daopi Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hi! I have a Pathfinder 97 XE, and I tried to use a device which takes max 13A from the cigarette lighter socket. After 10 minutes stopped working. I thought would be the fuse (number 13, 15A) but I was wrong: the fuse is fine. I checked the FSM and no other fuse or relay should be on the way. Anyone an idea? Can be the socket...? Thank you! Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissandoms47 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 replace the fuse anyways. then try it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I know in my moms car sometimes you have to wiggle it to make it work again. Maybe the connection is loose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edicer2 Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 i had the problem on mine too just had to wiggle it around Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff57 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 (edited) Some sockets have a thermal fuse strip mounted at the back of the positive terminal that melts if the socket over heats. It is generally non repairable but can be bypassed by soldering a piece of wire across it. Geoff Edited January 12, 2009 by Geoff57 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daopi Posted February 21, 2009 Author Share Posted February 21, 2009 This is what I did: 1. checked the fuses with multimeter and all were fine. 2. I wiggled ten million times the socket without any result. Very frustrating. 3. I opened the cover and I checked with a multimeter if there is power at the plug and there was! Put back the plug, pressed hard... but nothing. So the last solution was replacing the socket, which I did and then was FINE! So Geoff was right: Some sockets have a thermal fuse strip mounted at the back of the positive terminal that melts if the socket over heats. It is generally non repairable but can be bypassed by soldering a piece of wire across it. As a lesson, for things drawing more than 10 amps I will use power collected direct from the battery. Is less headache. Thank you all for ideas! Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff57 Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Great news Daniel, These plug sockets really are very inefficient at conducting any sort of decent current load. For such a large plug they only have a very small actual contact area for the current to flow through. This is why they generate so much heat and destroy themselves. When replacing them always pay extra and get good quaility ones that are less likely to overheat. Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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