QuestionQUESTION: Hi Dick,
You have been gracious and helpful in the past, and I appreciate your assistance. I own a 1964 Bonneville. The cigarette lighter was missing, and I found a good one on ebay. My question involves proper grounding. I located the "hot" feed, but do I need to solder a ground wire, and if so, where? If you are familiar with these older ligters, please advise what the small metal piece is that sticks out of the back. Below is the link to the lighter that I purchased. Thank you!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%
Vince
ANSWER: You have bought not only a lighter but also a light that shows up at night to tell you where to put the lighter when you're done with it. The pod shaped thing on the side of the main housing is the light. It has a separate power wire dangling off it that needs to be connected to the same wires that go to all the dash gauge illumination bulbs - so that the intensity of the light will vary with the dash lighting.
The center post on the main housing is the power terminal for the lighter itself - that is wired to the main body power circuit - there should be a fuse on your fuse panel which supplies all the body circuits that are live whether the key is on or off - circuits like the courtesy lights, the glove box light, the other cigarette lighters etc.
There does not appear to be a grounding tab on this lighter housing - apparently they rely on the metal to metal contact where it is mounted in the dash to provide the grounding needed to operate the lighter and the bulb. You can always add a ground wire if needed, but my guess is that when you install this in your dash, you will find it is grounded well enough without an added ground wire.
Dick
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Dick,
As always, thank you for the truly expert advice. I had no idea that the pod shaped device, is, in fact, a light. I understand all that you said, however, what is the best way to connect the center post on the main housing with the live wire? Should I solder a wire to the main post, then connect it to the wire that feeds the courtesy light?
Thank you VERY much!
Vince
AnswerI believe the stud shaped center post is threaded. The right way to connect to this is to go to a Radio Shack store and get some "ring lugs" that are the right size to slip over the threaded post- then solder or crimp a wire to the ring lug and install it on the post with a nut and lock washer. Solder the wire to the lug away from the post - you don't want the soldering heat to overheat the plastic insulator inside the cigarette lighter socket.
Then run the wire to a main power feed wire that comes from the fuse block fuse that is labled for "body feed" or something like that. The important thing is that the wire be connected to a fuse, at least indirectly, for safety. The wire that feeds the courtesy light switches is a good candidate if you can figure out which wire that is.
Dick
