyboard.

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[Coldcomfort]

I finished off the rear power socket to the second battery today. When the car engine is off the voltage at the second battery is 12.88v. Voltage at the socket in the rear is 12.12v. Not too bad but will see when its under load.

[Hodge]

I finished off the rear power socket to the second battery today. When the car engine is off the voltage at the second battery is 12.88v. Voltage at the socket in the rear is 12.12v. Not too bad but will see when its under load.Great to see you've sorted it out.
That's a considerable unloaded volt drop.
Will be interesting to see what it does under pressure.

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[mudski]

I finished off the rear power socket to the second battery today. When the car engine is off the voltage at the second battery is 12.88v. Voltage at the socket in the rear is 12.12v. Not too bad but will see when its under load.

As Hodge mentioned mate. Run a dedicated live wire to the back for your fridge. That drop is too much and its not under load. When the fridge kicks in and its a hot day and the fridge needs all the help it can get. This setup will fail for sure.

I run 6 B&S cable to the back for my fridge. V drop is circa .06v. Going by my last measure at Christmas...

[Brissieboy]

I finished off the rear power socket to the second battery today. When the car engine is off the voltage at the second battery is 12.88v. Voltage at the socket in the rear is 12.12v. Not too bad but will see when its under load.

Something is definitely wrong here. With no load (except the voltmeter) there should be negligible voltage drop. Might pay to re-check your readings and re-do your wiring if those readings are repeated.
Both the positive and the earth need to be solid to run a fridge.
Check the voltage between positive at battery and positive at your fridge point, and also earth/negative at battery and at your fridge point to see which one is your issue. These should be zero.

[Coldcomfort]

I have learned something today. The power still only comes on when the ignition is at ACC or on. Did some circuit hunting and found that the rear power outlet is serviced by a relay that is located above the rear wheel well. FFS why must everything be so hard. The drawer on that side will have to come out to get the trim off.

The Bushman fridge I have has a low voltage cut out at 10.4V. Time will tell but I'm really not too worried about a slight voltage drop. If it proves to be an issue I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Plus by the time I take the relay out of the circuit the drop will probably improve.

[Coldcomfort]

There the little bugger is. Right behind (almost) the door latch.

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[Hodge]

Yep. Cut that thing out. Used to annoy the shit out of me every time ACC was engaged. The "Click" in the rear lol.

Seriously mate. The effort you've gone to tap into that line, cut out a relay , voltage drop and all...
You could've ran a proper wire and fused in one fifth of the time and effort. Not being a smart alec whatsoever.

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[Coldcomfort]

I agree. I could have run a dedicated wire given all the effort I have gone to. We live and learn. At least this has given me a chance to clean out the 5 million buckets of dog hair from the back of my truck. :o

[Hodge]

I agree. I could have run a dedicated wire given all the effort I have gone to. We live and learn. At least this has given me a chance to clean out the 5 million buckets of dog hair from the back of my truck. :oHaha yep. And when I was doing the similar job on my Patrol gutting the rear , half of Simpson desert ended up on me driveway ...

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[Coldcomfort]

Its finally finished......

Thought I would post a couple of pics. I started this about a month ago by installing the second battery cradle. Then a couple of hours each day until tonight. BTW. The voltage now is 12.85V at the battery and 12.85V at the outlet. It seems pretty clear that the relay was the culprit for voltage drop. Next project is to install the status light in the cabin for the redarc controller and scope how I will utilize the solar option on the controller.

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