Cigarr lighter getting hot in an 07 Freightliner Columbia

Discussion in 'Heavy Duty Diesel Truck Mechanics Forum' started by gerardo1961, Jan 18, 2025.

  1. gerardo1961

    gerardo1961 Road Train Member

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    Question,from time to time the cigarlighter in the cabin is hot and burning the plug in from my 12 volt arb fridge,nowbody can fixed the tell me go to the dealer what is the problem need help is a freightliner columbia 07
     
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  3. AModelCat

    AModelCat Road Train Member

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    My guess is that it draws too much power. A cigarette lighter socket isn't the greatest connection so if you're pulling a lot of amps through a less than optimal connection you're going to have heat produced.

    How many amps does it draw? You might be better off having the fridge wired up to a higher quality plug that can handle the amperage on a constant duty cycle.
     
  4. gerardo1961

    gerardo1961 Road Train Member

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    I not have clue you many amps,only i have this fridge 4 years like this never have a problem before wit a hot lighter
     
  5. FLHT

    FLHT Road Train Member

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    Faulty stuff like what you have causes a lot of truck fires.....
     
  6. 201

    201 Road Train Member

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    Este es caliente'! Bad ground. Electrical things that get hot in trucks is usually a bad ground somewhere,
     
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  7. Goodysnap

    Goodysnap Road Train Member

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    Your fridge is probably getting older and pulling more amps than it use too. @AModelCat is spot on. Replace your fridge and or hard wire it in for a better electrical circuit connection. The cig lighter connection is a temporary use device and not ment for continuous use. Replacement sockets are also available, but I would guess it’s gonna melt it again.
     
  8. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Get a blue sea marine socket and plug, install that somewhere with direct wiring to a high amperage power source and fuse it at the power source, the lighter socket is limited to 5 amps continuous, the blue sea socket is rated at 15 amps,
     
  9. gerardo1961

    gerardo1961 Road Train Member

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    i am speak german,spanish and inglish i know my writting is bad , i speak better
     
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  10. gerardo1961

    gerardo1961 Road Train Member

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    i will looking for a blue sea socket in what place i can findet
     
  11. 86scotty

    86scotty Road Train Member

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    Amazon or anywhere Google takes you. I'm a BlueSea fan but you can find cheaper options that work just as well, especially for a simple fridge connection. Just hardwire it to constant 12v power. Should be easy enough to find a source in your truck.

    A likely source is right behind the cigarette lighter socket that is getting hot. That is the bottleneck as Goodysnap said. Wire fridge directly from the wires behind the socket and make sure you have the right fuse in the fusebox for that socket (probably 15a).

    Your fridge should have an additional fuse on the side of it, make sure that is correct amperage as well.
     
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