cigarette lighter... ground?

[Coastal]

Probably an easy question for someone with any electrical knowledge, of which I have none.....I am putting in a new aftermarket cigarette lighter that has a male connection for power on the lighter itself and a male connector for a ground wire on the housing that screws to the back.

Best I can tell the power is a little thicker gauge (than the rest of the wires) red wire with black stripe.....traced it all the way to the fuse block and I think I have the right one. I cannot for the life of me find a spare ground anywhere. Do I need to ground the housing with a wire that runs someplace, or does it just ground to the dash with no wire by the housing that screws on by contacting the dash....... or am I missing a ground wire someplace?

 

[Pin_Head]

Nearly all chassis sheet metal is a ground, which is why you find (or need) very few ground wires. Ground it to the nearest clean sheet metal or screw or bolt.

 

[Coastal]

Pin Head - thanks for the help.....Won't the housing itself act as a ground? It's got more sheet metal contact that just a screw would. Would my orginal lighter have had a ground wire, or just this red & black wire for power?

I would think the ground terminal on the housing would just be in case you were not mounting it to sheet metal (but wood or fiberglass etc)

 

[psreno]

They should ground through the housiing. HOWEVER, if you have painted, dirty and/or rusted out patches you may not be getting enough contact.

Steel wool or sandpapers on the backside of the dash to ensure good electrical contact.

 

[Pin_Head]

Like most things on cars, the housing mounting to sheet metal is the ground on the stock cruiser lighter. On later cars where the dash is plastic, then you start finding ground wires.