lighter problems

[RicanDrummrAne]

my sister has a 98 forester. everytime she puts a car charger, whether its a GPS or a phone, the charger burns. any idea what can cause this?

[speediva]

Eek, that can't be good!

I'd say that the lighter is pulling too much power. See if you can't track down what fuse is connected to the lighter and make sure the fuse amperage isn't higher than it should be.

Once you try that, please come back to let us know how it goes!

[RicanDrummrAne]

i believe the fuse is 20 amps.. i saw it and its the correct one. so what can it be? im afraid to put in my phone charger. the car is mine now. more or less.

[snshddog]

Shouldn't use a lighter for any charger. The best is to get a power outlet. Looks like a lighter socket but is made for charging. The lighter sockets commonly get the tabs inside bent over with a charger and touch the sides expecially if you twist the charger at all like most of us do. Once the tab touches the side it blows the fuse. I have replaced many lighter sockets with power outlets for this reason. You don't even have to put it in the factory location. You can mount it under the dash with the supplied bracket and wire it straight to the battery, don't forget to use a fuse.

[RicanDrummrAne]

ok that may be a solution, but i used the car charger on my older car, a 94 honda accord, and any devices that i used to charge which was most likely my gps, and my phone, and i never had the charger burn on me. didnt think it would happen to car a little more advanced than a 94. i think there's another port in the trunk of the car too. that u can charge with. but i dont wanna use that one.

[RicanDrummrAne]

i think i'll have to change that whole lighter assembly. the fuse isnt the problem. i think it has to do with the wiring. and plus the lighter assembly itself looks in bad shape. any idea on how i can do this?