Outdated Lighter Sockets

My guess is they're too cheap to upgrade the wiring. It's kind of i suspect they fail "because your applicance required too much current" (as mine did BDF35) on my 90 series playdo.

They put a quality plug in and i guess they have to put quality wire in, hmmm.

It would also require the phone guys, gps guys and all the other gadgets to change their plugs.

It's a catch 22, the reason they fit cigarette lighter style plugs, is that almost every 12v accessory has a male plug on the end of it's cable!
Remember, of all the 4 x 4s sold in the world, or Australia for that matter, only a very small percentage will want to run fridges.
I have successfully run an Engel for years, all through the Outback, summer in the high country etc, through a cigarette style socket, using 6mm² cable & earthed through the chassis!
I have now changed it to the genuine Engel socket, (the best of all), purely because the cigarette style plug could vibrate out on long stretches of corrugations.

Just read the article regarding VW installing 230v in their newer cars.
First I must ask is how legal is it in Australia?
I believe that the system has a great potential if carried out profesionally and with the proper safety gear such as circuit breakers and earth leakage protection could do alot for the caravan and camper industry and drasticly reduce the size of 12v cabling and quite alot of those gismose for keeping betteries charged but pity it is only 230v instead of 240v.
What do you think? Derek form ABR???????

Actually, it's not always the plug that is the problem.

If you look closely at most original cigarette sockets in vehicles, you should see, or feel, a couple of indentations not far in from the edge of the socket. If this is matched with a quality plug, (such as that made by Hella) the connection will have a positive locking mechanism that wont come out through vibration.

Now, having said that, I have yet to find an after market cigarette style socket, either surface mounted or "in-line", as in extension leads, that has anything but a smooth walled inner surface that nothing can lock into.

To maintain some sort of "standard" connection, the most practical solution is to use the Merit style sockets for any accessory in the rear of the vehicle.
To complement/match this you can standardise (where possible) by using the Hella Plug on all accessories used in or around the vehicle. (for lower amps use)

The Hella plug comes with a collar, usually red coloured, which connects into any cigarette style socket, preferably those with the indentations included to provide a positive lock, to reduce the effect of vibration.
By a twist removal of the red collar, you now have a plug that will connect into the Merit style socket. This connection also provides a positive locking feature. This is all that is required for lower amp usage, say up to 10 amps.

This solution is not the only one of course, but it is the most practical one for ensuring that all your 12 volt accessories (or those of your friends) will connect up without hassle. Maybe one final piece of equipment is to have a short piece of extension lead with a Hella plug on one end (connects to ciggy or Merit sockets) and an in-line ciggy socket, to cater for that odd piece of electrical accessory that only has a ciggy style plug and hasn't been converted over to the Hella plug.

For higher amperage circuits, the Anderson Connector in 50 amp size rating, should suffice for any other likely use in a motor vehicle, apart from extremely high amp usage, such as Jump starting, where the 150 amp Anderson connector can be used.

These connectors are excellent in that they are "Uni-Sexual". The one connector has a dual +/- link and can only be connected one way into another identical Anderson connector. Therefore, you don't need a separate plug & socket. These are ideal when you wish to connect an electrical circuit between a vehicle and a Camper or Caravan to charge batteries on the go.