12V outlet troubleshooting

[Sharif]

OK, I'll admit, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to troubleshooting electricity. I'm getting no joy to the 12V outlet in the glove box. I checked the fuse, and it looks fine.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Much obliged,

Sharif

 

[bramfrank]

3 amp fuse, aft of the battery.

 

[wfooshee]

Fuses cannot be checked optically. You have to push electrons through them, and if they fail to pass, fuse is blowed.

If you put anything on there bigger than a phone charger (i.e. air compressor) then you blew the fuse.

 

[azokie]

1. You didn't say, but make sure the key is on. The pocket accessory plug is only hot when the ignition is on.

2. Try a different fuse, or test the fuse for continuity with a meter.

OK, I'll admit, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to troubleshooting electricity. I'm getting no joy to the 12V outlet in the glove box. I checked the fuse, and it looks fine.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Much obliged,

Sharif

 

[Sharif]

Thanks all - I presumed you could visually examine a fuse, like a light bulb.

Yes, the key is on, so current should be flowing to the 12V socket.

I'll try a new 3 amp fuse and see what I get. I presume it has to be a 3 amp fuse.

Next step after that is to pick up Electricity for Dummies or somesuch - any recommendations on that front? Electrical projects I'm interested in tackling include:

* Flash 2 Pass

* Heated grips

* Hyperlites

Thanks again,

Sharif

 

[Good2Go]

Thanks all - I presumed you could visually examine a fuse, like a light bulb.
Yes, the key is on, so current should be flowing to the 12V socket.

I'll try a new 3 amp fuse and see what I get. I presume it has to be a 3 amp fuse.

Next step after that is to pick up Electricity for Dummies or somesuch - any recommendations on that front? Electrical projects I'm interested in tackling include:

* Flash 2 Pass

* Heated grips

* Hyperlites

Thanks again,

Sharif

If the device you're plugging into the 12V socket has a fuse, check that too.

 

[Sharif]

If the device you're plugging into the 12V socket has a fuse, check that too.

True, true - I'm trying both a cell charger and a Nuvi power source. They both work in the car/van. I'll have to swap fuses (I think there's a spare 3 amp fuse in the box) tonight and see what I get.

-Sharif

 

[Sharif]

OK, so I tried the spare 3 amp fuse, still no juice.

Any thoughts as to what next?

-Sharif

 

[madmike2]

You're going to have to start tracing the wire with a 12V test light. One assumes you've checked and there is no power before the fuse. Have you checked where it connects? There must be a break in the wire or a detachment point at one of the connectors.

 

[wfooshee]

Remove the fuse, check the sockets with a voltmeter. One should have 12 volts. If neither has volts, then there is some weirdness going on, because the hot side of that fuse is THE SAME connection to the ignition switch as every switched circuit in the fuse box. I can't see how it would be cold while others are hot unless something's broken in the fuse box itself.

Pull the fuse, carefully put a pin or something into one side of the socket, turn the key on, see if it's hot, measure voltage between the pin and ground. Key off, move the pin, and check the other socket the same way.

Make sure the fuses you're pulling are OK. Put an ohmmeter across the fuse, should have zero ohms. If the fuse is open, then we gotta find why they're blowing.

You said you tried the spare fuse, but you haven't said you measured the fuses with a meter. If the spare fuse blew immediately, then something's shorted in the wiring to the jack, or something's stuck in the jack itself.

What I'm saying is I haven't been convinced the fuses are OK when you pull them. Usually a blown fuse shows visibly, but not always.