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 Posted: Jul 11, 2017 03:54AM
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Valentine One replaced my adapter and power cord for free.  That's pretty darn good service for a product I purchased about 8 years ago and pretty honest of them to admit there was a problem.

Doug L.
 Posted: Jul 10, 2017 02:55PM
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Well Dan they did fit enough ashtrays that is for sure.

They tried but could not get the electrical connections to work consistently LOL.

If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.

Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.

 Posted: Jul 10, 2017 01:19PM
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CA
Quote:
Originally Posted by malsal
I had one in a Mazda pick up melt the dash, factory lighter in a factory location. I have seen them where the cigarette lighter stays stuck in and they do get red hot.
... probably explains why a cigar lighter was not fitted in Minis. Talk about foresight.

.

"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."

 Posted: Jul 10, 2017 10:27AM
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I had one in a Mazda pick up melt the dash, factory lighter in a factory location. I have seen them where the cigarette lighter stays stuck in and they do get red hot.

If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.

Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.

 Posted: Jul 6, 2017 09:28AM
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I spoke with the Valentine One tech people this morning.  They commented that several years ago there was a batch of their cigarette lighter adapters that overheated.  They went on to say that there was no traceable lot or serial numbers to identify suspect units.  I guess I just was lucky mine lasted as long as it did.  A replacement is on order... as is a new cigarette lighter socket!

Doug L.
 Posted: Jul 5, 2017 08:42AM
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Thanks for the comments.  Unfortunately, this isn't a run-of-the-mill adapter.  It's got a pair of RJ11 cable sockets on the back to allow direct connection of the radar detector's head unit and remote display.  It also incorporates a mount for the remote display.  Therefore, I'm very much locked into the manufacturer's adapter.

I too have seen adapters just stop working.  This is the first time I've seen one melt into ruin and yet not blow any fuses.  My plan at this point is to temporarily band-aid the power supply back together, install new cabling, and hardwire what's left of the adapter under the dash to power the unit until I can order new parts from the manufacturer.

Doug L.
 Posted: Jul 5, 2017 08:12AM
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I've had them burn up before. Most of them are just incredibly cheap made crap. I just bought a few of these after the one I had in my truck blew up, one for each of my vehicles.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VH84L5E/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They seem to be a bit better quality than what you can find at AutoZone.

 Posted: Jul 5, 2017 07:28AM
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I don't speed... much.  I may travel about 5 MPH over the posted speed.  However, I am cop paranoid so I have a radar detector.  On the advice of Bill Elliot I bought a Valentine One which I have been very happy with.

Today on my drive to work (daily driver Civic) I started noticing a sweet burning smell.  I finally realized it was the cigarette lighter adapter for my radar detector.  The nose that goes into the lighter socket was melted beyond belief.  I took the adapter apart at work to see if there was an obvious cause for the adapter to fail.  There wasn't.  Perhaps the source of the failure was hidden in the melted plastic.

Checking online, the car's fuse for the "accessory power socket" is 15 Amps.  I guess the adapter failure didn't pull that much current because that fuse did NOT blow.  The small 2 Amp fuse inside the adapter didn't blow either.  That suggests it was the spring loaded nose and earth contacts of the adapter that failed/shorted somehow. 

I am just curious.  Have any of you experienced a similar failure with any of your car adapters for anything?  Did you ever find a reason for the failure?

Doug L.