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[amba]

Can anybody offer some advise...use a parrot hands free system through the stereo which is fine,but bit annoying when the battery on my nokia 6300 goes flat.So decided to buy a nokia plug in phone charger via the ciggy lighter.When I plug this in the fuse in the socket immediatly blew .Tried to remove the fuse but as a sealed unit went back to the shop..who said my problem so hard luck !!!Found a different type in Halfords which fitted the phone and seemed to have a removable/replaceable fuse.First time I tried it the fuse again blew..removed and found a glass type fuse which we think was about 2 amps.Went to local spares shop and bought pack of 5 amp replacements and tried again..result the same ..blewn fuse.
Thought too much power coming from ciggy lighter so bought a seperate dedicated female plug ciggy unit with a wired connection which I have carefully connected to a ignition fed supply via the glove box interior light.Feeling quite sure all would now be ok plugged the phone socket in and again the fuse blew.
As I am now puzzled why can anybody advise..female socket has power to it as indicated by a test light and will light a hand held flood light..is the fuse in the socket too small but would a larger fuse run the risk of damaging the phone??the female ciggy socket has max6.5amps on the side so assume my 5 amp fuses were about right

[Marks DTM Calib]

A key point here is that a fuse wont blow for no reason and more important is that they are designed to protect the supply and not the equipment because if the fuse is blowing is the equipment causing it.

So in this case it wont be the cigerette lighter at fault but more likely a problem with the the phone or charger.

Putting a larger fuse in does nothing more than increase the risk of serious damage occuring and is not something I would recommend.

Plus given that the fuse as 2 amp thats a max of 24Watts available to charge the phone which is a hell of a lot.

[amba]

fully understand your point,but the confusion is that 2 different ciggy phone chargers are doing the same thing even with no phone connected at other end,just into socket,and moreover they are 2 different sockets.
Power is still at the ciggy socket as will illuminate a  hand held light without anything blowing?

[Golfbuddy]

fully understand your point,but the confusion is that 2 different ciggy phone chargers are doing the same thing even with no phone connected at other end,just into socket,and moreover they are 2 different sockets.
Power is still at the ciggy socket as will illuminate a  hand held light without anything blowing?

What rating is the hand held lamp?

[amba]

On the plug it says 12 volt 55 watt..cheapy Halfords hand held light with red shade cover..this can be plugged into the front/rear ciggy lighters or the new extension socket I have wired in and works every time...the phone charger blows fuse the moment it is plugged in..strange thing is this is second phone charger so cant see 2 different chargers having same fault??

[Marks DTM Calib]

Do you have a volt meter available?

[Golfbuddy]

On the plug it says 12 volt 55 watt..cheapy Halfords hand held light with red shade cover..this can be plugged into the front/rear ciggy lighters or the new extension socket I have wired in and works every time...the phone charger blows fuse the moment it is plugged in..strange thing is this is second phone charger so cant see 2 different chargers having same fault??

Which, by my 'O' level physics tells me that this runs at 4.58 amps which is not dissimilar to the fuse which blew. This would suggest to me that, as MarksDTM said, it is a problem with the charger and not the circuit.

Does my logic make sense?

[x25xe]

Yes, it does and your calculation is spot on.

[Marks DTM Calib]

On the plug it says 12 volt 55 watt..cheapy Halfords hand held light with red shade cover..this can be plugged into the front/rear ciggy lighters or the new extension socket I have wired in and works every time...the phone charger blows fuse the moment it is plugged in..strange thing is this is second phone charger so cant see 2 different chargers having same fault??

Which, by my 'O' level physics tells me that this runs at 4.58 amps which is not dissimilar to the fuse which blew. This would suggest to me that, as MarksDTM said, it is a problem with the charger and not the circuit.

Does my logic make sense?

To some extent but, the fuse is in the charger.......the ciggy lighter fuse is around the 20A mark.

If you can measure voltage then stick the pos probe on the centre contact of the ciggy lighter socket and the neg on the metal surround......post teh volateg result including if its + or -

[Golfbuddy]

Yes, it does and your calculation is spot on.

25 Years later and the mind is still sharp as a tack.  

 [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif] [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

[amba]

Hope this makes sense but with ignition on and engine not running the voltage is +11.40 volts,but bearing in mind that the retro fit ciggy lighter socket is direct wired from the glove box interior ligh..didn,t realise that it only gives power when glove box flap open..so looks like i will need to find another 12volt ignition feed without pulling the dash appart

[Marks DTM Calib]

Well, you have just proven with that measurement that the ciggy lighter socket is fine.

Is any part of the phone metal and are there any other connections to the phone when you do this test?

[amba]

Assuming I am getting 12 volts at the ciggy unit..why would it then follow that 2 different mobile phone chargers by different manufactures are causing this problem.Even with no phone connected and the charger pushed into the socket the fuse instantly blows..just tried it again with another 2 amp fuse and it went

[Andy B]

Hope this makes sense but with ignition on and engine not running the voltage is +11.40 volts,but bearing in mind that the retro fit ciggy lighter socket is direct wired from the glove box interior ligh..didn,t realise that it only gives power when glove box flap open..so looks like i will need to find another 12volt ignition feed without pulling the dash appart

 :-? Surely the glove box feed is ignition live, and it earths/grounds when you open the glove box door. I'm not going out in the p***ing rain to check but I'm sure I'm right. My wife's Astra G's phone cradle was fed via the glove box live - although not tested I'm sure the previous owner wouldn't have had the glovebox open to use the phone!  :-/

[amba]

Well I am sorry to say but the plot thickens???wife has come home from work and just to see if I am going crazy tried the phone charger and phone in the ciggy lighter in her car ..renault clit...and you guessed it ..worked perfectly and the fuse didn,t blow and charges as it should.
So here seems to be the problem..either the permenant back or front vauxhall ciggy lighter..the retro fit ciggy socket wired from the glove box live(??) feed..all cause the fuse to blow in the phone charger.....plug the same charger in a different car and it works perfectly.
Do omegas have more power than any other car..unsure what to try now ..perhaps i should buy a renault..no don,t think so !!!