[ryangus]

Whenever I plug in my GPS in my Vitara, it blows the 20A fuse that also protects the stereo. This GPS causes no problems in my other vehicles. Any idea what might be the cause of this?

[TryHard]

i was looking at my fuses last night in my car and the cig plug and the stereo share the same fuse i was thinkn a bigger fuse but im not sure if u can get a bigger fuse in those size fuse's ..as for why its blowing im not quite sure maby its drawing more then the fuse can take ..im not a great sparky...most cars i have worked on have had a septate fuse for the stereo its usaly a 15amp or 20 ..so i could be right about it drawing to much power ...is ur stereo fancy at all eg got amp sub...also now i rember that my gfs rodeo has aux plug for cig and a norm cig socket ..does ur vit have any different sockets for ur gps to plug into .

[fordem]

On the assumption that you're plugging the GPS into the cigarette lighter socket, I would take a closer look at the socket - I'm pretty certain your GPS doesn't pull more than 3~5A - so there's something about the socket that's causing a short circuit and blowing the fuse.

[BUZOOKA]

TryHard wrote:

i was looking at my fuses last night in my car and the cig plug and the stereo share the same fuse i was thinkn a bigger fuse but im not sure if u can get a bigger fuse in those size fuse's ..as for why its blowing im not quite sure maby its drawing more then the fuse can take ..im not a great sparky...most cars i have worked on have had a septate fuse for the stereo its usaly a 15amp or 20 ..so i could be right about it drawing to much power ...is ur stereo fancy at all eg got amp sub...also now i rember that my gfs rodeo has aux plug for cig and a norm cig socket ..does ur vit have any different sockets for ur gps to plug into .

the highest blade fuse i have found isa 40 amp . mainly ive seen them used in spotlight seatups

[foonji]

Check out the socket, its more than likely something is shorting...

you can buy similar style screw in replacement ones at jaycar if it is screwed.

[suzibob]

Yes I have seen the positive clips in the socket really close to the outside neg side quite a few times. So when you plug a device in, she shorts out. Also, if you have had your dash apart, make sure your positive is the centre pin and neg is outside. Just check it with a test light, and have a good look inside the socket. A gps would barely use 1-2amps to run. Also, it won't matter if you have a big stereo (amps etc) because your headunit would barely use 10amps flat stick. Power is drawn from that fat fully sick hubib cable going to your amp, not the headunit.

[fordem]

TryHard wrote:

i was looking at my fuses last night in my car and the cig plug and the stereo share the same fuse i was thinkn a bigger fuse but im not sure if u can get a bigger fuse in those size fuse's ..as for why its blowing im not quite sure maby its drawing more then the fuse can take ..im not a great sparky...most cars i have worked on have had a septate fuse for the stereo its usaly a 15amp or 20 ..so i could be right about it drawing to much power ...is ur stereo fancy at all eg got amp sub...also now i rember that my gfs rodeo has aux plug for cig and a norm cig socket ..does ur vit have any different sockets for ur gps to plug into .

BUZOOKA wrote:

the highest blade fuse i have found isa 40 amp . mainly ive seen them used in spotlight seatups

Fitting a larger fuse in an attempt to get around a problem of repeated fuse blowing is a really bad idea. The fuse exists for one purpose and one purpose only, to prevent an electrical fire from starting in the event of a short circuit.

If the fuse blows repeatedly, you have one of two conditions - a short circuit or an overloaded circuit - both of which are fire hazards - the solution is to find the problem and fix it, repair the short circuit or reduce the load. If you really must power the load then fit an upgraded circuit, properly wired and fused to handle the load.

[ryangus]

fordem wrote:

TryHard wrote:

i was looking at my fuses last night in my car and the cig plug and the stereo share the same fuse i was thinkn a bigger fuse but im not sure if u can get a bigger fuse in those size fuse's ..as for why its blowing im not quite sure maby its drawing more then the fuse can take ..im not a great sparky...most cars i have worked on have had a septate fuse for the stereo its usaly a 15amp or 20 ..so i could be right about it drawing to much power ...is ur stereo fancy at all eg got amp sub...also now i rember that my gfs rodeo has aux plug for cig and a norm cig socket ..does ur vit have any different sockets for ur gps to plug into .

BUZOOKA wrote:

the highest blade fuse i have found isa 40 amp . mainly ive seen them used in spotlight seatups

Fitting a larger fuse in an attempt to get around a problem of repeated fuse blowing is a really bad idea. The fuse exists for one purpose and one purpose only, to prevent an electrical fire from starting in the event of a short circuit.

If the fuse blows repeatedly, you have one of two conditions - a short circuit or an overloaded circuit - both of which are fire hazards - the solution is to find the problem and fix it, repair the short circuit or reduce the load. If you really must power the load then fit an upgraded circuit, properly wired and fused to handle the load.

agreed. I'll investigate the cigarette socket, and hopefully that fixes the problem.

[89_tintop]

some cigarette sockets have the positive point wrap slightly up an d comes near the negative point..

if you put the plug in the wrong position then it whorts out.

as had been said befor check the socket.

its really hard to explain without being there showing what does what

[ryangus]

grrr... I changed the old corroded socket over, plugged the GPS in, and the fuse blew again. I'm over it... she can find her own bloody way around!

[lordfury007]

Does it blow the fuse with another cigarette lighter adaptor in there? ie: the adaptor to charge your mobile phone - there might be a short in your GPS cigarette lighter plug, not the socket.

another option is, depending on what car you're putting it into, is wiring up a separate cable just for your GPS.

Just run a fairly thick cable directly from your battery through to a cigarette lighter under the dash somewhere, and put an in-line fuse near the battery. That has the added bonuses of not using up the original car lighter socket (so you can charge mobiles etc) and it will stay on even when you turn the car off. (a gps shouldnt put any strain on your battery over a day or two)