Time for a TPAM mount power upgrade.
I absolutely love my TPAM mount but it came with a cheap low power USB charger that won't charge my Garmin Montana and charges my phone very slowly. This is really my only complaint with the TPAM...time to fix it. I'll swap the original unit out with a Blue Sea 4.8A unit (2.4A per channel) that will be better suited to charge the Montana, Tablets etc. NOTE: Jeff from ExpeditionEssentials saw my post and may start offering the Blue Sea chargers with the TPAM when you order....Nice!
First removed the TPAM from the truck. Here you can see the low power charger I'll be replacing. It's quickly removed from the mount.
Now a little back story on my install: I originally planned on using a Blue Sea 4.8A round charger that I already had on hand, Just like the ones I installed in the camper. I figured I would file some notches in the TPAM mount to allow use of the round charger in the factory square cutout, I would then fabricate a cover plate to cover any gaps on the sides of the charger. Filing the notches and installing the round charger went to plan but I failed to notice the charger was to long and would hit the dash when trying to install the unit back onto the truck......Time for Plan B. I ordered a square Blue Sea 1039 charger which is a direct replacement (should have just started with this unit) and fabricated a small aluminum cover plate to cover up the half round notches I had previously filed into the TPAM, if I hadn't done that it would have been a 5 minute plug and play job! Oh Well...what I get for not thinking things all the way through
The notches I cut in for the round charger.
Here's the square Blue Sea charger next to the original unit.
Time to fabricate a cover plate to hide the half round notches I filed into the TPAM mount. A small chunk of aluminum will do nicely.
And painted a matching textured black.
New charger installed in the TPAM mount. I need to trim the rubber gasket on the back of the charger a bit so it doesn't stick out past my cover plate.
This charger is also slightly longer than the original unit, to give a little extra clearance between the electrical connections and the dash I bent the tabs upward on the back of the charger.
And all mounted back up. My Montana is now happily charging. Overall a quick and easy upgrade (If you don't try and make it fit a round charger lol).
Hodakaguy
I absolutely love my TPAM mount but it came with a cheap low power USB charger that won't charge my Garmin Montana and charges my phone very slowly. This is really my only complaint with the TPAM...time to fix it. I'll swap the original unit out with a Blue Sea 4.8A unit (2.4A per channel) that will be better suited to charge the Montana, Tablets etc. NOTE: Jeff from ExpeditionEssentials saw my post and may start offering the Blue Sea chargers with the TPAM when you order....Nice!
First removed the TPAM from the truck. Here you can see the low power charger I'll be replacing. It's quickly removed from the mount.
Now a little back story on my install: I originally planned on using a Blue Sea 4.8A round charger that I already had on hand, Just like the ones I installed in the camper. I figured I would file some notches in the TPAM mount to allow use of the round charger in the factory square cutout, I would then fabricate a cover plate to cover any gaps on the sides of the charger. Filing the notches and installing the round charger went to plan but I failed to notice the charger was to long and would hit the dash when trying to install the unit back onto the truck......Time for Plan B. I ordered a square Blue Sea 1039 charger which is a direct replacement (should have just started with this unit) and fabricated a small aluminum cover plate to cover up the half round notches I had previously filed into the TPAM, if I hadn't done that it would have been a 5 minute plug and play job! Oh Well...what I get for not thinking things all the way through
The notches I cut in for the round charger.
Here's the square Blue Sea charger next to the original unit.
Time to fabricate a cover plate to hide the half round notches I filed into the TPAM mount. A small chunk of aluminum will do nicely.
And painted a matching textured black.
New charger installed in the TPAM mount. I need to trim the rubber gasket on the back of the charger a bit so it doesn't stick out past my cover plate.
This charger is also slightly longer than the original unit, to give a little extra clearance between the electrical connections and the dash I bent the tabs upward on the back of the charger.
And all mounted back up. My Montana is now happily charging
. Overall a quick and easy upgrade (If you don't try and make it fit a round charger lol).
Hodakaguy
