[Che]

The elec circuit powering my dash ciggy socket keeps blowing fuses, but no idea why. This circuit runs straight from battery, and via a fuse holder and an on/off switch, but i've checked the entire length and there's no faults in the cabling, no rubbing or cable grounding against the chassis anywhere.

Three fuses blown in a week... any ideas?

[Brett]

what is the earth like for the lighter? they need a good one and are normally earthed thru its body onto the mount

[Che]

I'm using the stock ciggy earth wire... i'll chase it back to the body and see what I find

[fordem]

A defective earth wont cause the fuse to blow - if the wiring is not at fault, it'll be the socket itself or whatever you have plugged in.

Is it the original lighter socket or an after market one?

[Damo]

How much stuff do you have hanging off that circuit? I'm thinking you've got too much connected to it and the fuse is just doing is job.

[Che]

It's the original ciggy socket with hard soldered 25A rated wire connecting it all up. The only thing on the circuit is the ipod - I flick the power on every couple of days to charge it back up, but been doing this the last 6 months and hasn't been a problem... maybe the ipod cable has been stomped on one too many times in the passenger footwell?

[alexvitara]

maybe try plug something else in, what size fuse you using?

[royce]

look inside the socket and youll see the little prongs that stick out that are connected to positive, make sure they cant touch the negative shell, sometimes they move around

otherwise, does it only blow once the switch is on?
does it blow with nothing plugged in?

[Che]

I think it's only happening when it the circuit is live - i'll kill another fuse and see for sure. I'll check the prongs too.

I did have a 25A fuse, then a 20A fuse, last I used a 10A fuse... i've run out now - gotta go buy some more

[Damo]

che_guitarra wrote:

I think it's only happening when it the circuit is live - i'll kill another fuse and see for sure. I'll check the prongs too.

I did have a 25A fuse, then a 20A fuse, last I used a 10A fuse... i've run out now - gotta go buy some more

Buy a few to keep as spares. 25A is pretty big for a ciggy lighter, i'm pretty sure they usually run a 10A fuse. If you are blowing 25A fuses I change my assessment, i'd say you have a short to ground somewhere.

[Che]

Yeah 10A or 15A fuses are the go, but I only had a few random spares in the glovebox.

New fusebox install is fine - headlights working no dramas, horn and inverter work dramas... just the 12v sockets.

I lost two more today alone. Seems to happen soon after I park up and leave the ipod on charge. I got an ipod cable that also feeds into the car stereo - maybe it's sending a spike through the system?

[Moag]

Have you tried to plug some other accessory into your cig socket yet?

If the load is less then the amp rating of your fuse it will not blow if your circuit is ok. This would indicate that your ipod power lead has been bent to many times and is shorting. Is it one of those usb to ipod plug leads that come with your ipod?

Alternatively plug your ipod into someone else's cig socket and see if it blows their fuse.