car cigarette lighters
 

or rather, lack of. My little motor doesn't have one of these in it. However, having one would be very useful, for my GPS and the like. I've had a quick flick through my haynes manual and the details on cigarette lighters in there are very sketchy to say the least....

I've had a look round on all the car forums etc and there is little if no detail at all anywhere on how to replace/fit cigarette lighters in any cars... I can't even find a supplier of replacement ones short of going and busting a car at a scrappy either at the moment, surely something which seems so small can't be so hard to find :(

Also, should adding extra components like that which need 12v DC from the cigarette lighter socket be done properly through the socket and wiring up to the fuse board etc, is it very risky splicing a wire from say the 12v stereo supply and then grounding elsewhere?
__________________

oh, forgot to mention it's a phase 1 peugeot 106, L reg...

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Run a fat wire from the positive to your socket from the battery, deal with the negative via the nearest earth point on the chassis making sure the contacts have no paint / gunk to interfere...

A suitable fuse should be in line on your positive run from the battery, preferable close to the battery.

hope this helps....

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

kinda. The thing is at the moment there is no cigarette lighter socket at all, so i've got to source one of those, which is much more difficult than i thought. Is it a case of following the positive terminal connection from the battery into the main wiring and then pulling a positive wire out from there?

i might do automotive engineering but i don't have a clue :dunce:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

wiring is proply there al ready you just need
to find it

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

that was my initial thought. there is a blanking plate where the cigarette lighter is in other models... :erm:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Altough you can splice into wires, you need to be sure that the circuit used is sufficiently heavy duty. You might not now need it for your GPS or whatever, but some attachments that go into these sockets draw serious current.

Haynes manuals always used to do some fairly good wiring diagrams. You should be able to identify the circuit used by upper models of your car, and tap into that.

I'd have thought a decent car accessory shop (not necessarily halfords) should be able to supply a cigarette lighter kit.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Have a look at http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...ldID=&doy=21m7 and http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?...9758&doy=21m7D . Halfords do the socket as well.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

probably why i couldn't find anything anywhere, would never have thought of looking for something called "accessory socket". cheers :)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

I searched for "car cigar lighter" which gives better results than cigarette. :)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

you appear to be right, it does. Now then... with http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...9758&doy=21m7# ... I am right in assuming I would need two lengths of wire, one which will go to ground somewhere along the chassis, and one which will trail off to positive somewhere.. This seems a lot easier now i know you can buy the sockets easily... :D

So, if i get two lengths of wire which can cope with 16 amp loads I should be ok on the wiring side, the next step is just to find where to connect them in-car?

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

direct to the battery, use 30A cable and put a 20A fuse in line with it

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Your best / safest bet would be to run the positive direct from the battery with an in line fuse (suitably rated) and keep the negative as short as possible and direct to chassis ensuring a clean connection...

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

connecting directly to the battery, as in the same place the battery terminals are, under the bonnet? :blush: :dunce:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Accessory is your pointer - the Haynes manual wiring diagram should point you to where the + switched accessory fuse is - normally a lighter circuit spurs from this so that it is only live with the key in & turned.

Any nearby earthing point can be used for the -

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

cheers... i guess the terminology is all off, i've just been looking for cigarette lighter all along... :disturbd: cheers all :)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Keep it simple.

Yes. The positive / + / Red wire goes to the + on the Battery.

The Negative / - / Black wire goes to Earth / Chassis.

:angel:

Or just get a bic lighter.. lol :angel: :)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

dont think a bic lighter would do the job, unless you could come up with some crazy gas-powered charging system for my pda? ;)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

The joy of this site is that there is a lot of help to be gained - we all learn from it.

Ideally the lighter should only be live when the ignition is switched on/running so should be fed from the accessory feed which is suitably fused anyway.

Some lighter kits have an illuminated ring or backlighter, which will require a separate feed from the light switched circuit - if you complicate things by acquiring one of these, post back!

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Give it time, I am sure some one will come up with a solution... when they do I would be interested...

It will probably when they get the flux capicitor to work reliably....

:)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

With respect, protocol dictates that it should be a fused & switched feed - see my ramblings above

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

I did it the easy way on my transit for a second lighter socket... I ran it direct from the battery and put a 20a fuse in it, PDAs don't draw anywhere near enough to drain a battery even if left connected for a week

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Noted, was trying to keep it simple, allthough I did suggest fused :angel:

I have two in my car (Cit Xsara) the main on is switched and the acc one is on all the time...

But still a valid point Nikko and well made.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

My mate was similarly puzzled as to why his Fiesta had a socket but no thing to stick in it - just a covering bit of plastic :erm: He had to buy one. I guess this fits with it being an "accessory socket" - i.e. most people don't use it for lighting spliffs/cigs/cigars/petrol bombs. Even more oddly, the socket has no lighted ring around it, so in the dark, you can't see where you're sticking the plug. I'm straying into innuendo terroritory here :D He's missed a few times and burnt the plastic :disturbd: I've currently got a few brain cells working on the problem of how to light the socket :scratch:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

A torch / bic lighter :D

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

So helpful. You don't work for the Samaritans by any chance? :erm: :D

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

How did you guess... ;)

Must have been all the useful advice I had already given... :angel:

:D

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

The lighting ring on mine has mysteriously stopped working. The socket is still there and working perfect as I use an air compressor in it to manage my tyre pressures. I assumed it was because the lighter part itself is knackered (and has been binned accordingly). would this be the case? would the lighter part being broken cause the light ring to stop working or is it something else? It didnt even occur to me there would be two sepperate feeds (one for the power and one for the light).

I think you all know what my car is anyway but just incase you have forgot its a 93 corsa.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Sounds like the feed/circuit is fine but the element has failed on the lighter part - they do fail and can be replaced separately. Try GENTLY brushing the element as sometimes ash/unburnt tobacco residue causes a short/mis circuit accross the element - but chances are its burned out.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

My mate asked if it would be possible to put a ring around the lighter socket. My thinking on this is that because the ring is always lit rather than only lit when the lighter is pushed in, the circuit must be separate. Negative might be shared but positive would be two separate wires. I guess the ring must be an LED (or a few). Also, I guess (thought it doesn't matter) that the ring should only light when the headlights are turned on - i.e. on a night. So that would mean wiring it into the right circuit.

Having said all that, I managed to blow a fuse just by changing the interior light bulb. Big orange flash :dozey: So what do I know :D

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Not as crazy as you might first think - http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/20...1005008196.htm

I'll avoid the obvious comments about that..... :scratch:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

The lighting ring is liked to the lighting circuit. Usually by a trigger wire from the light switch to a low voltage bulb that is earthed on the ring for the lighter, the bulb illuminates the plastic ring that usually encircles the metal inner of the lighter, thus illuminating it in dark conditions, when the side lights / headlights are in operation.

Hope this helps you along the path of illumination...

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

IF it has no illuminated ring around it AND your after getting a new socket then can I suggest a trip to a scrap yard.

That way you can get a socket AND an illuminated ring/ or an illuminated socket.

Unless any of those maplin links above are for illuminated sockets?

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

OK just to update slightly, I've had a flick through my trusty manual, the section on fitting and replacing cigarette lighters/accessory sockets has the following helpful information:

Guess I'll be doing it blind :erm:

Anyways, I also checked out the wiring diagrams and so far as I can tell, for my chassis the spur for the lighter comes off the same fuse as the one for the horn, so it is just a case of going and rooting around at the fuse box for this I guess.

Just to clarify, it is only the socket and power I need, anything else fancy like illuminated elements etc is unnecessary, there will be no smoking in my car ;)

I also found:

http://www.edirectory.co.uk/pf/pages...ighter&cid=880 or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...26974&tc=photo

suitable? :dunce:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

apart from knocking a hole somewhere i think you have found the proper answer with the horn good luck and remember,

bic lighters must not be used to find the petrol cap on dark roads:Yikes:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

hey, there is a blanking plate with a pre-made hole just ready for me :)

they just make it awkward by not fitting the wires in the first place...

Assuming there are no wires trailing down from the fuse, is it simply a case of getting the old wire snips and electrical tape out?
__________________

oh, and i drive a diesel :p:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

You could walways look at the fusebox and see if there is a fuse socket for ciggarette lighter in that, if so see if it's powered & then come off of that.

OR failing that, find an unused one & bodge that so that you have a fused socket & the fuse is in the same place as all the rest.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

i'd check the wiring colours they may use the same wiring loom in the other cars (touch wood)
deisel that good but would cause a few to run :rofl:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

well ive had a click around, and buried down in page 6 of google results is www.conrad-direct.co.uk an electrical shop with seemingly everything I need. I think it is:

http://www1.uk.conrad.com/scripts/wg...rotkrumennavi=

that would do the job grand. Though, can anyone tell me what wires etc I will need, assuming I get that... Basically what cross-section/grade wire it would be, I can't for the life of me remember how to work it out... :erm:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

it's me again :rolleyes:

if i got one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...&rd=1&tc=photo

and cut the plug off one end, and wired it with a 5A inline fuse to battery +, and another wire to ground, would that do the job?

The only things that are ever going to be connected are my PDA and bluetooth GPS module...

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

put the fuse as close to the battery as pos if it blows the 5 amp put a 10 in as long as the wiring is rated above that other wise you could have a fire if it shorts:)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Wiring looms for cars usually contain the wiring for most optional accessories. It is cheaper for the manufacturer to do this than have several different types of wiring loom. Wiring for a cigar lighter may be there already but not necessarily near the mounting point for the missing accessory and it may have been taped back to the loom.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

thought i did :p:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

woohoo, just removed my dashboard and had a look to see what I could do. Joy of joys, the correct wiring for the cigarette lighter was wrapped up in a pokey little hole, so i'm all set now :)

bought:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

thanks for your (as it turns out completely un-necessary) help everyone :)

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

just to follow this up in case anyone actually cares :)

Got everything fitted now, but boy was it a chore. Had to remove the dashboard front panel, which was a nightmare in itself, to do this i had to remove the ashtray, heater controls and radio...

next step was to unrap the wires required from the loom, this was easy enuogh to do as they were the only unused ones. Plugged the lighting ring spade connector to the cigarette lighter light thing, this worked fine :)

next step was awkward though, the connectors that were on the wiring loom didn't fit, so these got lopped off. Attached a new spade connector for the negative supply, but the positive supply on my lighter is just a metal stalk, so the wire has to be wrapped around this and stuck on with electrical tape (bodge and fix it, me ;))

i attached the negative wire anyway, but while i was still holding onto it i grabbed the positve wire, anyway it slipped and came into contact with the piece of metal i was still holding, gave me one hell of a jolt :cry: anyway after much swearing and finger-sucking, i got it securely fastened to the positive supply.

However, getting it secured to the little hole in the dashboard was a hell of a task. Got it done in the end though, with copious amounts of polystyrene cement, and that bostik glue that comes in a purple tube...

then, i realised my cradle for my xda2 had the wrong connector on the bottom of it for my y connector to fit onto it, this was a 5 minute job though with a saw and some more bostik :)

all is working smashing now :D thanks for everyone's help... though I don't recommend getting a 12V jolt from a car electrical supply... It hurt almost as much as that time i peed on an electric fence by accident :(

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

You really are a worry at times Dave ;) Glad it's all working now and you won't be touching any un-protected wires for a while :erm:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

You what on a electric fence? come on details :rofl:

I could use a very good laugh.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

well, i'm looking at becoming a spark once i get through the drudgery of uni, i'm well-weathered for shocks now ;)

it works fine anyway :) at the same time i got some tyre blackening stsuff, so my tires and rubbing strips and bumpers look as shiny as the day they were bought too :D

go me :disturbd:

saxodriver >> i peed when i was younger. you know what it's like, you get caught short when you are running about, so you find a fence post... to say it tingles is an understatement :cry:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

As a spark in training you will know that it is current that kills, not voltage and a big bad car battery can easily put out 80A/Hr

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

i'm well aware of that ;) 3rd year mechanical engineer as wel,l remember :p:
give me enough time and money and i could probably work out a mach cone for the current flowing... :erm::cry:

also a big bad car battery might put out 80Ah but mine isn't a big bad car battery...:erm:

i survived anyway, haven't noticed an irregular heartbeat or anything so far... :disturbd:

is it really really wrong that I have a fascination with electrics, dismantling things, and lightning? :shocked:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Look at the voltages on some of the gear at http://www.spy-goods.com/en-us/dept_18.html

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

Exactly - High voltage low current. Not likely to kill. Low voltage, high current - likely to kill.

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

well the jolt i got luckily was limited to 5 amps cos i was behind a fuse, but it still damn hurt...

i've no idea what the fence current was, probably something negligible... but as you can imagine... :shocked:

Re: car cigarette lighters
 

just a question i've worked with cars for the best part of my adult life and never got a shock of a car battery

only relays and the h.t wiring (plug leads):confused:

oh and the power of my battery on my car is 825 amp for 30 secs cold:) :)