wjhenning

In my previous vehicle (Chrysler Town & Country) I was able to leave my cell phone on and charging would continue even when I turned off the ignition. There were two 12 volt receptacles in the dashboaed. One was switched and the other remained live all of the time.

I wonder if one of the receptacles inside the RX350 console could be rewired to remain on all of the time.

Has anyone explored this area?

Bill

b67

Definitly possible, you would just have to disconnect the positive wire from the outlet and run a new positive line to the fuse block / tap into the positive feed and fuse it as close to the source as possible.

I thought of adding another (seperate always on) 12v jack somewhere in the middle floor storage area. Havent had time/enough need to pursue it though.

wjhenning

Do you think the dealer would do this? I do not think I have the tech capability to rewire a receptacle.

tfischer

My guess is that the reason these receptacles went from always on to switched power is their use with cell phones and iPods. If you forget to take the device with you, the draw on the battery could easily drain it below the level needed to start the car, especially if the iPod is left in "play" or if the phone is on. That's why I always wire my Radar Detector to a switched source of power. Using a hot line for device charging is asking for a problem at some point.