walterk55

A buddy with a 2011 E350 keeps taking his car into the local dealer for a really dumb problem. His cigarette lighter socket keeps blowing fuses when he puts in his mobile phone charger. Its been back to his dealer 5 times and all they do is change the fuse (blown!) but as soon as he puts on his mobile phone charger, it blows the fuse. Clearly this is not a fuse problem - there is more going on here.
Any suggestions as to how to remedy this problem

thanks

reckrab

I can only think of three possible scenarios 1) defective car charger 2) defective cigarette lighter socket 3) charger and socket work as designed but draw more current than the car charging socket is designed to allow (not likely).

Try the charger in a different car to rule out a bad charger, try a different device in the car cigarette charger to rule out bad socket ( hopefully the dealer already checked this one of the 5 times it was there). If everything works then check the draw of the charger vs. the rating of the fuse and see if it's the same or more. And buy some fuses at the local auto parts store.

pca7ggr

I few weeks ago I too found that the console lighter socket doesn't work on my coupe. Since I don't often use it, I was waiting for the next service to get it addressed. Now I'll check if the fuse if blown.

Yeah, getting a bit lazy in my old age. Same on me - I used to work at a small independent shop and the 1st thing I'd do is? Check the fuse.

sljacks

I don't have the answer as to how to solve this problem, but I have '12 and experienced the same issue with the fuse blowing, but it wasn't due to a charger. I put some coins in the ash tray and it blew the fuse. Since then, i've just stayed away from putting anything in the ash tray. My charger has worked fine ever since then.

cc16177

When I took my car in for service recently the lady noticed I had my car charger plugged in behind the center armrest, rather than the one by the ashtray. She commented "oh! I'm so glad to see someone who read the owners manual and didn't plug a car charger in by the ashtray! It always blows the fuse and stops working!"

I showed her that I use a radar detector up there (Which has always worked fine) which is the only reason I use the one behind the armrest for my car charger.

Anyways, this may be your issue.

jahquan3

Oooppss I never read that part in the manual either and always use the cigarette lighter charger part. So far so good and I've had no problems. Now I at least know to expect it possibly down the line.

cx876

I have a 24W dual USB charger in my cigarette lighter at all time, works fine and never give me trouble,
that's the only one that I can find that would allow me to close the ashtray door without removing the charger too.

pca7ggr

I decided to check the fuse for my lighter. While the owners manual describes where the fuses are located, it makes no mention of which fuse is on what circuit. In addition, unlike other cars, the fuse box cover does not have a diagram with fuse location and purpose.

So I pulled each fuse and found them all to be good. But still no gig lighter.

cx876

the fuse diagram is in the spare tire kit

pca7ggr

Thanks. Does the owners manual reference this anywhere?

Twil008

Maybe it's a HINT to stop Smoking !!!!!

terp97

Fuse. take to dealer. No charge at least when I took it in.

cc16177

I refuse to read the rest of this thread so don't bother replying to me if someone already said this. The front cigarette port is known for blowing fuses if you plug a car charger into it. My dealer recommends using the charger behind the center console.

That's all I got...

SteveE400

I honestly wonder why the use of a charger would blow fuses, while the use of the cigarette lighter, which draws a LOT of current, would not. I know people who use handy-talkie radios plugged into cigarette lighter sockets, and these units draw 5 to 8 amps. I would bet that the lighters draw even more. How much current does your phone charger draw? If it is a "standard" one, I'd be surprised if its current draw is the issue. If, on the other hand, it is a "heavy duty" charger, then maybe it draws enough to pop the fuse.

CarolinaBluetec

I use a 12 volt air compressor plugged into my cigarette lighter socket. Works fine.

El Cid

Of all the things that could be dropped from cars, the cigarette lighter and ashtray are number one. Toyotta stopped installing them in some vehicles as far back as 2003, except as a dealer option.

CarolinaBluetec

There is no good marketing reason to drop the lighter.MB has lots of customers in Europe and the ROW that are smokers. The incremental cost of the cigarette lighter/ashtray vs a 12 volt outlet is meaningless.

Arrie

Cigarette lighter fuses are quite big. I have seen them 20A-30A so a normal phone charger will not blow the fuse as it would require 240W power pull to blow a 20A fuse.


Your friend may have a defective phone charger as obviously it pulls more than fuse rating amps from the socket. Try another phone charger.

Johnny Rad

Finally. Thanks for the technical explanation from Steve and Arrie...

Blowing the cig lighter fuse sounds more like a faulty / poor charger than the fuse blowing.

El Cid

While Europe and ROW (right of way or rest of world?) may have a lot of smokers, what percentage and is it growing or declining?
Regardless, there is an ongoing post of this and other MB sites on how to replace the ashtray with a coin holder or similar. MB also sells a coin holder to be installed where the ashtray is located.
Toyota went the other direction-more people could use a coin holder, etc. than could use an ashtray and cigarette lighter. Those that wanted the lighter/ashtray could have it installed by dealer.
From the posts here it seems that there is a problem for many people trying to use the cigarette lighter for something for which it was not intended.
There is also the reason that smoking in a car dramatically decreases the resale value, at least in US. No amount of treatment will remove the odor. Seen used cars lose 25% of value because they belonged to a smoker.

CarolinaBluetec

If Mercedes thought they would sell more cars if they took out the cigarette lighter it would be gone in a "New York Minute".