cigarette lighter help for satnav

ginjim

hi im thinking about buying a sat nav but i'm sure my cigarette lighter doesnt work too good it works sometimes but very weak (never gets red)do i need this for satnav to work or how can i fix it thanks

balsingh

You actual lighter might not be working. Try something else like a car mobile phone charger to test it out. The fact that it manages to heat the lighter up somewhat means it probably is workign perfectly fine and its the lighter which isnt too good.

Most Sat Navs do need to use the cigarette lighter to charge the unit.

reduceditem

Buy a home charger adaptor from Maplins for whatever sat nav u get.

IcyEars

Sounds like the element in the lighter part is going (as balsingh is saying), and not a problem with the socket.

From what I remember, the main body of the lighter socket is connected to the negative battery (through the cars body) and the far end of the socket is the positive. The difference between the two is what provides the power to heat the element in the cig lighter and light your fag.

If you smoke a lot in the car (or at least stop and light people fags on the street!), it could be that the lighter socket is dirty.

Buy some Babywipes. Wad a couple up, wrap them round your finger and stick them in the socket and clean the insides of the socket (don't worry, it won't shock you - except maybe the colour of them when they come out!). This should be sufficient to clean any debris off and make the socket OK for the SatNav.

I smoke lots and have to do this now and again and mine works fine. When the charging light goes off, whip out the wet wipes and give it a wipe!

On an aside, wet wipes are good for cleanine pretty much every part of the car (and house) and it is well worth getting some. They are especially good at cleaning bug splat off and wing mirrors (with wing mirros, wipe them and let them dry them buff them up with any old bit of rag - iff possible, add some oil [veg, olive, motor - although not a lot] or washing machine conditioner to the rag before buffing up. It takes longer to buff up (i.e rub to get rid of the oil/conditioner smears) but they don't get as dirty as quickly (the rain cleans them) and they are easier to clean next time.

As to fixing it, goto Halfords and get another lighter (or your cars main dealer if you want it to match). If you want to check first, borrow a friends and see if that works OK. I go through a lighter element every year or two so that us much more likely. If it's the power connection, it could point to a more serious problem with the power so consult a mechanic.

Icy.