General Cigarette lighter or current outlet?

[jamzy]

Hi folks,
first and foremost hello to all - new here! Bought a 1.4 Fiat Grande Punto Active Sport 08 plate yesterday and have to say I have fallen in love with it already.

I have done a search for an answer to this question but as yet I have not found the answer I am looking for. Apologies to the mods if the answer is here somewhere and I am just totally blind.

Anyway in the middle compartment next to the gear shift is what I thought was the space for the cigarette lighter. But last night I tried to fit in my sat nav and it didn't seem to go in at all. The space is covered by a little lid which says 180W Max and has a circle with two dots in it. I am assuming this is the current outlet as opposed to the cigarette lighter.

My problem is, and apologies as I am useless with electrics, what kind of plugs fit this hole. Is there an adaptor I can buy so that my sat nav will fit in here?

Any help would be greatly appreciated and apologies if this answer is somewhere on the forum but I just could not find it. If anyone wants anymore information or a picture of what im talking about I can provide all of that.

Thanks in advance for any help which anyone can provide!

 

[marty61]

Hi m8. You should be able to plug a standard lighter plug in there. When i quit smoking i had no use for the cig lighter so swapped it for the socket you have got and all my accessories still work (vacuum/ polisher etc). I have noticed that some plugs seem a little "floppy" and dont fit very tightly.

 

[marty61]

On my 06 i have to have the ignition on for the socket to work.

 

[jamzy]

cheers matey - me being a dumbass and the fact that my old car didnt need the ignition on to power means I needed that help!

You are right it is a bit loose, but it actually stays in ok and works like a dream!!!

Thanks very much buddy!

 

[marty61]

you're welcome m8.

 

[abrath2000]

I have had the same problem with my sat nav, the cig lighter does not seem to be deep enough, I bought an adapter with dual outlets worked a bit better
but still kept loosing connections I think the only way to resolve it is to fot a neww cig lighter

 

[jamzy]

yeah it does pop out from time to time but unfortunately I do not have the technical know how to fit a new cigarette lighter and dont fancy shelling out the dosh to fiat to do it for me! lol

Marty you have obviously, like you say, changed from a cigarette lighter to the current outlet - did FIAT do it for you, or did you do it yourself? If you did it yourself how easy did you find it?

Also Abrath where did you find this adaptor thingy you are talking about? Have you got any links at all??

 

[jamzy]

Ok, I have been thinking about this for the past hour - would it be possible to buy a new cigarette lighter which fits directly to the power of the car. What I am thinking of is one with which plugs into the fuse box etc etc and then can be attached elsewhere on the car - say to the right of the steering wheel. Im talking about something powered just like the current outlet is at the moment.

My thinking behind this is that you coud hide it away with all the wires etc, perhaps even have two or three cigarette lighters to charge things like our sat nav and phone - also then you have it at the side as opposed to right in the middle with all the wires covering up the stereo and generally looking messy!

I dont know whether this can be done or not - but interested to know what people think or if anyone has any tips as to how this could be done. I tried doing a search on the intergeek for anything resembling this and have not found anything - so maybe it cant - but interesting all the same!

Apologies if I am talking rubbish here - I am not technically minded whatsoever, nor do I know anything about cars!

 

[marty61]

Marty you have obviously, like you say, changed from a cigarette lighter to the current outlet - did FIAT do it for you, or did you do it yourself? If you did it yourself how easy did you find it?

Did it myself. Got the socket from dealer and did it in well under an hour. Only fiddly bit it getting the centre console out. Once that is out its a doddle to change. Power socket is slightly different to the cig one but plugs were loose in both btw.

 

[abrath2000]

The adapter was from Halfords it was a dual adapter so plugged into the outlet but had 2 outputs, I think it was a ripspeed one and cost 6.99, took it back as it did not work constantly, I have been meaning to call the Manufacture of the sat nav unit to see if they can send another lead, also found out that my wifes motorola phone charger plugs in so I charge it t home before using in the car, I really think it is the Fiat outlet that is not deep enough, I think you could replace it with liitle effort and they are only about 5 quid for a universal one.

I will follow this thread to see how you get on,

good luck

 

[marty61]

I bought an FM transmitter that plugs in to the power socket but it was so loose that it kept disconnecting every time i went over a bump:bang:. I only really use the socket for vaccum /polisher etc now, when the car is stationary. With both the cig lighter socket and now the current outlet the plugs just dont fit tightly enough to maintain a constant power supply when driving

 

[jamzy]

well i used my satnav today for 90 mile drive on the motorway - i only needed the plug for half of it and it didnt pop out once - but i imagine once the suspension gets a lil worse it will start to pop out.

I read somewhere that the japanese and European sizes differ in that one is bigger than the other. I seem to remember the Japanese one was tighter. I was in halfords the other day and noticed they had a japanese fit cigarette lighter adaptor with two holes on it. I get paid tomorrow so might try and pop in and buy one this week. If it doesnt work I can always return it. I will report back with my findings.