I have a 2000 Toyota Corolla. Recently, the fuse for the cigarette lighter blew when I put in a car charger. The fuse powers the cigarette lighter as well as the radio and I think the backlighting on the air conditioner panel. I tried replacing the fuse (15W) and it blew again when I put in the charger. This happened once or twice more. There are no aftermarket items here, everything including the radio is original as far as I know. I also didn't do anything differently than in the past. This is not a new car charger, I have been using it for a year with no problems. Any idea why all of a sudden using the charger and radio blow the fuse repeatedly?
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I figured it out. There was a piece of metal that fell off the tip of one of my car chargers that was inside the cigarette lighter... It kept blowing the fuse but when I discovered it and removed it, the problem was fixed.
Daniel
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Sounds like the car charger has a short in it. If you really, really wanted to I supposed you could test for low resistance across the charger plug. Or, perhaps try plugging it into a different car and see if it blows the fuse there.
If it was me, I'd try a different device in the car and verify that it's not a loose socket. If it fails that, I'd get the socket fixed and then try the charger again. If some other device worked fine on the car, I'd be looking for a new charger. I'm very hesitant to try a possible shorted device anywhere as I've already had a car electrical fire due to a fuse failing to blow when some wiring shorted out...
Brian Knoblauch
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I've blown three on my 99 Tacoma. A tech told me my Verizon charger was the culprit, as its ground contacts on the side are "longer than most." Everyone I've heard of with this problem is using a Verizon charger.
Dennis Casey
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