UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi,

I bought a TFT and a DVD player from e-bay and I am not sure where they should get the power from.

Until now I used insulating screw joints (?) in the Polo, that was however only for "signal" cables, not for "power" cables.

Where can I get the power for the tft and the dvd from? can I just use screw joints? and can I take it from the cigarette lighter or the power cable from the radio, or do I risk using to much power for the fuse?

I would have thought the wire wasn't thick enough from the lighter and radio to power your new set up, not to mention strain on fuses.

I am no expert by any means, but from what I have heard it's best to run a new wire with an in-line fuse.

I just dont want to risk anything, that's why I ask.

According to what I could see in the Polo the cable for the radio has a 15A fuse. I dont know whether the things are calculated like this, I just try

12V x 15A = 180W

the radio has 4 x 18W = 72W

the DVD player has 15W

the TFT has 12W

so it should be sufficient....

But I dont want e.g. the radio to start doing strange things, like reseting when I turn on the other equipment...

I saw some guides how to run a new wire from the battery, but that looked really complicated. Is there another place from where to run a new cable?

I know I can just take "Out" a cable like in the picture for signal cables, but can I also do this for "power cables", especially with the "earth" cable?

(red: permanent live, yellow ignition live, black earth)

Take a power cable from the battery - it's the safest way. Take a big one (8awg or bigger) and run it through, then you can put it into a disribution block and power each extra bit of equipment off it. Make sure you fuse each output wire according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I am sure that each item should have it's own fuse - otherwise you could send 70W through the DVD and blow it! It'll be worth the effort.

Hmm, I'll take a look again how complicated that is.... I just thought it's funny having a little extra cable coming from the battery.. Hmm but maybe it's worth the trouble....

The DVD player has it's own fuse. I don't have the TFT yet, but I guess it should also have it's own fuse...

IM running a tft monitor and 240v step down transormer (which runs a PS2) both from the cigerette lighter, I havent had any problems, But it would be a good idea to run seperate wires, Im the long term thats what im gonna do. But for now mines is ok.

Hi Memm

What TFT/DVD did you get... How much were they? Were they shipped from the UK?

Do you have the eBay seller's name (eBay username)?

I've been interested in doing this again (did it a few years ago but sold up), as things are getting cheaper.

Josh_PoloGTi wrote:Hi Memm

What TFT/DVD did you get... How much were they? Were they shipped from the UK?

Do you have the eBay seller's name (eBay username)?

I've been interested in doing this again (did it a few years ago but sold up), as things are getting cheaper.

Hi..

I have some problems with interference from the engine, even with shielded cables, I guess it's the TFT screen's fault, but I can't be sure.

The DVD player was from ebay user "cardvd-co-uk" and I picked it up in Warrington. The TFT screen was from ebay user "mini_tech_4u" and was sent from London. (So no tax etc. to pay)