[Karizmatik]

Weird one for anyone who might have had previous problems with something similar -- The other day I was charging my iPhone via the 12V socket and suddenly my charger stopped working. I assumed it was just a dud charger and proceeded to buy another. The same thing happened, twice. And put it down to the iPhone, thinking maybe it was due for an upgrade to the iPhone 5 (Good excuse, I say!). Then yesterday I was using my GPS and the same problem occurred -- The GPS charger stopped working. I went into Joyce Mayne where I bought it and thankfully they DOA'd the whole lot and gave me a new one.

I'm a little scared to plug the new one in in fears of the car killing it. Is this something my car is doing or have I just had a really bad run with chargers in the last 72 hours? Anything I can check? Or is it back to the dealership?

I'm already $100 in on dead iPhone car chargers -- I don't really want to lose another GPS to it's wrath.

Also, while I'm here -- Am I able to use the lighter socket to charge things? And can I use the 12V and the lighter socket at the same time to charge 2 different things with 2 different, independent chargers? Or is this a big no-no?

Please help!

[mantaray]

As far as using the lighter socket and 12 v socket at the same time, no problems do it all the time. Just be wary of putting to high an amperage device in the lighter socket ie Ipad(2 amps)- but for iphones and GPS no issue. the most that would happen is the lighter socket might get very warm or blow a fuse. I have my bluetooth (Belkin AirCast Auto HandsFree & its a beaut) hooked up and it works great.
As for the 12 volt one test it with a multimeter the pin in the middle at the bottom is "Positive + " and the outside metal is "Negative.-" it should be 12 +/- 10%.
Some Cigarette adapters have a fuse in them, when you unscrew it.

[Phil №❶]

There should be no probs using both. The lighter socket is a huge amps user, I haven't checked, but the fuse is probably 20 amps.

In fact, it's a good idea to have an appropriate fuse in line with any device. The reason is, if a device uses 5 amps and say a plug shorts out, power will NOT be disconnected, because the lighter fuse can take 20 amps. If a 5 amp device goes faulty, the actual wire to the plug could get as hot as a cigarette lighter which would be highly dangerous, there could be injury from burns, a fire or poisonous fumes. 

[Asterix]

No problems in using both 12V outlets at the same time.

When we go on summervacation we have a coolerbox in one outlet and the GPS in the other.

Cooler use 50 Watt / 4,2 Amps, don't know how much the GPS use.

The coolerbox is not controlled by thermostat, so it's constant power, and we drive for 10-12 hours two days in a row.