There are many other connectors competing to become the standard for low voltage DC, but none are as easy to insert blindly with one gloved hand while driving.
-jsw
The co-axial plug isn't a whole lot better than the cig lighter plug, and in many ways is not as good. A non-fused cig lighter plug is good for 30 amps. Most co-axials are good for 5 amps max. Rumour is there is a 15 amp version - I haven't seen one yet.
If you want high current reliability there is only one name - power-pole from Anderson.
+1. DUMB design.
True. I've only felt one plug which "felt right" in all my time in cars. It had 4 springs, made solid contact, and had an oversized spring-loaded center contact. I think it was a Bosch, but it has been decades. All the rest are trash.
Anyway, g'luck with the Amphenol.
A surprise came in the mail yesterday when my battery terminal ends came in from Hong Kong. They were brass, as advertised, but they were plated, not solid. And they were for 13mm battery posts. WTF? He kindly refunded my money, so now I'm the proud owner of 4 golden mini battery cable ends. So much for the buck apiece price, huh?
I'm really surprised that an Alfalfa Romero even _has_ a ciggie lighter.
After I wrote about Autozone's one-size-fits-none brass battery terminal I noticed they had added a Pos and Neg pair to the display.
-jsw
My HF set (with that connector style) was wired backwards by _design_. Flock op, so solly. Once I reversed the wiring on the lighter plug, all was well with the world...and the set.
Caution is advised, as they're limited to lower current draws.
Look into Anderson PowerPole connectors.
You can find them -- and the crimpers needed for them -- on the QuickSilver web page which mostly sells to ham radio operators.
You can get terminals for these for 15, 30, and 45 Amps.
The shells come as individual wire shells, or as solvent-welded pairs (Red & Black). The individual ones come with dovetails so they can be slid together to make pairs, or larger counts of pins at need. Lots of other individual colors available. And mounting blocks to make them panel mount. (They are normally just wire mounted on both ends. :-)
They are both insulated at both ends and keyed so they will only go together the right way.
Plan on having a really good grip to operate the crimper, depending on which terminal you use. The barrel style crimps seem to take more force than the folded flag style (which is the 45 Amp terminal).
The WPL-7PK45 set has seven pairs of terminals with the 45-amp crimp terminals and the solvent-welded Red/Black shells. ($13.00 for the set).
The crimper set is $99.73 for all that you need, including a number of individual shells (no welded pairs), or less for just the crimper and dies, without the stripper and insertion/extraction tool (and the fitted case. :-)
No relationship with the QuickSilver site, other than as a satisfied customer. You can get the terminals/connectors at hamfests, but I had to go on line to get the crimper -- it was beyond the capability of any crimper in my collection. :-)
Enjoy, DoN.
Interesting site, a must-read.
Tesla ROCKS! Here's a picture of his pocket model:
robobass wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
A good quality cigarette plug connector in a clean good quality socket can handle 8 to 10 amps without problems. I have a 100W inverter that has one and has never given any trouble. However, it needs to have a body that's held together properly with several screws, preferably a four sided negative spring contact and a positive contact made out of plated machined brass, not pressed steel. If the socket has actually been used for a cigarette lighter, its basically trashed by the heat and ash and will never be reliable.
If you are modding the vehicle to provide a connection point, consider fitting an ISO 4165 socket. (also frequently misnamed as a 12V 'DIN' plug)
Of course, the lighter plug was originally designed simply to power a cigarette lighter for a number of seconds (something like 15 to
30, at a guess), and the connector was capable of handling that without problems.However, when you get to long-term draw -- that is beyond its design capability.
And as for why it is on cars today -- even cars which come
*without* a cigarette lighter -- it is because it has been in cars for long enough so people have found other uses for it -- whether it is well designed for the purpose or not -- it gets *used* for those extra purposes, and people complain if it is not present. :-)Enjoy, DoN.
I have hard times imagining that the humanity cannot invent something better.
Even I can invent something better that can be inserted with a gloved hand in the dark.
Hint, it can be a coaxial twist-lock connector.
i
Well sure, but the customer has no alternative. And a modern family will wa nt to plug in many things. Navigator, portable DVD, phone charger... You st art accumulating ciggie plug extensions and end up with wires and oversized connectors all over the place. I'm sure the industry is aware of the probl em, but it's hard to revise a standard which has been there so long, not ma tter how bad it is. A revision would not only need cooperation between manu facturers of both cars and devices, but also woukd require rule changes by regulatory bodies in many countries. Fortunately, since I have a soldering iron, I don't need to wait another twenty years.
Are there really cars without cigarette lighters?
Are you talking about "SpeakOn" connectors? I thought of that, and actually have some lying around. They would be easy to use and very solid. A huge improvement I think. I'm gonna try "AmpSuperseal" though. I don't need to work dark with gloves on.
Well sure, but the customer has no alternative. And a modern family will want to plug in many things. Navigator, portable DVD, phone charger... You start accumulating ciggie plug extensions and end up with wires and oversized connectors all over the place. I'm sure the industry is aware of the problem, but it's hard to revise a standard which has been there so long, not matter how bad it is. A revision would not only need cooperation between manufacturers of both cars and devices, but also woukd require rule changes by regulatory bodies in many countries. Fortunately, since I have a soldering iron, I don't need to wait another twenty years.
Are there really cars without cigarette lighters?
This is an aftermarket cigarette lighter to replace the factory power outlet:
Jim, I maybe didn't make myself clear in my other posts, but I'm actually kind of against cigarette lighter plugs, and am seeking an alternative. The socket in my car is fine, btw.
robobass fired this volley in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:
Well... I have to agree... I'm against MOST of the 'plugs', but the sockets are reasonably well-suited to the purposes for which they were intended.
Most of the plugs, on the other hand, are cheaply made. But there are some 'professional duty' lighter plugs, with retractile side contacts (so there never are two 'hots' exposed on an unplugged plug), fusing, and robust-enough construction to hold up to thousands of manual pluggings and unpluggings.
You won't find them on WalMart hardware, though. Seldom on anything but EMS equipment, and/or military grade stuff.
Lloyd
The old "if you could have lunch with anyone in history", Tesla would be my pick...right after a few of my favorite authors.
Tom Gardner fired this volley in news:mg8f9f$eta$1 @speranza.aioe.org:
Though I respect his intelligence and innovation, Tesla was best described as "a nut".
I'd rather have a cigar and brandy with Samuel Clemens.
Lloyd
If you make it able to deliver 20-30A for a transmitter, inverter, fridge or faster air compressor, with screw terminals and strain relief for 12 AWG wire and an internal fuse to protect thinner wire, it won't be much smaller.
If you don't double or triple the present 120W power limit there's insufficient reason to change.
I added Anderson cables that I can connect to the battery without tools, via a wingnut on the Ford's starter solenoid and a spare underhood fusebox lug on the car. The negative lead is permanently connected since it isn't a fire hazard.
-jsw
I have some of the oft mentioned powerpoles, including a flange mount socket. They work ok and handle the current, but as another poster said, aren't that easy to plug in.
About my favorite for RC batteries is the old Deans Ultra Plug. Tiny and very high current for the size. But hard to plug or un-plug because of the spring tension and difficulty in getting a grasp of the tiny things. Also never seen a panel mount Deans.
You might look at marine stuff. Don't get the Marinco cigarette style plug. Pain to wire and use.
Pete Keillor
My buddy Glenn showed me that you could remove the soldering tip from a Weller 150W gun and induction-heat the terminal to solder the wire in. It worked extremely well for the 4ga armored wire he gave me to use with the towing-receiver-mounted winch.
I used the Anderson Powerpoles on the winch wiring, and I'm not all that impressed. They're less reliable than I had hoped, and I've had to reseat the things several times in the past, though they seem to plug right together. It's usually not more than one extra 'fiddle' per use, but that's once too many. I prefer plug-n-play hardware, TYVM.
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