Hello All, apologies if this topic has already been discussed, but I couldn't seem to find another thread on it. Is it possible to trickle charge my 550 through the cigarette lighter? Thank You
The car should be protected to some extent by the cigarette lighter fuse. The wiring coming off the fuse has a cross-sectional area of 2.5 square millimeters (around 13AWG)... quite beefy. However, it branches off to a number of different items, not just the cigarette lighter. The wire is only 1.0 mm^2 (around 17AWG) by the time it reaches the cigarette lighter. The current carrying capacity of a wire is a complex issue. It depends on a number of factors. Fuses should not blow if the current flow is under their rating, but the fuseholder may melt if the current is high for long periods. This happens with pump fuses. Does your trickle charger handbook say what the max current is?
Appreciate info, the charger I was going to use was the Ctek BC800 (the Ferrari branded one, came with a previous car). It says it has an output of only 0.8amps.
the cigarette lighter method is just far more convenient for me, and you never forget its plugged in on your way out the garage.
I’m no expert, but it sounds like there would be no issues with wiring if only 0.8 amps is being supplied Looking at online charts, I think 1.0 mm^2 wiring can handle at least 5 times as much as that.
I should mention that the charger I use with the lighter is a Porsche Charge-o-mat, primarily because it's only 500ma output.
