Cigarette lighter replacement

[floydboy1]

Hi all. Have been trying to charge my phone in the car to no avail. Had a look on the forums and started by changing the number 42 fuse again with no success. I have tried the charger in a different car and it works fine so it is definitely the lighter  socket in the fabia.

 

I have removed the center console and removed the lighter socket. I tested the plug going into the lighter and I am getting Voltage to it is so the plug is fine. I cleaned out the inside of the lighter, plugged it back in while outside of the center console and it did light up for a split second and then went back off again. Haven't been able to get it to work since. 

After trawling eBay I can only find genuine lighter sockets from Germany that are around 15 - 16 quid. Dont really want to spend that much on something as simple as a faulty lighter socket which will be used very seldom. I have found millions of other lighter sockets on there for around 4 quid but they have the wires separate with the connector spades in a different format. Can these be fitted easily or do wires need to be cut and soldered from the standard plug.

 

Cheers in advance for any help.

[wiredsoftware]

To fit aftermarket ones you'll need to cut the existing wires and add new spade connectors. You can buy these very cheaply and simply crimp them on, no soldering. 

 

Off the top of my head, there should be three wires to the existing connector. Two will be chunky, with one thinner one. The thinner one is the positive feed for the ring of light that comes on/off when you turn the car lights on. The two thicker ones are the positive and negative. The positive is permanent live so that you can use the lighter with the car off. 

 

Main positive: black/white

Main negative: brown

Lights positive: grey/blue

 

for the aftermarket ones, most likely they will use red for positive, black or brown for negative. The lights one if they support it could be any colour.

 

If you only need a lighter socket to power USB devices, there are aftermarket options that replace the socket with 2x USB instead. These usually contain the bits needed to step down the voltage, but often have a light in them that is permanently on, in which case you'd need to run a switched live to the area instead so it doesn't gradually drain your battery. 

Edited 3 March, 2017 by wiredsoftware

[wiredsoftware]

Number 11 in pic below. 

[floydboy1]

1 hour ago, wiredsoftware said:

To fit aftermarket ones you'll need to cut the existing wires and add new spade connectors. You can buy these very cheaply and simply crimp them on, no soldering. 

 

Off the top of my head, there should be three wires to the existing connector. Two will be chunky, with one thinner one. The thinner one is the positive feed for the ring of light that comes on/off when you turn the car lights on. The two thicker ones are the positive and negative. The positive is permanent live so that you can use the lighter with the car off. 

 

Main positive: black/white

Main negative: brown

Lights positive: grey/blue

 

for the aftermarket ones, most likely they will use red for positive, black or brown for negative. The lights one if they support it could be any colour.

 

If you only need a lighter socket to power USB devices, there are aftermarket options that replace the socket with 2x USB instead. These usually contain the bits needed to step down the voltage, but often have a light in them that is permanently on, in which case you'd need to run a switched live to the area instead so it doesn't gradually drain your battery. 

 

Excellent info here mate, thanks for taking the time to write it out. From looking at the switch earlier when testing for voltage to the plug I can tell which wire is which from the colours you have listed above. I wasn't able to get any continuity on the actual lighter socket itself between the 3 prongs underneath and the tabs within the socket that touch the plug for device you are plugging in. 

 

I have since cleaned the connectors and metal tabs of the socket with vinegar and salt and let it sit in there for a few minutes and it seems to have cleaned all the connections and I am now able to get continuity between all connections - its a bit dark out now so will leave it until tomorrow and plug it back in to see if there is any power getting into the socket when I plug it back in. If not, your write up will come invaluable for buying a new aftermarket one which I will probably end up doing as the outer "light ring" on the top of the socket is a bit mashed up!

 

Thanks again

[TMB]

16 hours ago, floydboy1 said:

I have since cleaned the connectors and metal tabs of the socket with vinegar and salt

 

That's a new one on me

[floydboy1]

On 3/4/2017 at 13:16, TMB said:

 

That's a new one on me

I would highly recommend cleaning any metal parts you have with vinegar and Salt.... I connected it back up yesterday and works like a brand new lighter socket. Must have been so much ground on dirt in the socket that it was stopping the metal prongs touch the plug of the charger. 

 

One thing I would stress, is to put the metal you have cleaned into warm water with baking soda in it, just so it cleans off the vinegar and salt mixture and neutralizes it. Not that I think it would cause a big issue if you didnt, but then you can air compress the water off and know that it is clean and dry without any salt sticking to it and gets rid of the nasty smell of vinegar too!