Cig lighter socket not working..help
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 709
Likes: 2
From: SO Cal
many treads on this.......not all adapters that are used have a dedicated polarity......just like you can hook a light bulb up either way hot to ground or ground to hot....the bulb will still light...right? I can tell you that mine was absolutely hooked up backwards from the factory and some adapters would work and some would blow a fuse....it seems to have been an issue in model year 2010 that's the fact Jack!
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 165
Likes: 9
From: Fredericksburg VA
after the check
Took off the fairing and the red wire is going to the center of the element. I unfortunately dont have a multimeter or test light to check to make sure it is working. I also checked all the fuses yesterday and blew out the fusebox (an cleaned up that part of the bike that is covered by the side covers) and all the fuses looked really good. I have a few more things to check on it and then I am lost.
My initial symptoms that started all of this. I had my Garmin Nuvi 50LM hooked to the handlebars with my RAM mount. I had the charging wire nicely cable tied to the bars on the underside. It was a clean hookup and the GPS worked for about 2 weeks after getting the bike. One day i noticed it wasnt charging the battery and after a little riding the GPS died. Went home and charged it and it appeared to be fine. Checked the cigarette lighter with both GPS charger and Iphone charger and neither was getting power. Took it to Harley and the service guy took the lighter from his bike and tried it and once he pushed it in it flew right back out. He told me the element was burned out and thats not covered under the warranty. Thats where I am at now. GPS is back mounted and I have a wire from the battery tender all the way up the bike to the front under the fairing and I use that to power the GPS.
Eric
My initial symptoms that started all of this. I had my Garmin Nuvi 50LM hooked to the handlebars with my RAM mount. I had the charging wire nicely cable tied to the bars on the underside. It was a clean hookup and the GPS worked for about 2 weeks after getting the bike. One day i noticed it wasnt charging the battery and after a little riding the GPS died. Went home and charged it and it appeared to be fine. Checked the cigarette lighter with both GPS charger and Iphone charger and neither was getting power. Took it to Harley and the service guy took the lighter from his bike and tried it and once he pushed it in it flew right back out. He told me the element was burned out and thats not covered under the warranty. Thats where I am at now. GPS is back mounted and I have a wire from the battery tender all the way up the bike to the front under the fairing and I use that to power the GPS.
Eric
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 3,504
Likes: 12
From: DOWN SOUTH
You can get a new one from any parts store for a few bucks, no biggie. If you dont have a multimeter or test light, you can set the gps on the seat, run a little test wire from the red wire on the cigarette lighter to the middle part on the gps charger and another test wire to a ground point somewhere and the outer part of the gps plug in, the middle pin is + and the outer part is -. If this makes your gps come on, that wire is hot. If that wire is not hot, you need to check fuses or trace that wire. You are doing the same thing that the lighter does cept the redneck way,lol.. Or instead of needing 3 hands to do what I just described, when you go to get your new lighter assembly, get a cheap test light also, you will be needing it down the road anyway.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 14,670
Likes: 139
From: East of the Sun, West of the Moon
i don't get the "flew right back out" thing.
if you still have the fairing off, unplug both wires from the socket, stick your finger in the front of it to hold it, grab the back of it and unscrew it. Once you get it out you'll be able to see the insides of it as shown below. This is not and HD cig lighter socket but you get the point.
See the 2 metal tabs? I would bet you they're bent either outwards to where they're grabbing the cig lighter properly and holding it or they're bent inwards to where they're not allowing contact of your charging devices to the very center point. The outside of the housing is your ground. The tabs are for the cig lighter itself, and the bronze piece in the center is where your charging devices touch for power.
if you still have the fairing off, unplug both wires from the socket, stick your finger in the front of it to hold it, grab the back of it and unscrew it. Once you get it out you'll be able to see the insides of it as shown below. This is not and HD cig lighter socket but you get the point.
See the 2 metal tabs? I would bet you they're bent either outwards to where they're grabbing the cig lighter properly and holding it or they're bent inwards to where they're not allowing contact of your charging devices to the very center point. The outside of the housing is your ground. The tabs are for the cig lighter itself, and the bronze piece in the center is where your charging devices touch for power.
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 165
Likes: 9
From: Fredericksburg VA
Thanks guy
I will try that when I get home today. When I said the element flew right back out, I ment the middle lighter element. Once it was pushed into the outer element it is suppose to hold itself down to heat up then pops up. Mine doesnt do that. You push it down and intead of holding itself down to heat up it pops right back up. I will work on it some more tonight. With the rain and my bad elbow i have time to do some work and clean the bike as i go.
Eric
Eric
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