Hi, all:

I'm new to this forum but the reason for my joining is due to an ongoing and very frustrating issue with my cigarette lighter/charger.

Having very recently moved to New York I rely on my Garmin GPS whenever driving anywhere but to my job. A while back mycigarette lighter just stopped charging my phone and my GPS, and I took my car to the dealer. They fixed the issue but I have noticed since then that sometimes the red indicator light on my GPS cord shuts off randomly while I'm driving and using it, I just lose power to the GPS and I have to toggle the cord a bit and the light will suddenly turn back on. It appears to be loose inside of the cigarette lighter. I took my car in to the dealer again and they said it was an issue of the charger not fitting into the cigarette lighter adapter just right, and that over time if I continue using it I may blow a fuse. I am scared to death of this and have stopped using my GPS - and have gotten lost countless times since! The dealer suggested I purchase a charger adapter that has more than one output from Radio Shack which I can plug in to the cigarette lighter/charger and charge several things at once, thus never having to take it out of the lighter/charger again. I bought one (Radio Shack has two in stock) and quickly realized that it was "too big", so I took it back. I compared it with the other one that Radio Shack sells and they are the same size. The issue is the cigarette lighter charger is "too short"for the size of these aftermarket adapters and as such, the adapter doesn't activate. I hope that I'm explaining my situation in a way that makes sense. Does anyone know of a charger adapter that will fit the size of the cigarette lighter in the Mini? Has anyone else had this issue?

Lost in Yonkers,

Greenmachine007

 

I find the MINI lighter socket has a bit of a sloppy fit for some of my adaptors. I rarely use it now, since adding a pair of unswitched ones inside of my Euro parcel shelf. Still there are times I will need to use the original one, and I had picked up a cheap, two-way splitte from a truck stop for use in my old truck. I found that the plug fits very snugly in the MINI socket, and the plug itself does not stand out of the socket much at all (the plug is very compact). There are two cables branching off of the plug to individual sockets, both of which hold just about any plug fairly snug. This is worth a try. The adaptor itself was pretty cheap, less than 6 dollars if I recall correctly. This works better than the all-in-one power splitters that make for a huge, bulky mess hanging out of the socket with the items plugged in.

 

Thanks, Greatbear. I will give it a try. Not sure where I can find a truck stop but I'll do some looking around.

 

I think Greatbear is talking about this. Any auto parts store or as shown Radio Shack. Tell them your checking fit, and I'm sure they will let you carefully open it up and take it outside and try it.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

 

That sounds great - I need to get something like this. I've got my gps, radar detector and cell phone charger. Do you have any pictures of what you did?

 

Yes Greatbear-a picture would be most appreciated.

 

In all likelihood it's your plug and not the recepticle... I've had more issues with the plugs - I had to repair a broken solder joint inside the plug once on my radar detector. Make sure the contacts (the metal tabs on the sides) aren't squashed flat so much that they don't seat in the recepticle. If they're flat, the plug won't make good contact and feel sloppy in the outlet.

Another thing you can do is go to Radio Shack and buy a splitter. I have a triple splitter for my XM Radio, the Garmin and my **** saving radar detector.

Lastly, if you park outside, REMOVE your GPS and the mounting bracket from your MINI at night; theyare a huge break-in issue.

Good luck!