Added 12v outlet to R1T bed.

[Gigabit]

I love this and have been dreaming about a 12v in many places in the truck. Appreciate you sharing @Curtis Novak unrelated to this thread but are you the genius Curtis Novak guitar pickup wizard?

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[NSRoamer]

A little late to this party - just got the truck in December. Thank you very much for the write up and pix, Curtis. I kept a slightly smaller ICECO in the back of the Forester for years. The ICECO was connected to the 12v outlet on an EcoFlow River 2 Pro that was plugged into the 12v outlet Subaru kindly placed behind the second row of seats. This set up kept the EcoFlow charged and the ICECO running whether the car was running or not. I could see the reflection of the ICECO display in the rear view mirror - and could also check the fridge and the battery with their apps. The truck goes out of warranty in April - I’ll have to figure out how I’ll connect to the 12v in the gear tunnel - I’d like to leave that 12v outlet open.

 

[shracks]

This is a really brilliant solution for putting 12v in the bed. I'm curious though, if tapping into the compressor wiring, and running a load on the 12V at the same time would you get into a situation where the compressor circuit is tripped due to overloading (compressor running along with say a high drain 12V item)?

 

[jono]

I'm going to attempt the short harness solution and order the Amazon parts. That's amazing.

I saw a few questions about the efficiency of 12 volt versus 120 for coolers. Lots of data on how bad 120V is, a few kWh per day overhead.

I have a Travoca 45L, fits perfectly under the the tonneau, and found that a 250Wh Jackery could power it over 12VDC for 1-2 days at 2C at 10-20C ambient. That's an entire order of magnitude less energy!

 

[jono]

Okay so you basically just need a Deutsch DT 3-pin plug and receptacle, plus the pins and wedge locks. I was going to make a list of all the part numbers but essentially you just need these three things off of Amazon:

Deutsch connectors and pins:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJSL8YHH

12V socket with inline 10A fuse and wire:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H1MGWFN

Crimp tool if you don't have one already:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1FR76Q7

The harness coming from the truck to the utility panel has a +12V (red wire with blue stripe on mine), -12V (black wire), and a white control wire for the gear guard lock. The side coming from the truck is the male DT plug that has the female pins in it.

To make the harness, start by making three male pins. One should have a short red wire (couple inches) and the longer red wire from the 12V socket that has the fuse in line. Strip the ends and twist both together, then crimp them in a single male pin. Do the same with the black wires - one short passthrough wire the exact same length as the red one, plus the longer black wire that will go to the 12V socket. Twist those together and crimp into a single male pin. Finally make a third pass through wire for the data pin the same length as the other short ones and crimp one end into a male pin. Insert the three male pins and their wires through the rubber waterproofing boot and into the female receptacle until they click satisfyingly into place. Clip a wedge lock on top to hold the pins in place.

Next, strip and crimp the ends of the short pass through wires into female pins and insert them into a male DT plug taking care to line them up in the same position as the original connector. Insert a wedge lock to hold those in place as well.

Bonus: Hold the harness up to the truck and measure the length you need to get to the 12V socket, then trim the longer 12V wires to the appropriate length, strip the ends, and crimp on new female spade connectors so there's no extra wire to deal with.

Plug it all back in and re-assemble everything and you're good to go.

@srkz Could you explain a bit more how you put it together? I looked at the four amazon links and not entirely clear how it goes together--is part of what's in the photo a part from the truck, or if I just order what you linked to it'll be clear when it arrives? Also, just checking, assuming that it just taps into the middle of the power for the compressor--the compressor presumably clicks into this harness then the harness to the truck?

Just wanna be sure I'll have what I need to complete it. I'm handy with wiring, etc. it's just that I only have a single photo to go by =)

 

[alenen]

This is an awesome solution - I am curious - not knowing much about electricity, is running a 12v refrigerator off this circuit going to cause damage to the truck? It won’t draw too much power will it? And can the fridge be run while the compressor is going?

 

[ElGuano]

This is an awesome solution - I am curious - not knowing much about electricity, is running a 12v refrigerator off this circuit going to cause damage to the truck? It won’t draw too much power will it? And can the fridge be run while the compressor is going?

I was looking this up when I was hardwiring a 50w radio into my truck. What I saw online is that is the 12v outlet is fused to 20A, which seems really high to me. I wouldn't want to run it more than 50% continuous myself, but for short bursts it should be OK.

Does the 12v fridge have a compressor? I think a lot of the smaller ones use peltiers and such.

 

[alenen]

I was looking this up when I was hardwiring a 50w radio into my truck. What I saw online is that is the 12v outlet is fused to 20A, which seems really high to me. I wouldn't want to run it more than 50% continuous myself, but for short bursts it should be OK.

Does the 12v fridge have a compressor? I think a lot of the smaller ones use peltiers and such.

I'm not sure, it's a Dometic 50L from Costco CFF 50L I think? But it sounds like we're very safely within tolerances if we use the 10A fused version posted earlier in the thread.

The part I really wasn't sure about was - while driving, if the truck uses the compressor to raise or lower the truck overall, will THAT plus the fridge plugged into the compressor circuit overload it?

 

[ElGuano]

I'm not sure, it's a Dometic 50L from Costco CFF 50L I think?

Whoa, look at Mr. Big Spender over here!

J/K!


Dometic's site lists it as having refrigerant, so I assume it's a typical compressor setup.

The part I really wasn't sure about was - while driving, if the truck uses the compressor to raise or lower the truck overall, will THAT plus the fridge plugged into the compressor circuit overload it?

I think during driving, the 12v system and all components are powered by the HV battery using a power converter, so you shouldn't have to worry about the battery. I've heard the 12v accessory port is fused separately from the compressor or rest of the operational 12v bus too, but I'm not sure about that.

Dometic says it draws 6.8A from at 12v, so that should be about 90 watts. It's highish if continuous, but not excessively so, and I think definitely in-spec for the accessory port.

 

[alenen]

Thank you!

 

[alenen]

Whoa, look at Mr. Big Spender over here!

J/K!


Dometic's site lists it as having refrigerant, so I assume it's a typical compressor setup.



I think during driving, the 12v system and all components are powered by the HV battery using a power converter, so you shouldn't have to worry about the battery. I've heard the 12v accessory port is fused separately from the compressor or rest of the operational 12v bus too, but I'm not sure about that.

Dometic says it draws 6.8A from at 12v, so that should be about 90 watts. It's highish if continuous, but not excessively so, and I think definitely in-spec for the accessory port.

Another question - if I want to leave the cooler plugged in in camp mode and I plug it into the 12v - will it still keep the inverter for the 120v running and drain the power even if nothing is plugged in - simply because the plugs are still hot? Or need something drawing on them to turn inverter on?

 

[ElGuano]

Another question - if I want to leave the cooler plugged in in camp mode and I plug it into the 12v - will it still keep the inverter for the 120v running and drain the power even if nothing is plugged in - simply because the plugs are still hot? Or need something drawing on them to turn inverter on?

I think there are a couple of separate things here:

1. The 12v doesn't run through the inverter, so the 120v shouldn't be affected. But I don't think that's what you're asking.

2. I believe Camp mode will still put the vehicle to sleep eventually and cut power to the electrical, but there is a separate "Manage power" setting in Camp Mode that lets you opt to keep everything on - climate, USB, 12v, 120v. I'm not sure how it all works together, but I believe that's what you're asking?

 

[alenen]

I think there are a couple of separate things here:

1. The 12v doesn't run through the inverter, so the 120v shouldn't be affected. But I don't think that's what you're asking.

2. I believe Camp mode will still put the vehicle to sleep eventually and cut power to the electrical, but there is a separate "Manage power" setting in Camp Mode that lets you opt to keep everything on - climate, USB, 12v, 120v. I'm not sure how it all works together, but I believe that's what you're asking?

yeah - when I put it in camp mode all of the outlets seem tied together. On or off. So I think that if I say “outlets on” I’m powering the inverter whether I plug things into it or not. (Not sure on this).
My goal with adding 12v dc to the truck bed is to put a dc cooler in the bed and leave it plugged in with power but nothing else in the truck powered. I don’t think I can do this.

I tested the cooler running through the 120v and it was about 6-7% per day to run with just the cooler and I think it’s the inverter that’s using most of that power. Thus - if I can tap 12v dc without the inverter I think I could reduce consumption a lot.

 

[ElGuano]

yeah - when I put it in camp mode all of the outlets seem tied together. On or off. So I think that if I say “outlets on” I’m powering the inverter whether I plug things into it or not. (Not sure on this).
My goal with adding 12v dc to the truck bed is to put a dc cooler in the bed and leave it plugged in with power but nothing else in the truck powered. I don’t think I can do this.

Might be a good time to test that. Since the 12v mod here is tied to the 12v accessory port in the gear tunnel, you could plug a light or something into that now, put it in camp mode and see if that turns off automatically without the power management setting. It should act same when you run an extension from the tunnel to the bed.

 

[srkz]

@srkz Could you explain a bit more how you put it together? I looked at the four amazon links and not entirely clear how it goes together--is part of what's in the photo a part from the truck, or if I just order what you linked to it'll be clear when it arrives? Also, just checking, assuming that it just taps into the middle of the power for the compressor--the compressor presumably clicks into this harness then the harness to the truck?

Just wanna be sure I'll have what I need to complete it. I'm handy with wiring, etc. it's just that I only have a single photo to go by =)

Basically, there's a female plug on the truck harness that is (from the factory) going into a male plug on the utility panel unit. That plug has +12V, -12V, and a signal wire for the gear guard lock which is also integrated to the unit. What we're doing is unplugging the truck harness and then plugging in a new middle-man harness that passes the gear guard locking signal straight through but splits the 12V into two leads - one that goes to a new female plug for the utility panel connector and a second lead that goes to the 12V outlet we're installing. The 12V outlet I bought from Amazon came with an in-line fuse so I left it in when I shortened the cable.

But yes it all just clicks together and is easily removable, no splicing needed on the truck side so you can take it back out again and leave no trace if you want.

If you give me a couple days I'll make another one and video it for you.

The part I really wasn't sure about was - while driving, if the truck uses the compressor to raise or lower the truck overall, will THAT plus the fridge plugged into the compressor circuit overload it?

The tankless tire inflator pump in the utility panel (that we're tapping off of) is totally separate from the compressor and air tank for the suspension, so no risk there. The only time the utility panel gets used is when you're actively using it to inflate tires or whatever.

yeah - when I put it in camp mode all of the outlets seem tied together. On or off. So I think that if I say “outlets on” I’m powering the inverter whether I plug things into it or not. (Not sure on this).
My goal with adding 12v dc to the truck bed is to put a dc cooler in the bed and leave it plugged in with power but nothing else in the truck powered. I don’t think I can do this.

I tested the cooler running through the 120v and it was about 6-7% per day to run with just the cooler and I think it’s the inverter that’s using most of that power. Thus - if I can tap 12v dc without the inverter I think I could reduce consumption a lot.

The 12V bus is separate from the "outlets" control. The outlets control is just for the 120V. The 12V bus is always active when the truck is on, so all you need to do is go into the Camp Mode screen and set "Manage Energy" to "Stay On" and it should stay on indefinitely (until the main battery gets low I think, but several days at least.) Since "stay on" mode keeps the screens and climate running, you might also want to manually set the HVAC to "off" and hit the "turn off screens" button if you're not going to be inside the vehicle. This keeps the power draw as low as possible while still running the 12V bus which will keep your fridge and other 12V accessories powered up.

Your thought in the second sentence about the battery drain is correct, that's the whole point of this mod. On top of wasting a lot of battery power the inverter heats up the cabin to like 90 degrees if you leave the windows closed and the HVAC off since it's located under the passenger seat, which is both stupid and inconvenient. I try to only use it briefly when necessary and not leave it running for too long.

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