Phone Charger Left Plugged In Cigarette Lighter Socket

[junkofdavid2]

To the electrical dudes here. (Crossy, other dudes, are you here?)

Can leaving a celphone charger plugged in the cigarette lighter socket be dangerous?

If the charger is defective, can it cause a short circuit?

Which can then cause damage/fire to your car?

???

[neverdie]

I think most Cigarette lighters are linked up to the ignition, arnt they, so they will only operate when either the engine is running or the ignition is on accessories.

On second thought, yes they are. (Confirming my own answer). What type of car is it?

[stingray]

I think most Cigarette lighters are linked up to the ignition, arnt they, so they will only operate when either the engine is running or the ignition is on accessories.

On second thought, yes they are. (Confirming my own answer). What type of car is it?

There is anyway a fuse fort he cigarette lighter in the fuesbox. Some cars have cigarettelighters who works without igition. Nothing to worry about.

[johnsurin]

Neverdie and Stingray are both correct here, although Stingrays theory does a slight possibility of danger.

Switching the ignition off will, (if wired up to do this) kill the power to the cigarette lighter so no problem there at all.

A fuse protecting the cigarette lighter should blow under a fault circumstance so no problem here. Although the protection/insulation of a phone charger will be a lot less lower rated then a cigarette lighter, so a slightly higher chance of a bigger fault current occurring before the fuse blows.

I always leave my phone charger plugged in as my ignition cuts off the power to the cigarette lighter, otherwise I, personally, would unplug the phone charger.

John.....

[Crossy]

My cigarette lighter goes off with the ignition, however the accessory outlet next to it does NOT.

I'd unplug the charger when not using it, it's the work of a moment to plug it in. The 30 odd Amp fuse in the lighter supply will not even blink when it sees your charger go faulty

Car electrics are capable of very large currents (that battery can shift several hundred amps into a short). Usually a short that doesn't blow a fuse (badly wired radio for example) will result in a very hot wire and a potential fire

[junkofdavid2]

I knew Crossy would come up with something very logical.

Okay, regarding putting a replacement cigarette lighter plug in the socket (the former owner lost the thing)...

Am I certain that my '95 Camry's cigarette lighter socket is a 12V?

All the replacement plugs seem to be 12V; but I don't wana make the mistake of plugging in one with different voltage from the car's socket.

[neverdie]

My cigarette lighter goes off with the ignition, however the accessory outlet next to it does NOT.

I'd unplug the charger when not using it, it's the work of a moment to plug it in. The 30 odd Amp fuse in the lighter supply will not even blink when it sees your charger go faulty

Car electrics are capable of very large currents (that battery can shift several hundred amps into a short). Usually a short that doesn't blow a fuse (badly wired radio for example) will result in a very hot wire and a potential fire

Which is why there are so many tragic little fires after rats chew wiring in cars on farms?

[Crossy]

All the replacement plugs seem to be 12V; but I don't wana make the mistake of plugging in one with different voltage from the car's socket.

You will be quite safe with a 12V lighter plug

You're unlikely to find a 6V one and a 24V (truck) one will simply not get hot enough to eject.

My dad once dropped a 1/2" socket spanner extension across a 24V coach battery (2 x 12V in series, poor layout meant the 24V terminals were very close together). The result was a lot of smoke and a 1/2" diameter light bulb as the extension melted. He had the presence of mind to belt it off with a hammer, but not before both the batteries and extension were farked.

[Thanh-BKK]

Hi.

These in-car phone chargers can be a hazard all by themselves - if you bought one of those 150-Baht type ones. I once had one, for my Sony-Ericsson - although it charged the phone just fine, the device itself got SO hot that the plastic started to melt, this is no joke. I found out when i unplugged it and burned my fingers on the dam_n thing. No smoke, no smell - but the plastic had started to deform and the thing was blazing hot.

Next day i got me a genuine Sony-Ericsson one for 1,200 Baht which doesn't even get hand-warm.

Oh, and in my Isuzu there's also two sockets, one for the cigarette lighter (which will also take one such charger) and an extra one specific for chargers, GPS units or whatever other 12V device. The "lighter" one is powered/unpowered with the ignition but the second on always got power. In my previous car (Volvo 460) the lone socket (lighter) always had power.

Kind regards.....

Thanh