Car adapter damage?

Can the improper use of a cigarette lighter adapter (to charge a
cellphone or portable stereo) cause damage to the car's battery or
electrical system?

I once plugged a CB radio into a car's cig lighter and it kind of
went
in only halfway, or at a bit of an angle. It caused the car power to
shut off while the vehicle was in full motion!

 

[Charles Schuler]

<gplantam@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1176148811.337549.172090@y66g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...

Can the improper use of a cigarette lighter adapter (to charge a
cellphone or portable stereo) cause damage to the car's battery or
electrical system?

I once plugged a CB radio into a car's cig lighter and it kind of
went
in only halfway, or at a bit of an angle. It caused the car power to
shut off while the vehicle was in full motion!

Did the car stop? Did the dashboard display quit? Did the radio quit? Did
the interior lights quit? Did the turn-signals quit?

How did you fix it?

A cigarette lighter is wired with a larger gage of wire and high currents
(as much as 20 A) are possible. You need to check on the particular car
make and model to determine how overcurrent protection is implemented for
that circuit. For example, on some vehicles the connector is protected by a
15 amp ACC fuse in the passenger compartment fuse box.

 

gplantam@gmail.com> wrote in message

I once plugged a CB radio into a car's cig lighter and it kind of
went
in only halfway, or at a bit of an angle. It caused the car power to
shut off while the vehicle was in full motion!

Did the car stop? Did the dashboard display quit? Did the radio quit? Did
the interior lights quit? Did the turn-signals quit?

How did you fix it?

Yeah, all the power went out on the car. I had to turn the key off
then started it again as normal and it was fine. Weird, huh?