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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG TD TF 1500 - Accessory Outlet - Positive Earth

Was shopping for oil this am (that will be another thread) and came across this item at Advance Auto Parts. It appears to be fully insulated and to have two leads so that the polarity of a positive earth car can be reversed for modern electronics. I tossed the ticket so I don't have a proce but it was arount $8.

Jud


J K Chapin

Jud - I would be a little bit concerned about the exposed metal around the opening on the socket. If it is attached to either of the leads, then it becomes a hazard for a short circuit. There is (or used to be) a product that was available from boating accessory outlets that is mounted through any panel that is completely insulated. Below is a picture of the packaging and another of the installation in our TD. Cheers - Dave


David DuBois

Picture of installation.


David DuBois

I have to say that switching to neg ground gave me great peace of mind. Not only will ignorant mechanics not destroy my electrics, I can add any sort of gadget without worrying about it. I've already added a security lock which cuts off the fuel pump and is hidden behind the dash and cannot be switched without a unique key (called an m-lock). I have plans eventually for a Bluetooth speaker system and a couple of other items. As I've got my accessory plugs wired in, I can also with the right plug power anything without further wiring. Nice to not have to worry!
Geoffrey M Baker

CAUTION!! Dave is right. I discovered right after the initial post that on a positive earth car that metal ring IS HOT!! Back to the drawing board or to the boat store.

Drat!!

Jud
J K Chapin

Try this from Amazon:

http://amzn.com/B003EET3XY

Larry
Larry Shoer

I put a power port in my positive ground TD about 2 years ago and never considered the hot case. I have been lucky so far.
Last week I installed a USB port and it is fully insulated so there is no problem. While I was doing the install I realized the power port had a hot case. I was going to insulate it but Larry's link looks like a much better and easier solution. I love that Amazon One-Click.

Jud, If the rim is hot and you have it installed you can paint on some liquid electric tape on the exposed metal.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0082CXEI8/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JFT19O/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Mort 50 TD (Mobius)

" If the rim is hot and you have it installed you can paint on some liquid electric tape on the exposed metal"

I would advise against doing that. Any paint on insulation is prone to being compromised if something rubs against it and in this case, a person would be taking a risk of taking out a good portion of the electrical system. And, yes, an inline fuse will prevent major damage, but why even take a chance of it happening when products are available that are completely insulated so there is no chance of a problem arising. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

It's not installed yet so I'll go with Dave and the Amazon link and get a fully insulated one and let this one sit in the shelf. If it were already installed I'd probably just red-neck it and, using the spark to light my old butane lighter for my remaining vice, say "Watch dis!!"

Jud
J K Chapin

IMHO: The danger with accessory socket with positive ground system isn't so much the "socket" (that is fairly easy to isolate...wood, plastic, rubber, ect).

The danger is the accessory itself!
If it has metal on the case and that is grounded to the internal dc power, (as most are) you could end up with it "welded" to the first metal it makes contact with!

The up side: You won't lose your smartphone, ipod, gps if it's welded to your hand-brake.
The down side: It probably won't work after you do that!

I feel better with the TF being negative ground for this reason. Pretty easy to change over.
David Sheward

I can't think of a modern device that has a metallic case that is on the ground plane. So I added a marine socket on the positive ground car. We do plug the device into the cord, and then into the socket. No problems in the last three years.
Dave Braun

This thread was discussed between 05/05/2014 and 06/05/2014

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG TD TF 1500 BBS is active now.