# 12v Cigarette Lighter Extension Cord Plug & Socket Help Or Advice Please



## Round in circles (Apr 5, 2015)

Has anyone made the plugs & sockets for a 12 v car cigarette lighter socket extension on their machinery at home

 I have this perennial problem in that when the trailer home ( caravan ) is connected to the car I can't use the cigarette lighter socket to plug in the 12 v tyre inflator as the cables are too short .  same happens when I park up i can't reach the other side with out driving the car tot he other side and when this is parked up at home it means a lot of messing around . 

I'm after making a quality.. last for ever ... heavy duty  portable extension that can me kept in a plastic  carrier bag or one that I can wind up on a small cable reel that's no bigger than 7 " in diameter.  
Non of the commercial ones  that are supposed to be heavy duty that I've  seen in the last 40 odd years have eve been much use... far too flimsy all suffer from the arced up contact faces and if there is a brass sleeve /connection surface or two it's not long before they  go greasy & high resistance as it starts to oxidize . 

Simple same size wire extension cables purchased from the auto goods shops are rarely satisfactory as  the volts drop is too much to run the newer high rate tyre inflators .


 Cutting off about 8 inches from the plug & socket then extending the cables with a heavier pair of wires soldered in place and then taken back down the original cable at the end  again   still causes a big enough volts drop over the 24 feet of extension I've  made made today .
At the points of contact in the plug & socket connections . The wiped neutral  contact area ends up with about 1. 0 mm sq making contact and after a few uses this gets arched and becomes high resistance. The live center contact seem to have even less contact , it also has a great tendency to  ease itself free of metal to metal contact to the  central contact , this also makes a tiny arc and a high resistance after a few uses.

 Has anyone developed /made any solutions , other than using /making  a simple heavy duty block with a heavy  two pin fused socket to put in the car and making up a 24 foot heavy gauge electrical wire ( 4 to 5  mm dia )   extension  in the same plug ends & female socket  and putting a new heavy duty two pin plug on the tyre inflator cable as well ?


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## kd4gij (Apr 5, 2015)

I would just get a 12v jump box with a inflator built in. or one with an outlet on it. Then you don't have to mess with extensions witch are always a hassel.


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## Round in circles (Apr 5, 2015)

kd4gij said:


> I would just get a 12v jump box with a inflator built in. or one with an outlet on it. Then you don't have to mess with extensions witch are always a hassel.


  Not being American & not living in the USA ..... I don't follow your terminology of " JUMP " box  can you expand it a bit and tell me what it is please?


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## kd4gij (Apr 5, 2015)

Thay come in all sorts of shapes and configureations.  But thay have a 12v battery in side and are ysed to jump start a car.


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## Round in circles (Apr 5, 2015)

Gotcha! thanks. 
I must have been having a seniors moment .  
I think I'll have a look & see what's around the Carparts places , see what's on offer & how it stacks up to having five amps @12 volts dragged lout of it for a total of 6 x tyre & the spare tyre inflation checks ........ Say 15 minutes total discharge in a short time. 

I reckon price will be my biggest enemy and second to that weight , as I have a bust up gammy left shoulder joint and loads of grief in my lower & upper spine .. ( soon to be operated on for two stenosis and three collapsing discs ).


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## great white (Apr 5, 2015)

If I understand correctly, problem is you can't reach the trailer tires without moving the car.

My simple solution would be to use a two pin trailer plug on each side of the trailer close to the wheels:




Wire that to the trailer 12V system (make the exposed pin as the neg).

Then, take a "female" cig lighter plug similar to this:




put the opposite of the two pin plugs on the wire ends and then you can just move the inflator from side to side, plugging it in as needed.

To keep weather out of the two pin plugs on the trailer, just snip the wires off another 2 pin plug and leave it installed. A little smear of grease will help keep the corrosion out.

Since the Cig lighter adapter can be removed, you keep it inside the car or trailer and it won't corrode and get all "mungy".

You can also put more two pin plugs where ever you want 12v power that you can use a cig plug lighter adapter.

That's what I would do. In fact, that's what i did to install a removable macerator/Septic pump.....works perfect.


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## RJSakowski (Apr 5, 2015)

Cigarette lighter plugs and sockets were not designed for high current draw.  There are better styles available but for high current use, I go to a dual pin connector, similar to a  European plug  and the ones I find in UK bathrooms for electric shavers.  For higher current, you can run a search for marine power connectors.   

If you want to make up an  extension cable try a search for  "50Amp Anderson Style Plug 12v 24v Carvan Charger Battery DC Power Connector" on e-bay.  These connectors are substantial.  You will need two of them to make a connection. I bought some for an interconnect in a fifty amp circuit.   From China, you can fin them for about $2.00 US.


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## Round in circles (Apr 5, 2015)

great white said:


> If I understand correctly, problem is you can't reach the trailer tires without moving the car.
> 
> My simple solution would be to use a two pin trailer plug on each side of the trailer close to the wheels:
> 
> ...




 Thanks for the pictures they are helpful , not just for me , but for any one looking to comment 
The socket  is exactly the same as is on the purchased extension and is a totally useless device for a heavy current draw as the surface area of the wiping contacts of the inserted plug are so small you get burn marks on the brass .  

 Can you get the moulded plug cable in a decent thickness and lengths ? Any idea what the plug & sockets are named as by any company .. they might be self assembly if I'm lucky .


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## Round in circles (Apr 5, 2015)

RJSakowski said:


> Cigarette lighter plugs and sockets were not designed for high current draw.  There are better styles available but for high current use, I go to a dual pin connector, similar to a  European plug  and the ones I find in UK bathrooms for electric shavers.  For higher current, you can run a search for marine power connectors.
> 
> If you want to make up an  extension cable try a search for  "50Amp Anderson Style Plug 12v 24v Carvan Charger Battery DC Power Connector" on e-bay.  These connectors are substantial.  You will need two of them to make a connection. I bought some for an interconnect in a fifty amp circuit.   From China, you can fin them for about $2.00 US.


 

Thankyou RJ,
I'm off to play on the bay for a while to see what I can dredge up using those terms ... Cheers.


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## great white (Apr 5, 2015)

Round in circles said:


> Thanks for the pictures they are helpful , not just for me , but for any one looking to comment
> The socket  is exactly the same as is on the purchased extension and is a totally useless device for a heavy current draw as the surface area of the wiping contacts of the inserted plug are so small you get burn marks on the brass .
> 
> Can you get the moulded plug cable in a decent thickness and lengths ? Any idea what the plug & sockets are named as by any company .. they might be self assembly if I'm lucky .


Respectfully, Im not sure what you are running for a pump but I air up 32" truck tires after a trail ride on my 3/4 ton 4x4 running that same socket plug on a portable air pump.

I use this pump:



A bit inadequate for my needs so I end up running it too long lost times. Its temporary until I finish my on board air (supplied by a edp - York compressor)

I installed the CIG lighter in place of the clamps. The socket is powered directly from a 10 gauge wire from the power post in the understood fuse box that also powers the charger and brakes on our 9000 lb travel trailer.

Been mounted in the bed of my truck (has a spring loaded weather cap) for the last 5 years without an issue. I live in altlantic Canada, weather doesn't get much worse than here for corrosion and extremes. If I had to guess, I'd say the plug wiring was 12 gauge on the female CIG/acc plug.

Works fine, nothing gets hot. 

That's just my .02 

YMMV.

Your call how you want to go.

Cheers


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## pdentrem (Apr 5, 2015)

There are heavy duty versions of the type Great White pictured. I got some rated at 10 amps instead of only 3 amps from a local electronics shop. Another style is what I see called Powerpole by Anderson. Some are rated to 350 amps.


Pierre


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## mudwizer (Apr 6, 2015)

Try using a 25' coiled air line


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## Round in circles (Apr 11, 2015)

The tyres on the caravan need 55 PSI , this  surprised me as they are usually only 35 to 40 PSI on most caravans . for the short away days we've just come back from i made up a temporary extension out of a pair of soft wire jumper cables with a 6 mm dia fine multi strand copper core . 
 I was able to park along side the van and get the inflator plugged in the extension cable by running it out the door off the cigarette lighter socket of the car. 

 As the caravan has a 100 ah ledger 20 hour battery i decided I'll be putting  in a heavy duty take off point  in either side of the caravan inside a small flush fitting  hinged lidded  box & be changing the plug and power cabling to a heavier rating for the compressor .  The bigger cable is because I found the manufacturers thin twin core  cable was a wee bit too warm for comfort  after putting in 15 PSI to take it to the recommended 55 PSI in one of the tyres ( It had been stood unused unchecked for nearly five months ) .


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## British Steel (Apr 12, 2015)

If you aren't fussed about using specifically lighter plugs and sockets, look up Neutrik "Speakon" connectors, they're used in PA systems delivering anything up to kilowatts (so tens of Amps) to speaker cabinets, take hefty cables for that reason, are quick-release with a latch - and they're not even that expensive if you get the glass-filled-plastic bodied versions! Run a fused 6mm cable from the battery to the socket (hidden in the car's boot?) and earth the negative side to the bodyshell and all's good!


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## Bill C. (May 10, 2015)

Try any good auto or truck parts supply store.  Tell them what you are planing and hopefully they can guide you to the right product.  As one of comments pointed out some of plugs weren't designed for heavy amperage.  If you feel the wire or plug when it is under a load and it is hot then it is to small.  

Good luck I have one of those small inflators.  Mine has enough cord to reach the rear wheels on our mini-van.  Never thought about using one on a RV.


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