Console power socket

sndmn2 · 05-30-2005, 09:08 AM

OK. My son and I took a little trip on Fri. Small 7 hour ride one way. So he stuck one of these 400 watt power inverters into both the cig. lighter socket and the console power socket and popped the fuses. I tried a new fuse in the socket and there is no power. It won"t power my cell phone in the console power socket. Replacing the fuse in the cig. lighter fixed that outlet. Is there a relay that tripped or that needs to be replaced? I"m not very smart when it comes to electrical. I trying to figure it out through the service manual but I can"t get it. My trouble light shows power to the cig lighter but not the power console outlet. My understanding is that this outlet is powerd directly to the battery. Thanks for any help

bestatchess · 05-30-2005, 10:08 AM

I think the sockets are separately fused at 15 amps. The pertinent equation is:

P=VI with the units V=volts I=amps and P=watts.

With I limited to 15 amps by the fuse and V at 12 volts from the battery (yeah, I know it might be a little higher like maybe 13.6V, but I like to be conservative) 15 x 12 = 180 watts. So don't expect to run 400 watts through an inverter plugged into the lighter socket. There is a positive accessory terminal on the battery you could wire the inverter to (with an appropriate fuse located at the battery and using an appropriately sized wire).

Regarding your actual question, I think you will have to change two 15 amp fuses in the fuse box in the cab. Also you might check the fuses under the hood at the battery and the relay/fuse box under the hood. I think their is an "accessory relay" but I think it also feeds the radio circuit, so if that works, the relay should be o.k.

bestatchess · 05-30-2005, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sndmn2

My trouble light shows power to the cig lighter but not the power console outlet. My understanding is that this outlet is powerd directly to the battery. Thanks for any help

Nope. When you turn the ignition on, it closes an accessory relay which sends power to the fuse box in the cab. The cig lighter and power console outlets are separately fused. I think you need to change another 15 amp fuse in the fuse box in the cab.

If you haven't done so already, look at the label on the inside of the fuse box cover in the cab which shows fuse function & location.

sndmn2 · 05-30-2005, 12:12 PM

I have changed both the cig. and the console fuse. I still only have power to the cig. out let. I will here a relay tick if I check the console power with my trouble light while in the "on" position. Do you think the socket could be bad?

Edit:

OK. Got it figured out. On the back of the fuse panel there are there are 2 fuses labeld "power" and 1 "cig.) The 2 labeled power were "Power socket console" and "Power socket cpm" The "power socket console" is listed in the "acc" columm while the "power socket cpm" is listed in the " bat" columm. DUH !
It was the schematic on page ww-37 that made me start to think. I didn"t have a "console" but a "dashboard".

This outlet stays on no matter what the key position.
I have used this 400 watt inverter before to run the tv in truck but I don"t know which outlet it was in

bestatchess · 05-30-2005, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sndmn2

I have changed both the cig. and the console fuse. I still only have power to the cig. out let. I will here a relay tick if I check the console power with my trouble light while in the "on" position. Do you think the socket could be bad?

Check the power with the truck running to be sure. The driver's side lighter socket stays on all of time. The passenger side lighter socket and console socket comes on with the ignition.

Yes, if you have power to the radio & passenger side dash lighter socket with the truck running, that would mean that the accessory relay is working. If you don't have power to the console socket, there might be problems with the wiring to the console socket or the console socket itself. But if you did previously blow the console socket fuse within the cabin fuse box, I would assume that the plug on the inverter was getting power from the console socket before the fuse blew. I would further assume that the fuse would blow before there was any damage to the wiring. I would use a digital multimeter and probe the contacts in the console socket with the DMM probes and with the DMM set to measure DC voltage with the truck running in case maybe it was a problem with the engagement of your trouble light plug with the contacts in the console socket.

I think there were some posts about people having plug to socket depth match problems.

BTW, I am looking at pages PG-5 and PG-11 within the electrical section of the service manual, which shows the Console Power Socket fed via a 15 amp fuse #6 from the Accessory Relay.

thajjar · 05-30-2005, 02:34 PM

You may have fried some wires. Even if you were below the fuse rating, operating near the limit may have cause wire and connector heating. In the old days, the cigarette lighter wiring was very heavy. Today especially in a switched socket, the wiring and connector(s) are whimpy.

HudsonValleyTitan · 05-30-2005, 02:50 PM

I've used a 300 watt inverter with no problems in my truck. I can't see how 400 watts could be that much more draw.

RockyMtnTitan · 05-30-2005, 03:03 PM

Like bestatchess was trying to point out, it's not the size of the inverter....it's what you plug into it. Any appliance rated at over 180W will draw over 15A, and will blow the fuse. I run a 400W inverter w/o problems, but that's because I only run stuff that draws minimal amperage, i.e., laptop, cell phone, etc. You start plugging in TV's and stuff and that's a diff story.

raskm · 05-30-2005, 05:23 PM

I don't want to hijack this thread, but it might help others doing the same thing. I have a 200 watt inverter that I want to run a game cube for my daughter that plugs into cig lighter...which one do you recommend plugging into without problems. I wanted to plug into the one on the back of cc.

RockyMtnTitan · 06-02-2005, 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raskm

I don't want to hijack this thread, but it might help others doing the same thing. I have a 200 watt inverter that I want to run a game cube for my daughter that plugs into cig lighter...which one do you recommend plugging into without problems. I wanted to plug into the one on the back of cc.

Running a low wattage gadget like a game cube shouldn't cause you any issues in any of the 12V sockets.