• TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
  • Follow
    • Follow
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • google+
    • instagram
    • youtube
Hearst Corporation
  • TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
Forums
  • Register
  • Login
  • Forums
  • Gadgets
  • Tablets and e-Readers
American Car Cigarette Lighters
DavidRobert
11-06-2010
About to head over to the USA for a few weeks.

Hiring a car. Does anyone know if the cigarette lighters in American cars are the same size of plug and voltage as ones in the UK?

I'm looking to buy a charging socket from Halfords, but dont want to waste £20 if it aint going to work when I get there.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...Id_165452#dtab
chrisjr
11-06-2010
The voltage won't be a problem. From what I have been able to find out the sockets are broadly similar but may be a mm or so narrower than the UK ones. That should not be a problem either as you will notice the plugs have spring loaded contacts at the sides which ought to cope with that.
PrinceGaz
13-06-2010
Yeah according to Wikipedia the American version is less than a millimeter smaller diameter which is well within the spring tolerance so that won't be as problem and an adapter bought here will work fine there (12V is standard worldwide for cars).

It does amaze me that car manufacturers haven't replaced the cigarette lighter socket with something (industy-wide standard) better suited to powering the sort of things which tend to be used in cars. Does anyone even use it to light cigarettes these days anyway? For lower-powered devices, a USB charging socket would be better as you could just use the cable supplied with the device instead of needing a car-charging cable.
weateallthepies
13-06-2010
Originally Posted by PrinceGaz:
“Yeah according to Wikipedia the American version is less than a millimeter smaller diameter which is well within the spring tolerance so that won't be as problem and an adapter bought here will work fine there (12V is standard worldwide for cars).

It does amaze me that car manufacturers haven't replaced the cigarette lighter socket with something (industy-wide standard) better suited to powering the sort of things which tend to be used in cars. Does anyone even use it to light cigarettes these days anyway? For lower-powered devices, a USB charging socket would be better as you could just use the cable supplied with the device instead of needing a car-charging cable.”

Yep would be a good idea.

You can get cigarette lighter socket to usb adpators though which are handy if you just want to use all your standard cables,
Troy Tempest
13-06-2010
Originally Posted by DavidRobert:
“About to head over to the USA for a few weeks.

Hiring a car. Does anyone know if the cigarette lighters in American cars are the same size of plug and voltage as ones in the UK?

I'm looking to buy a charging socket from Halfords, but dont want to waste £20 if it aint going to work when I get there.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/s...Id_165452#dtab”

You'll have no problems with the adapter David, but what are you going to charge?

If it's laptop or phones then check the power brick to the device for input voltage, you'll find all modern chargers are 110 - 240Volts so don't waste your money on the Halfords inverter.

I got a similar adapter to This in a local Walmart for 9 quid
VIEW DESKTOP SITE TOP

JOIN US HERE

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

© 2015 Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 9EP. Registered in England 112955. All rights reserved.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Complaints
  • Site Map