Cigar Lighter Shorting Out

[bpossel]

I replaced my heater levers today.  All is perfect except the cigar lighter.  When I push in on it, it shorts out fuse #2.

Question....  Please look at the attached picture of the lighter and all of the pieces.  The small washer that is being pointed at with the red arrow, if that is on backwards, would this cause the short?

I took this picture while it was out of the car this morning.  The entire dash and all pieces are already back together...  So hoping someone would know the answer before I dig back into the dash...

The small washer that I point to is insulated on one side.  The other side is exposed metal.  I currently have the washer with the insulated side towards the front of the lighter housing....  opposite direction of the screw on pin connector.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks!
Bob

Download Attachment: cigar lighter.jpg
40.03 KB

bpossel
Memphis, TN.
1971 280SL
1997 E320

[Douglas]

Exact same problem here too, Bob. Funny you should post this. Not precisely sure what I did, but I think I mangled the backside of the heating element for the lighter. I'm going to swap it out for another unit and see what happens.

Oh well. I even still have the short fuses in that spot of my fusebox. It's a pity I'll have to start start using the normal length fuses as the small ones were quite unique.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[bpossel]

Hi Douglas,

Last night I had a go at this again.  It really bothers me when something worked before and now it doesn’t.

I took out the radio (easy!) and this gave me enough room to work.  Of coarse the battery is disconnected...  When I went to pull off the lighter cable on the back, I noticed that the small pin, the one that screws off the back (positive lead) was loose.  So I removed the lighter again, with all its pieces and reinstalled very carefully.  I reinstalled in the exact same order as before (refer to picture in original post).  It still seems logical to put the insulated side of the small washer towards the front of the lighter (towards to ceramic element).  I also ensured that the metal holding clamp, which sits inside the ceramic element and holds the lighter in place when you push it in, was positioned so that it was parallel with the 2 openings in the metal housing.

Anyway, when all was back together again, the lighter now doesn’t short out when I push it in.  The only problem is....  now the lighter doesn’t work.  It seems I fixed the "short" but no power to the lighter??

I know that circuit is good because the horns, etc. work fine.  Kim, I ended up biting my lip and drilled out the small pin on fuse block #2.  This now allows me to use a std size 25amp fuse.  I hated doing this because I want to keep the car original, but the small fuses are hard to come by....  

Oh well, anyone have any suggestions???

Thanks! Bob


bpossel
Memphis, TN.
1971 280SL
1997 E320

[jeffc280sl]

Hi Bob,

Had a look carefull look at mine and discovered a notch in the base of the ceramic insulator.  This notch needs to align itself with a small piece of metal attached to the bottom of the cigar lighter cylinder.  In this way the three prongs which hold the lighter down while igniting line up with the three slot openings in the on the side of the cylinder.  There is only a + and - wire going to the lighter assembly.  You need to make sure the three prongs (+) do not come in contact with the outer casing (-) at anytime.  Likewise the threaded shaft (+) and the rest of the washers and connector plug must not contact the rest of the grounded assembly.  Hope this helps



Jeff C.
1970 280SL 4-speed

[bpossel]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for the insight!

I removed the lighter again, and carefully reinstalled paying special attention to the notch in the ceramic element, making sure that it lined up with the raised notches in the main lighter housing.  See picture below. I also made sure that as I re-installed, that the center screw (post) was insulated and not touching any of the outer pieces.

Now I get power to my lighter outlet.  I plugged in my battery tester and the outlet works!

Only issue that remains is that the actual lighter doesnt heat up.  Not sure if I even ever tried it out before?  I know the lighter element is free of old stogie ash...  Since I dont schmook, I guess I can live with a non heating lighter.  The good thing is that the outlet gets power and doesnt short out anymore!

Jeff, thanks again!
Bob

Download Attachment: ceramic lighter piece.jpg
28.59 KB

bpossel
Memphis, TN.
1971 280SL
1997 E320

[jeffc280sl]

Your welcome Bob.

To get your cigar lighter to heat up I suggest you carefully bend the three prongs to the center a small bit at a time and see if they will "grab" the element of the lighter.  I think that as the prongs get hot they release the element and out pops the lighter.

Jeff C.
1970 280SL 4-speed

[bayleif]

This was a great help. I have the same problem with the cigar lighter, since I don't smoke, it's on my list of things to do when I'm really really bored. But I figured that I had a really messed up wiring situation, it's good to know it's just the lighter. But I did discover that the small fuses are readily available from Miller's. Now if I could just figure out why using my windshield washer blows it's fuse.

Chuck Bartlett
1969 Signal Red 4 Speed

[JamesL]

Perhaps it's gods way of telling you to give up the evil weed!

[J. Huber]

Hey Chuck, Are you saying the "stubby" 25 amp fuses are available?

James
63 230SL

[Douglas]

I just ordered some of the stubby 25-amp fuses from Miller's. Thanks, Chuck.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[J. Huber]

Uh-oh...the race is on! Hope they have a bunch in stock! And no fair hording "stubbies" you guys! [:p]

James
63 230SL

[hands_aus]

"stubbies" in Australia can be one of two things

1. work shorts
2. half size bottles of beer

Bob Smith (Brisbane,Australia)
RHD,1967 early 250 SL, auto

[ChrisInNashville]

Lesson Learned after shorting out two "stubbies" while replacing the cigarette lighter:

Lesson 1: Check the forum before you embark on a project;

Lesson 2: Learn from others' mistakes to avoid making them yourselves;

Lesson 3: When you create sparks during a project, it's not a good sign...so refer to Lesson 1. :?:

Waiting for my "stubbies" to arrive in Indiana! :mrgreen: