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Gliderman8

Gliderman8

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Trying to finish up all the little odds and ends to my total resto. This afternoon I ventured into my garage since the temp warmed up into the 40's (F).
I proceeded to hook up the power and ground to the cigarette lighter. When I pushed the ligher into the recepticle, SMOKE everywhere. I quickly unscrewed the quick disconnect on the battery terminal and let the smoke clear. Seems like the amps it was drawing was just too much for the +12 volt line I was using. Tomorrow I will go back and assess the damage. I'm hoping I can just run a new +12v line and run a SEPARATE +12v heavier gauge wire for the lighter.
I dodged a bullet! :shocked:
 
I would suggest a fuse for the lighter, too. They do sometimes short; in fact I would be looking to be sure that's not the case now. A lighter shouldn't draw more than about 15-20 amps, which should not have smoked even 18 AWG wire (tho you certainly want to run heavier wire than that).
 
Great suggestion Randall! I will add the fuse, and check the lighter itself to make sure there are no shorts.
I am just about done with a six year rebuild, and almost up in smoke.... it was scary. Thanks for the good advice.
 
tomshobby said:
Hope it didn't melt inside a harness.
Click to expand...

Say it aint so!!!
I hope it didn't either! I don't want to deal with it now so I'll just have to wait until Sunday night or Monday.
 
Randall is right re: the fuse & heavier wire. Also, tap your hot side off the ignition switch or the amp gauge....piggy-backing off another accessory can compound the problem.
FRank
 
The +12v line that I used was the radio feed. I did this so that I could use the recepticle in the "accessory" position for my cell phone charger when the ignition was off.
I just looked at the schematics in the Bently manual. They do not show any cigarette lighter at all.
Was this a dealer installed option?
 
Yes.
 
Gliderman8 said:
The +12v line that I used was the radio feed. I did this so that I could use the recepticle in the "accessory" position for my cell phone charger when the ignition was off.
Click to expand...
That's fine if you're just going to charge your cell phone. But if you are going to run an actual lighter, I'd suggest making it hot all the time.

Kind of a lot of current to draw through the ignition switch, IMO.
 
Right you are Randall. I don't smoke, but I think I will run a separate line anyway (with a fuse!) just to be safe. I only hope not too much damage was done to the harness... to be continued.
 
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