Cigarette lighter power plug-in installation in boat , help needed.

[dan2957]

Thought I would ask the experts because I am having no luck. I want to install a cigarette power plug-in into my boat for my GPS unit. I have a older aluminum bass boat with no fuse panel. I have tried wiring the socket directly to the battery but I keep blowing the fuse in the GPS power plug-in. Do I need to ground the negative wire to something in the boat? IF so were is the best spot to ground the wire? Can anyone give me some suggests about the correct way to do this. Thanks, Dan

[Giant_Jackpot]

I hate to ask, but sometimes it is the obvious things…. Do you have the polarity correct on the cig plug connection to the battery? The center connection on the cig plug is the positive. There should be no need to run a ground to the boat if you have both the positive and negative connected directly to the battery. I’m assuming the fuses do not blow when you use the GPS in your vehicle?

One other thing, it would be a good idea to fuse the cig pug connection as well just to be safe. If the GPS is the only thing you are running from it, I would think a 3 amp fuse would be good.

[Valv]

DO NOT ground your boat to the negative of battery !!! It will get eaten up by electrolysis.

You have to wire them to battery. I would check correct wiring also, seems they are inverted.

[dan2957]

Thanks for the reply Jackpot and Valv,

The female end only has two wires, gray and white. Could this be the problem? I bought the plugin at Wal-Mart, is there a Marine plugin that should be used for boats? The one I bought is for outside use. I tried both wires on the positive and negative sides of the battery with the same results (blown fuses). I am only running the GPS on the plugin, nothing else will be running on those wires.

[archer59]

It's also possible you have a short in your plug. If you have a multi-tester you can check. Otherwise return it for another. That's all I can think of.

Good Luck,

Nick

[gman2002]

dan, i just put in a cig lighter for my gps also, but i bought it at a boat dealer. i also looked at wal mart and they didn;t have the right kind . i wanted one thats like on a 4 wheeler with a cover on it not an actual lighter in it, just the female end i guess you would say. it came with a in-line fuse already on it and i ran it to one of my trolling batteries up front. works great and haven't blown anything yet. i think i would check with a marine outfit for the right kind, with the cover on it and a trim piece that came with it , it looks like it came on the boat !

[Dave]

You talking about the DC Outlet at Walmart with the flip up cover door? I have one in my boat and never have had a problem. Is the fuse blowing BEFORE plugging in the GPS? I can't remember which color is for positive or negative but the package would state that.

[dfv87]

I also installed one from Wally world and mine worked perfectly, 3 amp inline fuse also. take it back and get another.

[Guest]

I have a *truck bed* accessory plug I bought at wal mart and I havent had any problems with it. The wires coming off it are very heavy duty(10 guage?) and the spring loaded cover has been very durable. I think I paid around $10 for it.

The wires are red and black on the one I have.. pretty tough to screw that one up!

[marine_man]

It sounds to me like the plug is shorted internally.. but, when you put the new one in put a in-line fuse on the power wire in between the lighter and the battery... if you don't you could be risking your electronics on anything that doesn't have a fuse built into the plug in, like your cell phone or GPS.

marine_man

[18 inch Crappie]

If the pulg its self was shorted it would melt the wires (if no fuse was on at the battery. Might be the GPS plug or your Gps.

[dan2957]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys,

I guess the reason I think I am not wiring it correctly is that I bought two power plug-ins because I wanted one in the front of the boat and one at the steering wheel. Both of them are blowing fuses in the Power adapter. I am running them on their own seperate wiring. What are the odds that both are bad? I hate to buy another plug-in just to find out that the new one does not work.

[marine_man]

Does the plug in adapter work in other things - your car / pickup, etc?

Can you post a picture of the adapter and how you've wired it?

marine_man

[Jeremy airjer W]

I have the exact same thing in my boat. A walmart weatherproof 12 volt outlet (one thing I did do is mount it upside down to keep out more water when using it.) If both outlets are blowing the fuse in the the power adapter, and it doesn't matter which way you wire the outlet, and the wires to the outlet haven't melted the plastic off, than something has to be wrong with the power adapter for the GPS!