Have recently bought a 2001 Burstner t603 in France (I know I should ask them, but it's easier to ask in English!)
Delighted with it, but it has strange cigar-lighter sockets in the body of the van. They are slimmer than the usual and my standard plugs won't fit. There is a standard socket in the dashboard, but the TV cupboard has this slim thing.
I'm considering buying a flat-screen tv with a 12-volt input in an ordinary shop (the dealers seem to double the prices) and I hoped to use the cigar-lighter - I cannot find slim plugs on sale in either UK or France.
Is this a European thing? I'd be glad of some advice.
Further to the TV installation, am I right in assuming the cigar-lighter socket is the one to use even when hooked up to the mains (or is this what I have to pay dealer prices for?)
Forgot to say - if you buy any 12v TV with an external mains power supply thingy then yes you should be able to run it from the 12v socket - might have to make your own lead up tho'
Thanks very much that link should get me all I need, and more! It's strange but when I googled I got nowhere useful like that and decided to ask here instead.
Thanks about TV info - I think I can cobble a lead up. I'm now deep in the maths of guessing if my solar panel is up to it (sigh!)
Roll on next week when we're off to the coast to see what the Channel Islands look like.
I last saw those plugs for sale at Poplar 2000 truck stop at Lymm on the M6. They had buckets full of them. That was some time ago, but might be worth a call. They were taken over some time ago, and are now called Moto. Sorry I don't have a phone number.
We just called them Hella plugs, made by Hella & last time I looked(several yrs ago)available as stated, in truck stops & motorway services, which could be your best bet.
Quote: Originally posted by Kabbes on 22/8/2009We just called them Hella plugs, made by Hella & last time I looked(several yrs ago)available as stated, in truck stops & motorway services, which could be your best bet.
Same here used to buy them as a plug and socket but used to throw the socket away as they were built into the truck I remember Lymm used to have a bucket full of sockets that you could help yourself too
You could try This One as it allows you to use the plug with an ordinary cig socketand the Hella one HTH Steve B
Thank you for all replies. Plenty of leads ;-) to track down!
Spartan, you're probably right - easiest overall solution.
My main worry was that these sockets provided a lower limited power supply (like old mains plugs for lighting).
As none has yet offered that as a warning, I'm guessing that was not the reason for them. It seems weird that they are fitted in a 2001-built van.
My local Maplins looked blankly at me when I spoke of slim cigar-lighter sockets - maybe that's their age. I can certainly see plenty on the sites offered above.
The 12 v circuit is usually controlled by a 10 amp fuse (red) all you need to do is remove the fuse for the 12v system and see if the sockets still live.
That will show you whether the socket is for lower current the fuse will be lower rated.
You can replace in the panel with a 12v square socket similar to mains socket but with the two offset pins.It is decorative and will hide the hole the socket comes out of, it will be flush mounted no need for a back box. unless you can get the the other side of the panel and secure the socket with the box on the other side of the wood.
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Topic: Strange electric sockets
ha-ha
