Outdated Lighter Sockets

Submitted: Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:23
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I been pondering about the fact that cars still come with the old fashioned and outdated lighter Sockets to power all our modern accessories and some of el-cheapo's don't last and thought why don't manufacturers install one of those little 2 pin sockets which would have better contacts so OK thats for 12 volt but I read somewhere just recently that maybe all cars will be going I think 45v or near that so all our Gadgets will be useless unless we can get a reducer, Garmin GPSs run up to 36v, but Waeco has a great idea as well , see the link

" target="EOF" class="lbg">www.waeco.com.au/news.asp?id=145
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Reply By: porl - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:43

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:43
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.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59
Porl
I have this thing about cheap crap and I mean chinese cheap crap, Now some might say they buy it because they can't afford the more expensive products, thats debatable because I would rather spend a $100 on an item and have it last for 1 year than spend $60 on an item only to have it fail in 5 months if you get the idea,and the auto accessories are bad for crap while they do carry some good quality stuff 20/80% and that Lion brand is absolute rubbish, I been caught out a couple times now ,Sockets split open,mini 12v Air-con from Autobarn so p!ss weak my dog could blow more than that thing so I just dumped it , and the list goes on and on , Kinchrome is OK and it comes from Taiwan,
??? WHATS THIS ....my 90 series playdo.

Doug
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Follow Up By: porl - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 23:02

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 23:02
figurative speak, i don't have a 80 or 100 series cruiser or a patrol so some refer to Toyota 90 series prados as 90 series playdos, ok by me, sometimes i get debogged by 80 and 100 series and patrols, sometimes i go past them when they are bogged, whatever.

I agree, i hate Lions product stuff but i do own some and if i know its limitations then it works for its purpose. Great for charging mobile phones but when you put on a fridge with an extraction fan pulling say 3.7 amps, well its a matter of when not if.
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Reply By: Derek from Affordable Batteries & Radiators - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59
It would also require the phone guys, gps guys and all the other gadgets to change their plugs.

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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:03

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:03
G'Day Derek
Yeh your right i guess but somethings gotta go one day, and your just the man to verify yes or no about the voltage change in future cars from 12 to 45
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:21

Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:21
In future the higher powered car electrics are changing to 45 volt, but these cars will still have a 12 volt supply available to power the many accessories we have today.

Mike
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Reply By: Shaker - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 21:59
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.
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Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:06

Friday, May 05, 2006 at 22:06
Yep I had my plug work just a micro loose and turned my fridge off for about 6 hours until i noticed it ,
Don't know why that Waeco url didn't work quite right but try this one
www.waeco.com.au/news.asp?subCategory=0
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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:27

Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:27
There are good cigarette lighter plugs and sockets that don't lose contact at high current and fall out under vibration, and there are bad ones that do.

The good ones don't need to be expensive - KMart sells a replacement illuminated socket with Cigarette lighter for less than $7. It has the springs that hold in the plug (if it has a collar) to maintain high pressure on the centre contact and keep it from falling out.

Here is a photo that shows the difference between the good and the bad ones.
Site Link

Mike
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Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:47

Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:47
I have two of those good ones in the ute, never had a problem with them.
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Reply By: Ray Bates - Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:55

Saturday, May 06, 2006 at 08:55
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???????
AnswerID: 171103

Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Sunday, May 07, 2006 at 11:19

Sunday, May 07, 2006 at 11:19
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.
Bill


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Follow Up By: Member - Mike DID - Sunday, May 07, 2006 at 15:07

Sunday, May 07, 2006 at 15:07
The good Cigarette Lighter sockets don't need to be expensive - KMart sells a replacement illuminated socket with Cigarette lighter for less than $7. It has the springs that hold in the plug (if it has a collar) to maintain high pressure on the centre contact and keep it from falling out.

Here is a photo that shows the difference between the good and the bad ones.
Site Link

You can also use the smaller Black & Red 30 amp Anderson Connectors at the top of this photo.
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b356/MikeAus/Auto/PICT2566DCConnectors100k.jpg

Mike
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