Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

[Dick G.]

In testing the functions of my lighter, I found out the cig. lighter will pop out onto the floor . If I keep my hand in front, I can easily stop it's exit. How can I correct this? I will get back to it later today or tomorrow. I need to weaken this spring somehow. I tried it several more times. Same. If it was any stronger it would end up in one's cajoogies/testies. Any ideas?
Thanks DG

[William L.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

If this in on a C2? Look inside the cig. holder and tweak the two little tabs. Not much because they can brake easily. MAKE SURE YOU DISCONNECT THE BATTERY FIRST.
Bill

[William C.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

Original recepticle used three tabs to retain, service replacements use two and often show the results you describe. Try to find a three finger model (used) and give it a try. Make sure it is the proper length for a Corvette.

[Mike M.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

clup is right on---three tabs.. go junkyarding , on the lookout for 1960's GM olds buick pontaic caddys. four door cars usually have unused lighter assemblies in their rear doors. mike

[Dick G.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

Bill is right. My socket is a 2 spring type. Mr Lacy's advice was also a simple fix for now. I found an old socket with the 3 springs from my old 57 corvette. I could clean her up. I think they are the same. Thanks for the help.
DG

[Jack H.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

If the socket you found is truly original to a '57 Corvette, then it'll be longer/deeper than that used on a mid-year car. The lighter line-up changed in 1963 with earlier cars using deeper sockets and matching Casco L144-C lighter elements. The mid-year cars used shorter lighter elements (Casco L160-C) known in the hobby as '63 Casco' units based on what's embossed on the their sliding ash guards and a correspondingly shorter socket.

[Alan D.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

And add an inline fuse!

[Dan H.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

Alan, what size 'fuse' do you recommend to prevent 'cook offs' ?
Dan

[Christopher R.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

You need to bend the prongs/tabs in the socket. They hold the lighter unit in. You need to adjust them so that they hold the lighter in tight enough so as to not pop out onto the floor. But not so much that they hold it in too long. If it's held in too long, it'll get too hot and the wires will also start to get too hot. The lighter is held in by friction. So, if you clean up the socket and lube it some, it'll change the amount you need to bend the prongs/tabs.

You also need to disconnect power when you bend the prongs/tabs. Because you'll probably stick a screwdriver in there to do the adjusting. A screwdriver could short it out.

If you take the whole thing out and adjust it on a bench, you could probably get a feel for what adjustment is too much and what is not enough. And while it's out, the power is disconnected to it.

I put a 30 amp fuse on mine. I don't know if that's too high. If I were to do it again, I'd look up what car manufacturers usually use on lighter circuits.

[Alan D.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

The 67 (first year to have fuse) manual calls for a 20Amp fuse for lighter, clock, courtesy lights, and hazard warning, so something below that will be fine. John Hinckley wrote an article on the subject and calls for a 10Amp fuse which is what I'm using now to prevent "cook off" (like that word). The article also covers the pop out adjustment as mentioned above.

[Jack H.]

Re: Lighter pops out onto floor mat?

Hum, I smell 'overkill' here in trying to devise home-brew cig lighter fuses for cars that didn't have intrinsic fuse protection of the lighter circuit...

There's an off-the-shelf solution that was provided by Casco for this. It was used by other GM car lines (e.g. Buick & Cadillac) as a safeguard against children 'playing' in the rear seat area (what if a kid drops a small coin down the cig lighter to see what happens?) that was called the Casco L2C.

You unscrew the brass 'baby bottle nipple' that Chevy installed on the power stud of the lighter socket, screw on the L2C and re-install the brass adaptor on the free end of the L2C. ALL DONE!

They appear on eBay with reasonable frequency for $2-5, or go visit a local scrapy yard and unscrew one from the rear cig sockets of early '60s era Buick/Caddy cars...