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Air compressor burns up cigarette lighter socket

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17K views 47 replies 21 participants last post by  jazhanel  
#1 ·
So I got a flat tire. I got home pulled out the screw used a $7 Walmart tire kit and patched it up. My tire was flat by this time. I plugged in my Amazon brand gspscan compressor into the front cigarette lighter and the tires filling.. about at 32psi I noticed the compressor cutting in and out. It's cool to touch so I look in the car and it's filled with smoke. Yikes. I'd only been running the compressor for 10minutes or so. I rolled down the window and let the smoke out. Everything works include the lighter but the smoke has to be a burnt wire which I will hunt down and post pics of later. So if you have a compressor make sure to hook it to your battery not the cigarette lighter. Car smells like something burnt and definitely has me worried. I finished filling the tire with no issues while hooked to the battery my compressor came with battery clamps. Like I said I will post some pics when I get the chance just wanted to save someone else this potential problem.
 
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#37 ·
Marksquared said:
Compressor takes a lot of power and cigarette lighter not designed to put out that much power for that long.
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A proper cigar lighter is 10A (Ford) to 15A (Duesenberg). But as you say, only for 20 seconds (can't wait when you need a smoke).

@2011rav4 said:
I got the ONE+ 18V Cordless High Pressure Inflator with Digital Gauge at Home Depot. They have them on sale for $20 every few months.
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+1. My last car was going flat weekly and I didn't want the hassle. Since the garage is full of Ryobi tools I got that exact air pump. Is OK, and no strain on the car. Can top-off several times before re-charge.

Tazio Nuvolari said:
Wouldn't the cigarette lighter fuse blow before the wiring burned if an inflator was drawing too many amps for too long?
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wishk said:
I'd be surprised if that pump actually draws 25A.
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It may be complicated. The current draw is a smaller friction component plus a pressure component. From zero to 1psi the pump is loafing against hardly any back-pressure. Maybe 2 Amps? As it passes 50psi the pump is straining, maybe 15 Amps? Somewhere in-between it may cross the circuit rating, 10A or 15A. And it is reported that it smoked as it hit 32psi! But the "cooked" appearance of that wire-knot does suggest it didn't fail BANG but simmered for many minutes.

Is that really #18 wire? Even in Teflon over Copper that's marginal. And you don't use Teflon for misc car wiring. Are we sure it is not Tin-coated Copper? That's now very standard stuff. I agree that real Aluminum is very possible. There's too dang much wiring in cars now and Al has strong cost advantage, IF terminated properly.

I do think the factory fuse should be sized (amps and time) so the wiring NEVER goes up in smoke. That was such a thing in airplanes (where you can't step-out or open a window) that Teflon, crosslink, or other low-smoke wire is now routine. But that only happened after some smokey air disasters. We may have to wait for road disasters before we get low-smoke insulation in car dashboards.

RetiredGamer said:
Aluminum wiring is way less efficient than copper at transferring electricity and is a fire hazard. It's why it is banned from residential use.
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I don't know it is "banned"; I know any Inspector or Insurance will look at it unkindly (as in no insurance). There are rules; for a while they were changing faster than the NEC.

ALL big power (25+KW) goes by Aluminum (or steel). From the dam generator to my street and to my house is all Aluminum (with a strand of steel). And the inter-ties across the USA. Al is "more efficient" by cost and by weight. Copper has the advantage if conductor diameter is limited; even in our tight dashboards that's not (yet?) a real issue. Can be in motors (tight magnetic constraints) but we are seeing Al-wire in motors now. Rust? Copper Oxide is often benign, Aluminum Oxide is insidious and treacherous.

That aside.... I bought a 200W AC (plus 50W of USB) inverter. Now I am afraid to plug it in. 13V 22A?? That's 286W input! And implied 36W of heat in the case!
 
#5 ·
I’ve used portable inflators SOOOOO many times in cigarette lighter ports, across many many vehicles, and never had a problem. Hell in one truck all four tires had slow leaks so i’d run it for like 40 minutes at a time with no issues.

Given the fuse didn’t pop, your unit isn’t drawing too much amperage, so likely a bad connection causing high resistance and therefore heat and therefore smoke. I’d look closely at what exactly is burnt, and i’d shy away from using that port or the compressor until you figure out what caused it.
 
#12 ·
AKGSD said:
I’ve used portable inflators SOOOOO many times in cigarette lighter ports, across many many vehicles, and never had a problem.
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wishk said:
In this case, bigger is not better. A cheaper tire inflator will run fine off the lighter socket.
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I have used a cheap Walmart portable inflator plugged into either the "cigarette lighter" or in the port in the rear cargo area in my '21 XLE several times in last year and a half to top up my tires when winter cold weather sets in. I never had a problem. Now I don't know what amps the inflator draws but it's little and cheap so probably not a lot. Also I only need to run it less than 5 minutes per tire to get the pressure up to 38 PSI when I expect the next morning will be way down below freezing or to periodically keep the pressure at 35 or so when serious cold sets in for good. Wouldn't the cigarette lighter fuse blow before the wiring burned if an inflator was drawing too many amps for too long?
 
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#6 ·
Back when cigarette lighters ports came with an actual cigarette lighter that you could plug in, heat up and light a cigarette or cigar with the port had to supply quite a few amps and also handle the heat.

But real cigarette lighters and their high current capabilities disappeared many years ago. Many cars come with a plastic cigarette lighter looking plug that simply covers the hole. Now they are simply light duty 12V outlets that accept cigarette lighter style plugs. Calling them cigarette lighters is a misnomer. They are 12 outlets, great for charging cell phones and other low current devices but not a cigarette lighter or apparently a tire pump.
 
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#7 ·
Assuming I found the right one, the specs of your unit say:
  • Power: DC12V, 25A
Now that's probably inflated by marketing or you would have blown the fuse but it's still wayyyy more than the lighter socket can handle, which is about 10A in most vehicles.

In this case, bigger is not better. A cheaper tire inflator will run fine off the lighter socket. Those direct from china amazon specials which pretend they can use the cigarette lighter plug to get more sales, not so much.
 
#15 ·
wishk said:
Assuming I found the right one, the specs of your unit say:
  • Power: DC12V, 25A
Now that's probably inflated by marketing or you would have blown the fuse but it's still wayyyy more than the lighter socket can handle, which is about 10A in most vehicles.
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mww33458 said:
Yeah, never hook up an air inflator to your cigarette lighter. It almost always results in a blown fuse
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Mr_Flux said:
The cap on the 12v outlets specify 10A max draw, so if you saw smoke you probably fried some wire casing in there
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Can someone please explain why the "cigarette lighter" power port fuse did NOT blow before the OP's wiring got fried if his air compressor had too high a power draw?
 
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#9 ·
#10 ·
The cap on the 12v outlets specify 10A max draw, so if you saw smoke you probably fried some wire casing in there and need to get that entire pigtail line checked out. I had a 10A glass fuse in my compressor cord and tested with an ammeter at about 13A so I hardwired clamps and an inline, resetting 30A fuse to avoid burning a harness out in the middle of nowhere.

Hopefully it's easy to replace only that outlet's supply, and that other people learn from you. Good luck.
 
#23 ·
Some compressors are designed for heavy trucks and they can draw more current than the 10A or 15A fuse. It may destroy your cigarette lighter and wire insulation. This has happened to me and my wire insulation was burned along with cigarette lighter. The air compressor did not have any warning labels. I returned the compressor and purchased one that draws less than 10A. I was able to run a bypass wire to fuse block with inline10A fuse. I also repaired the cigarette lighter by re-soldering the connections.
 
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#25 ·
Different trim levels have different outlet configurations. I'm not sure about the generation 4, but the generation 5 came from the factory with either USB outlets or 12 volt outlets in several places depending on trim level. Funny thing is, if you have one, there are often wiring for the other. You might look and see if you have the wiring.
 
#44 ·
RetiredGamer said:
View attachment 193893 whats crazy is the hot wire is not copper it's aluminum Wtf!!!? Lol I tested it three times to be sure. With DC current settings on the multimeter and the car on. I could understand the speakers using aluminum wiring but for power!? Man.
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It's actually NOT aluminum wire it's tinned copper, also known as "plated" or "busbar" copper. It's a special process used where corrosion resistance is needed such as in marine wiring. It's actually a higher grade wire than standard braded copper wire.
 
C
#36 ·
Aluminum wiring is banned for residential branch circuits because it is subject to strain hardening and eventual failure. If you bend aluminum often enough, it will harden, become brittle, and eventually fail. Twisting an aluminum wire at the pigtail or pulling out a receptacle or switch from the junction box multiple times over the years causes that hardening and eventual failure. Electrically, it is still an efficient conductor.
 
#40 ·
Connectors were ok. Well internally maybe not come to think of it. I got rid of all the damaged things and put in a new socket with two USB ports and its own inline fuse. There is another cigarette lighter if I need it in the car. And for the compressor it will be hooked to the battery with it's included battery clamps
 
#39 · (Edited)
Ya that tiny 18 gauge aluminum power wire might fizzle out. It's not tinned copper for sure. I mean you can keep an eye on it. Or maybe upgrade the wiring to your socket? I considered doing that off the power and ground distributor blocks from my car audio amplifiers. In the end I ended up just installing a USB plug since I didn't have any copper wire handy and had these USB ports on hand yes your right aluminum is used in power lines. I was honestly just upset that the power went out and I assumed it was a cost cutting measure which ticked me off since I spent $43000 on the xle premium back in 2020. Cars are over priced in Puerto Rico. Anyhow it's almost paid off and I really like the car still and for sure won't get into a new car loan.
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