Gadgets I'm Considering

Stuff that goes in your Chinook but isnt really part of your Chinook.
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Blue~Go
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Blue~Go »

PS: I can't remember if it's obvious, but the ashtray unit just pops out as one thing, and what remains is another grey compartment, fully usable.
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Skillet
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Skillet »

All fascinating information! Glad to hear about the ashtray. Never liked them (since I don't smoke) and it if opens up something useful, bonus! I do have the BeverageMate and it had stopped working when the Ford dealer took the doghouse off. I'm assuming they never plugged it back in, but I wasn't using it anyway to heat/cool what I could fit in there. I definitely need more storage at that area for my sunglasses, phone charger, y-adaptor for the dashcam and gps, a pen, and my hanging tag for my US Parks pass. I can fit it in now, but more room means no more cramming!
'02 Concourse where there's always a project going on...
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Blue~Go
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Blue~Go »

The funny thing is that I saw one of those ashtray inserts on eBay for like $60. Don't throw it away! (I wonder where I put mine...). Also, ChinookersJourney used it to make a nifty "insert" base for his rear-view camera.

Definitely not much space in the Beverage Mate. Small to begin with, and then the vent areas take up more space. Plus I never drink out of skinny cans/cups. I think the power wire to mine did run in the doghouse area, so I bet you are right and the wire got disconnected and not re-connected.

Since you may now have a live wire down there (you may already know this), you can find the fuse for it in the little added Chinook fuse block that is by your left shin when driving. On my rig it was the third fuse down in the right-hand column, labeled "7.5 amp max." The 2000 manual shows it the same.
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caconcourse
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by caconcourse »

Blue~Go wrote:
Since you may now have a live wire down there (you may already know this), you can find the fuse for it in the little added Chinook fuse block that is by your left shin when driving. On my rig it was the third fuse down in the right-hand column, labeled "7.5 amp max." The 2000 manual shows it the same.
When I replaced my beverage mate with a new console, I bought this charger/adapter from Amazon (Multi-Use Vehicle Charger with Dual USB Ports and Dual 12 Volt Sockets - Magnadyne):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PB ... ge_o04_s00

and spliced it to the old beverage mate live wire and mounted inside one of the console bins. Now I have two new 12 charger ports and two USB charger ports in the doghouse, for phones and GPS, etc. The chargers are tied into the ignition and fused, in place of the old beverage mate. This keeps the cords away from the dashboard.

Here is a picture, but it's not very clear:
IMAG0390.jpg
Clay
2001 Concourse
Santa Barbara, CA
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Blue~Go
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Blue~Go »

Funny, but I have that same little unit. I use it at the dining table.

That's a clever on the Beverage Mate wire - I hadn't thought of that. Only caveat (which you have probably taken into account) is that it's not too hard to exceed 7.5 amps with that many charging sockets. Of course that doesn't mean you have to, and it's fairly easy to keep track. I haven't looked at the wire size though - it may have the ampacity for a larger fuse and they just used 7.5 amp because Beverage Mate "said so." I'll have to look at mine to see what gauge the wire is (unless you already have?)

I suppose folks know about these, but just to mention them: Chinook put both "hot" and "ignition enabled" taps in that Concourse fuse block for "our future use." I haven't used them, but handy to know they are there.

PS: I forgot to ask: Do you have some handy connector on the wire for when you have to remove the console/doghouse (service work)?
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caconcourse
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by caconcourse »

Blue~Go wrote:Funny, but I have that same little unit. I use it at the dining table.

That's a clever on the Beverage Mate wire - I hadn't thought of that. Only caveat (which you have probably taken into account) is that it's not too hard to exceed 7.5 amps with that many charging sockets. Of course that doesn't mean you have to, and it's fairly easy to keep track. I haven't looked at the wire size though - it may have the ampacity for a larger fuse and they just used 7.5 amp because Beverage Mate "said so." I'll have to look at mine to see what gauge the wire is (unless you already have?)

I suppose folks know about these, but just to mention them: Chinook put both "hot" and "ignition enabled" taps in that Concourse fuse block for "our future use." I haven't used them, but handy to know they are there.

PS: I forgot to ask: Do you have some handy connector on the wire for when you have to remove the console/doghouse (service work)?
The Beverage Mate wires are not big (maybe 14-16 gage) but they are as big or bigger than the wires that come with the charging ports. I just used crimped spade lugs (male to female) so they can be separated, and I covered them with tape.

I also spliced a wire into the Beverage mate wire which runs the length of the chassis to the rear step to power my backup camera. It comes up through a hole under the rubber seal of the big dog house. I have "tested" the fuse twice already, with the camera power wire getting punctured or abraded and shorting to the floor. (ouch.) Hopefully my last repair will hold up better. For that reason, I feel better with the smaller fuse, so it will blow faster for real trouble. We use the ports mainly for charging phones when driving, so it's not many amps.

Here's another picture showing our new console (which I managed to buy for $50 last December before the price gouging) and my new head unit, which integrates the radio, backup camera, and GPS on a single display/touch screen. I connected the backup camera feed to the head unit Aux video input as well as the backup camera input, so I can view it continuously, in addition to it automatically coming on in reverse. The charging ports are in the big cavity just below the cup holders.
IMAG0391.jpg
Clay
2001 Concourse
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Skillet
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Skillet »

Great ideas, Caconcourse. I'm going to end up borrowing some ideas from this thread. I got the replacement today and will either install it later or tomorrow. I haven't unboxed it so I'll have to see if it needs a good cleaning. By the way, great picture. Very ethereal...
'02 Concourse where there's always a project going on...
Skillet
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

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Just ordered the Wave 6 on Amazon. Stuff I'm interested in I keep in the "save for later" pile. After months of it being around $265 or so, it dropped down to $228 this afternoon. Pulled the trigger on it, legs, and a cover before it goes back up again.
'02 Concourse where there's always a project going on...
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Blue~Go
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Blue~Go »

Funny but not five minutes ago I was "in" my save-for-later Amazon cart and noticed the same thing! Okay, not in stock and 5-7 days to ship (when I looked anyway), but for a $40 savings? Ooookay.

Say, how did you make out on the console? Did it clean up okay? Have you moved a family into the newfound space?
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Re: Gadgets I'm Considering

Post by Skillet »

Ha! I'm excited about the "trunk space" I'm about to get. I'll do a posting on that tomorrow or the next day once I get it installed. All of the cup holders and both interior compartments were full of "black sticky" substance. The ashtray had ashes in it and the body of the console had black scuff marks. I guess the guy I got it from must be at a junkyard or something because if I was selling something, I would at least clean it up out of courtesy. I wasn't expecting perfect condition, but not sticky and smelling of cigarettes.
I got the console mid-way through my work week so I put it in a bathtub and filled it up with a lavender-scented Pinesol/water mixture and let it soak. Yesterday I cleaned up all the sticky and used an Armor-all type of product to clean the outside. That seemed to get rid of the cigarette smell and black scuff marks. I got as far as removing the old console (found a receipt from 2005 for something and a Cracker Jax rub on tattoo behind it) and then remembered the wiring. I didn't take it all the way off until I do something to secure the wiring safely. The console had stopped working when I had the rig in for a vehicle inspection at a Ford truck dealer. I thought that maybe the wires came apart or something when they pulled the doghouse. That wasn't the case. For the heck of it I pulled all the fuses at shin level and found one blown. I think it was 12amp. Or 15. Can't remember right now. In my fuse box it is the upper right of the 2 rows. I'm assuming that was it but haven't tested it with a multi-meter. Tomorrow I have to get spare fuses so I'll see if that is the cause of the BeverageMate not working. I'll do a couple pictures along the install. Yes, I'm happy with the looks of the new console and hopefully it goes in easier than taking out the old one...
'02 Concourse where there's always a project going on...
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