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I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla. Recently, the fuse for the cigarette lighter blew when I put in a car charger. The fuse powers the cigarette lighter as well as the radio and I think the backlighting on the air conditioner panel. I tried replacing the fuse (15W) and it blew again when I put in the charger. This happened once or twice more. There are no aftermarket items here, everything including the radio is original as far as I know. I also didn't do anything differently than in the past. This is not a new car charger, I have been using it for a year with no problems. Any idea why all of a sudden using the charger and radio blow the fuse repeatedly?

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  • Just to clarify: by “car charger” you mean mobile phone or GPS charger/power supply etc.?
    – theUg
    Commented Jul 16, 2013 at 7:30
  • Run new 8gauge wire directly to the battery, run the wire along the fuel lines and make sure you don't fuse them. That way you won't have to deal with any blown fuses.
    – Mike Saull
    Commented Jul 16, 2013 at 16:52
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    @MikeSaull: Unfused wires are a very bad idea. If you have a short, the wire will burn through, sending molten copper everywhere.
    – Hobbes
    Commented Apr 28, 2016 at 9:49
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    @MikeSaull wow, really bad and dangerous advice. Theres a reason why cars have fuses, to stop fires. The car is designed to have a 15A fuse, so these electrics shouldn't pull more than 15A. Theres an issue with one of the electrical items here, or the load is too much for the given wiring. Do the job properly and run a new, fused line if necessary and don't endanger killing the car, or someone.
    – Steve Oakes
    Commented Aug 18, 2016 at 2:40
  • my problem is my cigarette lighter...1st the car deck and view cam was connected to the cigarette lighter...2nd i disconnected the car deck from the source line....But it still tripps the cigarette fuse when i plug the viewcam
    – adesh
    Commented Apr 14, 2017 at 0:14

3 Answers 3

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I figured it out. There was a piece of metal that fell off the tip of one of my car chargers that was inside the cigarette lighter... It kept blowing the fuse but when I discovered it and removed it, the problem was fixed.

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Sounds like the car charger has a short in it. If you really, really wanted to I supposed you could test for low resistance across the charger plug. Or, perhaps try plugging it into a different car and see if it blows the fuse there.

If it was me, I'd try a different device in the car and verify that it's not a loose socket. If it fails that, I'd get the socket fixed and then try the charger again. If some other device worked fine on the car, I'd be looking for a new charger. I'm very hesitant to try a possible shorted device anywhere as I've already had a car electrical fire due to a fuse failing to blow when some wiring shorted out...

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I've blown three on my 99 Tacoma. A tech told me my Verizon charger was the culprit, as its ground contacts on the side are "longer than most." Everyone I've heard of with this problem is using a Verizon charger.

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  • I also have a Verizon charger that keeps on doing this. This only happens in my ford taurus. It never happens in my two vans. Does anyone have any guesses on why this is happening? The system would not let me comment below Daniel since I do not have enough reputation points.
    – cokedude
    Commented Aug 17, 2016 at 23:49

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