7 replies to this topic

[Juceymini]

Voltage perhaps ??

[HarveyT]

your charger probably needs a higher voltage than the voltage that the cig lighter supplies, you can get another one pretty cheap off ebay though probably

[ado15]

The pump is likely to run with reduced voltage. The charger might need a minimum voltage to operate. The cigarette lighter sockets are rubbish as a connection and can be quite resistive.

[M J W J]

Phone chargers, car or otherwise, are just power supply leads. The actual charger is built into the phone and is why they will charge off mains power, cigarette lighter sockets and even USB sockets in PCs/laptops.

 

The end part of most cigarette socket leads unscrew and behind it is a glass car type fuse like the ones used in a mini. You may have blown this in the charger its self.

[zerobelow]

Mjwj: Not really correct for any phone I've seen. Most phones from recent times use micro usb plugs for charging (or the apple cable). In this case, the phone is expecting 5 volts. The cigarette lighter cable has some rudimentary circuitry inside to cut the car's 12v to 5v. It would be very unusual for any device to internally accept such a range of power options -- what you suggested would imply accepting 5vDC, 12vDC, and 110-240vAC. There are specific chargers for some laptops, called auto/air chargers, which convert these voltages to the native voltage for whatever device they are designed for. For the

 

op: make sure your charger works for your phone, in another car. Some chargers don't put out enough amps to power certain phones -- this would be a charger problem, not a wiring problem.

 

Also, make sure that the shape of the charger lets it fully make contact with the mini's socket. Sometimes, if the socket is too wide, or too shallow, some plugs won't fit well. If it flops around, that could be a sign.

 

Make sure the pin at the end of the phone charger, that goes into the socket, is spring loaded and sticks out. This is the part of the charger that sticks furthest into the car's socket.

 

If the polarity on your socket is reversed, it may let some devices work, but not the charger. I believe pin should be contacted to the positive, and the sleeve of the socket should be connected to ground. 

 

If the voltage is very low, like 11v, at the socket, then some devices will work and others won't.

 

EDIT: I had written the above on my phone, and all spacing had gotten removed.

Edited by zerobelow, 03 March 2014 - 05:34 PM.

[dklawson]

For the op: make sure your charger works for your phone, in another car. Some chargers don't put out enough amps to power certain phones -- this would be a charger problem, not a wiring problem. Also, make sure that the shape of the charger lets it fully make contact with the mini's socket. Sometimes, if the socket is too wide, or too shallow, some plugs won't fit well.

 

+1 on the above.  Try the charger in another car as a quick test.

[mini93]

It might be that your charger has a polarity, ie positive and negative need to be correct way round. the simple pump may well operate is you have accidently wired the 12+ charger incorrectly. I had a similar problem before and turned out to be the above.

[KernowCooper]

I hope its not the case of wired incorrectly, to test get a multimeter and probe the centre pin to ensure its corect