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Old 05-20-2006, 11:52 AM
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Could anyone tell me what guage of wire is used for the cigarette lighters? it appears to be 18, but im not sure

and how many amps can 18 guage wire handle? i want to run a gps receiver, pocket pc, and 2 cold cathodes off of the cigarette lighter....as far as i know, the pocket pc takes 1.5A, and the gps will run off of 5V, and the neons will take about 1 amp.....


thanks
Old 05-20-2006, 12:47 PM
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just use 16 to be on the safe side
Old 05-20-2006, 12:48 PM
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hey corvettecrazy, you've got those 96 fsm'*.............does it say in there what guage of wire is going to the rear cig lighter?
Old 05-20-2006, 01:32 PM
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Originally Posted by 96bonniessei
hey corvettecrazy, you've got those 96 fsm'*.............does it say in there what guage of wire is going to the rear cig lighter?
I can check if you give me an hour...
Old 05-20-2006, 01:40 PM
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sure ive got lots of time
Old 05-20-2006, 03:04 PM
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It'* probably a 14 gauge
Old 05-20-2006, 05:06 PM
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i had hoped it was, but it didnt look as beefy as 14 gauge would look to me

wish there was some way i could measure it :?
Old 05-20-2006, 05:59 PM
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Originally Posted by 96bonniessei
wish there was some way i could measure it :?
take wire strippers and see what size strips the wire w/o taking any of the strands with it.

and the FSM says..... .5 in metric, which converts to....20ga

go bigger than that
Old 05-20-2006, 06:28 PM
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well i need to tap into that wire going to the rear cig lighter.......i can believe that its 20 gauge.......but if it is 20 ga, then it wouldnt be any better to use 16 gauge wire after the 20, because too much current is going to wreck that 20 gauge

unless u can tell me where the main cigarette lighter is located....probably a bit bigger than 20 gauge
Old 05-22-2006, 08:15 AM
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You can tap into it to power something else w/o using the same gauge wire. You will want to use wire that is the right size for the accessory you plan on using.


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