* Please Help: Cigarette Lighter *, Cig Lighter Not Working Options

[phob0z]

Alright. My Cig lighter has always worked, whether it was to heat the actual Cig lighter piece, or to charge a phone, plug in and power a GPS, etc. Last week I bought a little heater that was designed for cars, made by Peak. Had the heater plugged in, and it worked for about 5 minutes or so, and then off. Ever since then, the Cig lighter hasn't worked at all, no power.

Now, I checked the fuse that powers both Radio/Cig lighter.. the radio still works with fuse in, with the fuse out radio doesn't work. So with that I'm assuming it can't be the fuse because while the fuse is in it's still powering the radio.

Any ideas what my next step is to get my Cig lighter working again? Need to use my GPS..

Also, I pulled out the Cig lighter and all the wires are still in place and in tact.

[brk34]

Check the manual to ensure that you have checked the proper fuse. Next check for voltage at the terminals that power the cigarette lighter. In my car the lighter was not working, it may have been corroded or an internal fault. I simply replaced it with a accessory socket from radio shack. Maybe you overheated the socket by drawing too much current causing it to fail.

[phob0z]

I think I overheated it. If that's the case then..?

[brk34]

Buy a new one.

[phob0z]

A new socket? How universal are the connections to make sure it can be wired?

[SupraKid]

Get a multimeter and check if there is power in the wires behind the actual unit.

[pyeatts]

There’s a hard soldered limiter on the back of the cigarette lighter socket. When it overloads it blows and has to be replaced. You’ll see it soldered to the power line on the back of the socket when you pull it out. You can solder in a heaver limiter if you want to run higher amp accessories, but I chose to install a high load accessories socket just for accessories. Now there are much better looking ones available at auto parts stores. I put this in years ago. Takes about twenty minutes to wire up.

[phob0z]

I see.. thanks for the info. I think what I may do for now is just try and get a replacement socket and leave it at that. Assuming I have no other issues. And I'm assuming/hoping its a matter of pulling the old one out and plugging the new one in.

[brk34]

I think the cigarette lighter uses standard spade correctors.

[eboz74]

the same thing happened to me before but it was just the fuse

[phob0z]

the same thing happened to me before but it was just the fuse

Yeah, in my case, not the case, lol. I think the socket burnt out / sparked and shorted when the portable heater was plugged in.