Figured I'd post up some of my experiences as I try to get this thing ready for the trip. I spent a while wiring in a cb, my radar detector, generally cleaning it up and doing some maintenance.
I finally had the dash back in after the V-1 and cb install. Went to plug in my phone charger. Lighter totally dead. Applied some expert manipulation (jiggled it around) and still nothing.
OK, let's diagnose. The fuse is clearly good, as I just wired the radar and cb. OK, let's take a look at the unit. Pull the dash back off. In the process, break off the piece that was just holding on for dear life earlier. Begin inspection process:
- Take a pull of the trusty beer.
- Give the back of the lighter unit a good stare.
- Take a pull of the trusty beer.
- Give the unit a longer stare.
OK, nothing seems wrong. Expert opinion given. Well, let's see if there's anything blocking or stuck in the lighter. Look in with a flashlight. Nothing in the unit, but wait - the center pin is badly corroded. Could this be the issue? I try to scrape at it with a bunch of ineffective tools. frustrating. OK, inspiration strikes. I take a piece of sandpaper and cut it into about a 1 cm circle. Glue that on the end of a pen. begin to scrape the center pin of the lighter. Figure out that I can actually twist it and make some good progress. do this for a bit, interspersed with beer, and in a minute or two I have clean metal. OK, let's try the charger again. Success!
So all it took to bring the lighter back to life was a bit of sandpaper, a pen and some beer. I've read some guys replacing the unit. They might have had different experiences, but if you think about it there's not a lot that can actually go wrong. It's just a big circut, with the lighter or charger as resistor, with rust or a blockage as a likely culprit.
Hope this helps.
I finally had the dash back in after the V-1 and cb install. Went to plug in my phone charger. Lighter totally dead. Applied some expert manipulation (jiggled it around) and still nothing.
OK, let's diagnose. The fuse is clearly good, as I just wired the radar and cb. OK, let's take a look at the unit. Pull the dash back off. In the process, break off the piece that was just holding on for dear life earlier. Begin inspection process:
- Take a pull of the trusty beer.
- Give the back of the lighter unit a good stare.
- Take a pull of the trusty beer.
- Give the unit a longer stare.
OK, nothing seems wrong. Expert opinion given. Well, let's see if there's anything blocking or stuck in the lighter. Look in with a flashlight. Nothing in the unit, but wait - the center pin is badly corroded. Could this be the issue? I try to scrape at it with a bunch of ineffective tools. frustrating. OK, inspiration strikes. I take a piece of sandpaper and cut it into about a 1 cm circle. Glue that on the end of a pen. begin to scrape the center pin of the lighter. Figure out that I can actually twist it and make some good progress. do this for a bit, interspersed with beer, and in a minute or two I have clean metal. OK, let's try the charger again. Success!
So all it took to bring the lighter back to life was a bit of sandpaper, a pen and some beer. I've read some guys replacing the unit. They might have had different experiences, but if you think about it there's not a lot that can actually go wrong. It's just a big circut, with the lighter or charger as resistor, with rust or a blockage as a likely culprit.
Hope this helps.
