Cigarette lighter

[Tim S]

I recently had several small jobs done at Caterham Crawley, including fixing the cigarette lighter which hasn't worked for ages. It now works - apparently a lose connection and blown fuse. But, when I put the car (1999 Vauxhall 8v) in the garage I noticed that the green light ring around the lighter is lit even with ignition off, so the lighter is permanently connected. Is this a problem? Will it cause battery drain, is there a fire risk? Can I plug in a trickle charger through the socket? (Never needed to use before but maybe it will be needed now.)

 

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Do you have or want a battery master switch?

That socket is probably wired directly to the battery (hopefully with a fuse) so it doesn't know if the ignition is on or off. You can choose to wire it any way you want.

The drain is probably tiny, but some 7s are marginal on battery capacity with long periods of disuse, and I suppose it could tip the balance.

I don't think there's a fire risk.

Yes, a socket wired that way is fine for charging (check the fuse rating) but you want a conditioning charger not a traditional trickle charger if it's going to be connected for long periods. If it does live on a charger the drain from the light is irrelevant.

Jonathan

[revilla]

If the illumination LED is drawing 20mA, that's 480mAh per day. That will (theoretically at least) completely flatten a 30Ah Banner battery in 62 days. If you are going to keep it on a conditioning charger it should be fine but that's enough to put a sizeable dent in the battery's state of charge with just a few weeks lack of use.

However, on a K Series (I don't know much about the Vx 8V) the engine electrics can drain more than this with the ignition off if the main relay isn't wired in and the immobiliser can draw something similar so how significant the "extra" drain of LED is over what is already there I'm not sure.

There really shouldn't be a fire risk.

[JNC]

Easy remove the lamp you don't need it without it no drain ! It should be a push fit in the rear of the holder.

[Tim S]

Thanks for the very speedy replies. How could I be so thick (no comments please) - turning off the battery master switch was the solution. Interesting calculation for battery drain. I suppose i could remove the lamp in case I forget the master switch but it does look good.

Good to know that there are such helpful people on hand.

 

 

 

[Jonathan Kay]

Interesting calculation for battery drain.

Agreed.

You need to check if that socket is isolated by the "master" switch (or wired directly to the battery).

... and if it is don't expect a charger connected to the socket to do anything with the master switch off!

;-)

Jonathan