my wife bought me a 12v cool box from makro the other day (£19.99 plus VAT) i tested it yesterday in the car for about 5 hours driving from Portsmouth to evesham and back (getting rid of mum after a holiday) and i have used it today as i was at longleat doing promotion work in a puddle jumping reefer.
the snag is that is doesn’t work now as the cigarette lighter plug has melted, luckily i was in the cab when it started as it stunk like mad and it may have gone up in flames if i hadnt pulled it out (could it?).
the question is why?
i had my satnav and fridge plugged in and it melted my dual adaptor plug, i pulled that out (still works but wont trust it again-its in the bin) and plugged my cool box straight in to the socket (with hindsight not a good move) and it melted the plug on that too. have i been drawing too much power from the socket or is it a fault on the vehicle or the cool box plug?
i plugged my satnav in on the way back and kept pulling it out to see if it was warm but after a few times it was still cool so left it in all the way back (2 hours) and it was fine!
please don’t ask me about ratings as i don’t really understand it that much
if i wanted one for next weekend (cool box that is) would it be better plugged into a hella plug? through an adaptor or straight in?
how easy are the cigarette plugs to change? what do i need (3a fused, will this do for it?)
sorry i haven’t explained it very well but I’m a bit thick when it comes down to wiggly electrics in cars/trucks?
IT sounds like that the plug you had fitted was
not a good one and could not take the heat
which comes from the current when it was plugged in
The best plugs are HELLA and also check the wireing
on the cigeratte lighter switch you will find that it was not
up to scratch,as well,I use a waceo fridge and have no problems
with the cigeratte lighter plug where i have it plugged in,
I thought 12v was only available through hella plugs on trucks and if its only designed to work on 12v (which at £19.99 it will be) you’ll need to get an adapter and/or dropper.
brit pete:
,I use a waceo fridge and have no problems
with the cigeratte lighter plug where i have it plugged in,
cheers for that pete.
do you plug yours in through an adaptor (so you can have satnav/laptop as well) or is it just straight in the plug?
do you know if you can change the cigarette lighter plug for a hella plug easily? ( i am crap at soldering and wouldnt trust my handy work) can you get ones where the wire is held in by srews/clamps instead of hard wired?
gibsa i let the experts do the work
and get the guys out of the workshop
to fit the lorry with the reqiured plugs
as this is what my employer wishes and
this saves problems happening,
no i do not use a adaptor and the fridge is
DUAL-VOLTAGE any way, 12/24:
I agree Harry, but then I guess everyone will be waking up to flat betteries.
I have installed extra Hella plugs in the truck but used the cig socket for my phone charger, funny enough it ran really hot the other week so I got an adaptor and now plug it into the Hella too
In the last couple of years I have gone through quite a few 12 or 24 volt kettles. I’ve come to the conclusion that 12v are better - they take longer to melt the plugs. The whole electrical system seems to be suspect for these high conumption accessories.
I now have a plug which seems to work well, and I fit it to every new kettle!
how do you fit the new plug gardun? are they easy to fit?
does anybody have a waeco fridge for sale? i have looked on ebay and they are a bit expensive for me so i guess i will have to see what santa brings me in 4 months time!
Giblsa:
i guess my problem is me being stupid and plugging a 12v cool box in to a 24v socket?
Not only. Also the fridge whas poor
I bought my own one for 15 in tescos and it was working two days on 24v before just stopped to work.
I didn’t knew what’s wrong, so I went to tesco and they exchanged it to me. Then friend told me what’s was wrong.
So now I have converter, but justice find me anywhere and my new fridge is broken as well, and this time I lost my receipt. So we are equal with Tesco’s now ;D
Harry Monk:
A Hella Plug is always a better bet for something like a fridge. More metal in contact.
Now i’m not big on terminology, my cooler box (12V)has a cigarette lighter plug on it. It also has a small red collar which when i remove the red collar i presume that makes it a hella socket? Well whatever, if i take off the red collar it works better in the cigarette lighter socket than it does with it on. But also, do you have anything constricting the air flow on the cooler box? Them vents on the top are one for air in and one for air out and if you restrict either your motor is going to be going overtime. Sorry if you know that, just thought i would point it out.
Heat in an electrical circuit is caused by resistance.
Resistance can be caused by a multitude of things, but in the case of your fridge plug is very likely to have been caused by being of poor quality construction or assembly. One of the primary causes for plugs overheating is a loose connection, which creates a very high resistance and therby lots of heat. Try a quality plug, but solder the conections in rather than using the screw terminals.
what a lot of our drivers do is toget the workshop
to fir a normal household plug and socket with
a extra wireing being fitted by the workshop,
and the all ,have no problems,as regards
hot plugs, warm cable, etc, If you are needing a fridge
it,s worth buying a really good one as they last longer,
and keep you food and drink cold down to -18, also the
all normaly have dual voltage 12/24 automatic,
I have taken a few pictures of various plugs and sockets that I use. The plug that Mike C is talking of with the red cap is universal and is suitable in most trucks. I prefer the original Hella and you can buy them from most accessory shops.
Before plugging anything in, use a tester, even if is only a bulb with 2 wires sellotaped to it.
When I have worked in Holland Belgium or Germany the trucks have been ready wired using the white domestic sockets. The one above is so I could make an extension lead. The European sockets are by far the tidiest way to get a decent power supply and the plugs are easier to fit than a 13amp plug.
The 140W Belkin Inverter is sufficient for my laptop and I use it to charge my bluetooth earpiece up if i forget the usb cable.
With this USB cable I can also use the laptop with the Sat Nav.
The silver double adaptor is only really suitable for phone chargers sat nav etc or light use.
The 2 plugs on the left are standard cigar lighter plugs, but the plug on the right is a Hella. The black cap unscrews and inside are two brass srews to attach the wires like a domestic plug.
Again, one of each with the standard cigar lighter to show the different size. See how much metal is used on the contact compared to cigar lighter plugs.
The most important thing having these fitted properly. Our workshops have always fitted them and if you need extras, they should be willing to help. It is better to have them fitted properly than have to wait for the Fire Service & Wrecktech
Gibsla the Contacts inside the Hella Plug should be the same as inside a House plug i.e a brass pole with mini screw to tighten to grip the wire.
I have a couple of hella plugs here if you need them
I’d always recommend using the hella rather than cigarette socket as the supply caters for the amps over a longer period whereas the cigarette lighter socket cable is only designed for that short burst of power to heat the lighter element lasting a few seconds.
I’ve had a few plugs melt and I’ve noticed that the centre contact is always pointed.This means a lot of power is trying to get through a very small contact area.As Hombre says heat is generated bcause of the resistance.Try to get a plug with either a rounded or preferably flat-ended centre contact.
I converted my kettle and oven to the three pin plug and socket setup that you find on household kettles or computer/printer power leads.About £2 each from truckstops.
Giblsa:
this might seem like a stupid question (yet again i hear you say) but do most wagons have hella sockets in them?
i know most 7.5t dont but the majority of wagons i have driven i havent really seen them , but thats probably because i havent looked for them.
where are they in a daf cf? (i think thats what i’m in all weekend)
There are not so many small trucks have the hella as standard, although it is getting a lot better. I cant help you with a Daf 75, but DAF trucks had them fitted in 1985
