cell phone chargers don't work in cig lighter/lighter does

[drdarts]

1972 F250 Have tried various phone chargers in my cigarette lighter socket but none of them work. The cigarette lighter does get hot though.
I'm thinking the contacts in the socket aren't long enought to make connection w/ cellphone chargers contacts. .

Any solutions?

[1972hiboy]

hmm. ive used my lighter outlet for cell phone charging, 12 volt coolers, gps. I wonder if its your lighter or just your charger cord?

[Nitekruizer]

I've been able to use the chargers in the lighter sockets of my classic vehicles. Sometimes they don't make very good contact unless I wiggle them around a little. Could be some corrosion on the contacts in the socket. Maybe try an Electronic Contact Cleaner Spray and/or a non-metallic brush in the socket. Could be worth a try.

[390bump]

Look in the charger hole and you will see two tabs on the sides. These need to make contact with tabs on charger... so charger has to be rotated to the exact right spot...

[mustang68 ranger71]

I had the same prob in my 68 mustang, the lighter and the phone charger make contact in different places and everywhere the lighter didn't touch basically just got some surface rust on it. just unplug the battery or pull the plug off the lighter and take some red or green emery cloth and just take your finger and run it all around the sides, and make sure you get the rivet in the center at the bottom, that is where the tip of the charger makes contact.

[68RGR]

In my 2007 van, some plugs work with the factory sockets and some don't. I added a remote, triple lighter socket and, oddly, the center socket is different from the outer ones - It works with the plugs that won't work in all the other sockets!

Based on my experience, some plugs are simply incompatible with some sockets. I know that sounds strange because, to my way of thinking, they should be universal. In my case, rust/corrosion was not an issue because everything was new.

As an idea - You MIGHT be able to buy a compatible plug (that works with your truck's socket) along with a compatible socket (that works with your charger's plug) and use them to make a short "adapter" cable. I know that's a bit of a kludge but it just might work. On the other hand, you could replace the charger's plug with one that is compatible with your socket. But, that would only fix the charger problem - The adapter cable would fix the problem for all devices (hopefully!)