12V Female Socket Problem

mazinger

mazinger

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I bought a female cigarette socket to connect the USB car adapter that came with the dash cam. It seemed the metal point at the center inside the female socket was not high enough to touch the metal tip of the USB car adapter.

I thought it was the problem of the female connector, I went to another store and bought a different brand of the female socket, and it was the same problem.

Now, I thought it was the original USB car adapter problem, I switched another one, and I still could not get the metal tip from the usb car adapter touching the metal center point inside the female socket. The only solution that I could get the power to connect each other was forcing to push the usb car adapter to the female socket without releasing my hands.

Do you guys have this problem as well? I think there is at least 1 to 2mm gap in between. Do you guys have any suggestions?

The female socket that I bought was similar to this one and this was the only one that I could buy local in some retail stores :

https://guideimg.alibaba.com/images...ette-lighter-female-socket-black_5738963.jpeg
 
What kind of dash cam is it, and the type of power input plug into the cam? Mini, micro USB?
It's probably easier to use a longer USB cable than use a 12v cig lighter extension thing.
 
Does the adapter work in an OEM cigarette lighter plug? If your vehicle does not have one, try one in a friends. Offhand, it seems the adapter is at fault.
 
There are no real industry standards regarding cigarette lighter plugs, and the standards regarding cigarette lighter sockets apply only to cigarette lighters, not plugs. All you can do is keep trying different ones until you find a combination that works. If your cam uses a USB port for power as most do, I'd recommend getting a discrete adapter from Anker or Aukey rated at least 1.5A, then using a cable from Monoprice to connect with your cam. These are known winners for quality and reliability and if you get a multi-port adapter, it can be handy for charging phones or powering GPS units too ;)

Phil
 
SawMaster said:
There are no real industry standards regarding cigarette lighter plugs, and the standards regarding cigarette lighter sockets apply only to cigarette lighters, not plugs. All you can do is keep trying different ones until you find a combination that works. If your cam uses a USB port for power as most do, I'd recommend getting a discrete adapter from Anker or Aukey rated at least 1.5A, then using a cable from Monoprice to connect with your cam. These are known winners for quality and reliability and if you get a multi-port adapter, it can be handy for charging phones or powering GPS units too ;)

Phil
Click to expand...

It seems you are the only here understand the problem. As I mentioned, the only problem was the cigarette socket and the the USB car charger. I installed the fuse tap to the cigarette fuse and add the female cigarette socket to the fuse tap and grounded it.

My cigarette lighter socket from the vehicle under the coin tray worked fine without issue. The only problem that I suspected was the female cigarette socket body that I added was too deep and causing the metal spring tip from the USB car adapter unable to contact the metal point at the bottom center of the female socket.

The depth of the hollow section of the female socket is just a little bit more than 1 1/2", I have a brand new Aukey dual usb car charger but it still cannot contact the metal point at the bottom center of the female socket.

I am thinking whether I should increase the thickness of the metal point by adding the soldering.
 
What if a bit of solder flows and comes in contact with the enclosure (ground), not a good idea. Get a different one.

All these adapters come in different lengths. My Aukey one had the ground pins nearly popping out of the female socket, the new Anker one sits nice and flush, matter of design.
 
harsh said:
What if a bit of solder flows and comes in contact with the enclosure (ground), not a good idea. Get a different one.

All these adapters come in different lengths. My Aukey one had the ground pins nearly popping out of the female socket, the new Anker one sits nice and flush, matter of design.
Click to expand...

Can you show me what you have?

I am looking at the female socket now from ebay. I don't know whether the ebay ones are shorter such as this:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/142040976442
 
You might try a flashlight geek trick: stick a tiny neodymium magnet to the tip to add length. Two possible issues would be the magnet staying in the socket and a plug with a rounded tip. I can verify that it will handle the current with almost no added electrical resistance :D A solder blob on the tip of the plug will also work well but some tips are stainless steel which is hard to solder. Magnets don't stick well to most stainless either. No worry about the solder flowing in use as the wires will melt before the solder does. Just don't stick anything loose down there because sooner or later it will go wrong and short out (Murphy's Law). Not an option for most folks but where I can, I use an actual factory outlet scrounged from a junked car- a much sturdier outlet but it has to be panel-mounted through a hole :cool:

What I would like to see is a plug offered which has a tip profile like a cigarette lighter which would tightly fit the socket prongs in a standard cigarette lighter outlet. It would handle more current and never pop out unintended. That wouldn't help here but it would be a step in the right direction ;)

Phil
 
SawMaster said:
You might try a flashlight geek trick: stick a tiny neodymium magnet to the tip to add length. Two possible issues would be the magnet staying in the socket and a plug with a rounded tip. I can verify that it will handle the current with almost no added electrical resistance :D A solder blob on the tip of the plug will also work well but some tips are stainless steel which is hard to solder. Magnets don't stick well to most stainless either. No worry about the solder flowing in use as the wires will melt before the solder does. Just don't stick anything loose down there because sooner or later it will go wrong and short out (Murphy's Law). Not an option for most folks but where I can, I use an actual factory outlet scrounged from a junked car- a much sturdier outlet but it has to be panel-mounted through a hole :cool:

What I would like to see is a plug offered which has a tip profile like a cigarette lighter which would tightly fit the socket prongs in a standard cigarette lighter outlet. It would handle more current and never pop out unintended. That wouldn't help here but it would be a step in the right direction ;)

Phil
Click to expand...

I see thanks. Right now I am using some electrical tapes wrapped around the body of the USB car adapter (increase the body thickness) and pushed the adapter into the female socket. The increased thickness can hold tight to the neck of the female socket and not popping out.
 
mazinger said:
Can you show me what you have?

I am looking at the female socket now from ebay. I don't know whether the ebay ones are shorter such as this:

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/142040976442
Click to expand...

I have the same female socket - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1M-...n-Micro-Fuse-Tap-Holder-Lead/32272214179.html

Current - https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00OHE8AOI
Previous - https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01B2BLVNU
@SawMaster I meant while soldering, not due to the heat during operation.
 
Last edited:
harsh said:
I have the same female socket - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1M-...n-Micro-Fuse-Tap-Holder-Lead/32272214179.html

Current - https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00OHE8AOI
Previous - https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01B2BLVNU
@SawMaster I meant while soldering, not due to the heat during operation.
Click to expand...

Your previous AUKEY Car Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 Port & 3 USB Port is a nice charger but they were out of stock in Amazon Canada.

I assume the female socket that you have (one with the chrome ring) is shorter than the one that I have.
 
mazinger said:
Your previous AUKEY Car Charger with Quick Charge 3.0 Port & 3 USB Port is a nice charger but they were out of stock in Amazon Canada.

I assume the female socket that you have (one with the chrome ring) is shorter than the one that I have.
Click to expand...

That's the one which used to almost stick out, the Anker one's smaller and fits better in the female socket I'm utilising. The socket's depth is 3 cm as per the seller's listing.
 
The socket that I bought is about 5cm depth. Maybe I should order the one that you have.

All I need is a shallow female socket.
 
I use cigarette lighter extension cables for convenience myself, though only for temporary purposes. I've found that none of the sockets reliably hold the plugs for very long so I squeeze the plug in then wrap the whole connection well with electrical tape beyond the plugs and onto the wires. Some of these 'temporary' connections have worked fine for 5 years (I'm a procrastinator and don't often fix what ain't broke :p ) That shorter socket Harsh mentions should work fine for you ;)

Phil
 
I just ordered one from eBay.

Now it is a waiting game. It is gonna to take long to ship it from China.
 
While on the subject.. Instead of wiring an adapter (female cig plug) for an adapter (male cig to USB) why not eliminate the middle man.. I would like to install some USB plugs to charge accessories from the back seat area. Has anyone ever found a source for a USB plug that one can mount in ones dash (or other suitable location) and wire it in directly to the fuse panel?
 
Ralph2 said:
While on the subject.. Instead of wiring an adapter (female cig plug) for an adapter (male cig to USB) why not eliminate the middle man.. I would like to install some USB plugs to charge accessories from the back seat area. Has anyone ever found a source for a USB plug that one can mount in ones dash (or other suitable location) and wire it in directly to the fuse panel?
Click to expand...

A hardwired female socket will work with both 5V and 12V dash cams and can be completely hidden inside the glove box.

Searching Aliexpress with keywords 'USB port dashboard" throws up a lot of results for the kind of panel you're looking for.
 
Ralph2 said:
While on the subject.. Instead of wiring an adapter (female cig plug) for an adapter (male cig to USB) why not eliminate the middle man.. I would like to install some USB plugs to charge accessories from the back seat area. Has anyone ever found a source for a USB plug that one can mount in ones dash (or other suitable location) and wire it in directly to the fuse panel?
Click to expand...

Something like this:

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/B01F76O1TW
 
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