Quick Question - Cigarette lighter, is it always live?

[Rawhide]

I've bought a solar charger that is plugged into the cigarette lighter.

I've just checked the instructions and notice it needs the lighter to be live at all times.

Most cars I've had the lighter has not been on the live circuit.

I can check when I get home but can anyone advise?

[ukkid35]

It is in mine, but the wiring has been seriously butchered.

Also, the lighter itself shorts out so the fuse blows. Not a problem but weird.

[Brummmie]

Brummmie said:

Its live.

Its good for charging the phone!

[Tanguero]

It is permanently live according to the wiring diagrams. However I could never get a conventional trickle charger to do much in the lighter socket. The resistance of the connection was so high that the battery terminals were seeing less than 11v with 14v at the lighter socket.

Solar chargers need to be fairly hefty too, I tried a 35W panel without much success.

[Rawhide]

Tanguero said:

Solar chargers need to be fairly hefty too, I tried a 35W panel without much success.

Thanks guys. Thats not great reading. My panel makes 3 watts and will get the sun for most of the day. I'm also intending to drive the car once a week anyway so I'll see how I get one. It was pretty good value but hard to really tell if it's doing any good