I've only plugged in my GPS. but when I remove the plug the lighter doesn't fit very good and I have to go into the female end and bend the clips inside so the lighter will fit tight in there again.

 

my usb recharger works fine in my lighter no fuses blown on mine, but that usb charger is a very small draw also.

 

1) No, I'm not a reality TV celebrity!

2) Harley tells you not to use it, probably because they know the factory pays little attention to which wire is hot. There is no functional difference between any 12V accessory plug and a cigarette lighter...are none of you old enough to remember plugging in radar detectors and other goodies into your car's cigarette lighter back when there was no such thing as a "12v accessory plug"? LOL!

Dave

 

just change it to a 12v outlet unless you use the lighter You can get them at Autoparts store radio shack etc etc they are cheap and yes there is a differance

 

and what would that difference be, exactly?

Switch it out if you like, but as I said in the beginning, myself and everyone I know uses the cigarette lighter to power their GPS....this isn't rocket science.

Dave

 

There's a 15 amp fuse on the lighter circuit. If you're plugging in anything that draws more than that, then you should probably be running new wires for it.

Chances are:
The fuse will blow when the tank hits whatever is in the lighter socket.

This is the reason I became very adept at replacing that 15 amp fuse, and still have a package on my bike. Once I realized what was happening, I didn't stick anything in the socket that would contact the tank at full left lock, and haven't had an issue since (2 years and counting).

There is a VERY small chance that the socket is incorrectly wired, at least on the newer bikes. If you pull the fairing off, you'll notice that the wiring harness has a different length of wire going to the pos/neg respectively, so it's very hard to have them switched (someone would have to do it on purpose). This is what I have noted on my 2011 Ultra, your experience may be different (but I doubt it).

 

[quote=Mike_M;11296319]
Chances are:


The fuse will blow when the tank hits whatever is in the lighter socket.

This is the reason I became very adept at replacing that 15 amp fuse, and still have a package on my bike.

Mike, is the fuse your replace the P&A fuse? I got a new GPS and took it on my most recent trip and I think the power cable bumped the tank when I parked.

 

Yep, it's the 15 amp P&A fuse, top row, third column from the left.

Keep a pair of forceps on the bike to make removal easier.

 

When I examined the inside of my FLTRU lighter socket, it appears to be a bit non-standard, in that there are "ears" attached to the center that extend up each side a little. I have found that as long as I make sure that the side contacts of any plug I put in there doesn't touch those parts connected to the middle, it will work OK.

I can't help but wonder how many people have the same set up, and (wrongly) assume that if they blow a fuse their socket is wired backward.

 

A 12 volt power port is slightly smaller than the Cigarette lighter plug is.
I always hard wire my GPS power.
If you have some age on it then I suggest to check the power leads to make sure it is correct and inspect the plug in the fairing. I started having some problems and it was rusted pretty bad. I replaced it and hot glued a piece of plastic to cover it.