[terrylewisac]

I have looked everywhere and cannot find an answer so I thought I'd go ahead and ask.
I have taken my gauge cluster out for refurbishment and repairs,
My lighter never worked so I tried cleaning it up to see if I can get it working again its ohms out good ( on and off) and believe I have tracked it down to the lighter it self and not the socket.
I would like to bench test it with out a battery but rather a plug in 120 a/c to 12v dc step down/transformer (whatever you call those things)
Anyway would like to know if anyone knows the amp draw for one of these before I try using my bench tester/adaptor.
I already used it to test all the lighting in the gauges after my repairs of the sockets for the BA9s bulbs since I was unable to find new sockets anywhere.
Thank you , in advance for any insight.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

They can use a lot of power. They are attached to a 15A fuse at the fusebox, along with the blower motor and a few other things. A safe bet would be that they draw at least 10A.

 

[terrylewisac]

That's what I was thinking Thanks Gordon
I'll need to use the battery then with a fuse, my plug in deal is only 1A

 

[BillConger]

Could you test the socket by plugging in a low draw accessory like a cell phone charger so you don't pull maximum lighter draw? Just wondering.

 

[kwschumm]

A good meter can measure amp draw.

 

[MattsAwesomeStuff]

A good meter can measure amp draw.

A cheap meter can measure amp draw. Up to a max of about 10Amps, for a few seconds.

The trick is that almost everyone is going to explode their meters when measuring amps, because they'll measure it in parallel like you do voltage.

When measuring amps you have to insert the meter into a wire. Imagine that you cut a wire, and then you connected each end to the leads on the meter. That's how you have to use an ammeter.

Otherwise you're creating a dead short (through the meter), same as if you threw a wrench across the battery terminals.

 

[G.v.Mainberg]

Could you test the socket by plugging in a low draw accessory like a cell phone charger so you don't pull maximum lighter draw? Just wondering.

Reading the OP's post, I understand he wants to test the lighter and not the socket.

Dieter

 

[terrylewisac]

Another question,
Does anyone know if the ( bi-metal spring) in the lighter is mechanically attached to the inside of the outer lighter ring Or is it just touching to make the connection?

 

[terrylewisac]

A cheap meter can measure amp draw. Up to a max of about 10Amps, for a few seconds.

The trick is that almost everyone is going to explode their meters when measuring amps, because they'll measure it in parallel like you do voltage.

When measuring amps you have to insert the meter into a wire. Imagine that you cut a wire, and then you connected each end to the leads on the meter. That's how you have to use an ammeter.

Otherwise you're creating a dead short (through the meter), same as if you threw a wrench across the battery terminals.

Not sure I completely follow, My meter for an example has an amp clamp to measure amperage,
Or are you referring to a typical cheap meter without an amp clamp?

 

[Lindsay]

I scanned this page from the 1972 FSM. I think you can ignore the x'ed out 5 amp fuse replaced with an 8. The 5 is correct I believe even though the part number listed is for the 8 amp fuse?!? Yet another FSM typo (along with the wrong year being mentioned in the first paragraph (1971 instead of 1972).
HTH
Matt

View attachment 441269

 

[The Scifi Guy]

There IS the other type of amp measuring that involves a ring sort of clamp that you put AROUND the wire to sense current.

Older or cheaper meters have you wire the meter in series in the circuit instead of in parallel.

 

[terrylewisac]

There IS the other type of amp measuring that involves a ring sort of clamp that you put AROUND the wire to sense current.

Older or cheaper meters have you wire the meter in series in the circuit instead of in parallel.

Right an amp clamp

 

[kwschumm]

My Fluke 87 meter will measure up to ten amps of DC current wired in series. I have an amp clamp but it’s not necessary to use it.

 

[terrylewisac]

View attachment 441269 View attachment 441270

Thanks Lindsay But the 73 gt is a 15 amp circuit for the lighter ,buzzer and blower

 

[terrylewisac]

Alright good news, I took a chance on the 1 amp 12v plug in converter thing and plugged into the main plug/clip to feed the harness that then feeds the lighter.
After taking apart & cleaning the lighter and socket I figured I'd give the plug in deal a try ( I have a bunch of them) so if it blew or burnt OH WELL I have more.
So I held the assembly in my hand and pushed the lighter in and watched it start to smoke a bit, I gave it a bit of time ,Maybe 30 to 45 seconds to get it nice and hot to burn off any residual whatever's
Lit a smoke and grinned.
I tried it again a hour later to make sure it wasn't a lucky fluke and it's working great 🧐
So evidently you can use a plug in a/c to d/c adaptor to bench test just about anything in the gauge cluster including the higher amp drawing lighter with confidence.

I was SO confident I moved my attention to the non working clock and carefully pulled the clock back off to look at some of it's GREEK inner workings to try to understand it's function and how all the gears and strange things within work together.
After looking and moving this and that I realized it didn't appear anything I was seeing was damaged. ( I first thought the plastic gear was trashed) But after some careful cleaning of the points and blowing out all the dirt and a little wd40 I was able to get the clock working again ( so far).

 

[The Cub]

Alright good news, I took a chance on the 1 amp 12v plug in converter thing and plugged into the main plug/clip to feed the harness that then feeds the lighter.
After taking apart & cleaning the lighter and socket I figured I'd give the plug in deal a try ( I have a bunch of them) so if it blew or burnt OH WELL I have more.
So I held the assembly in my hand and pushed the lighter in and watched it start to smoke a bit, I gave it a bit of time ,Maybe 30 to 45 seconds to get it nice and hot to burn off any residual whatever's
Lit a smoke and grinned.
I tried it again a hour later to make sure it wasn't a lucky fluke and it's working great 🧐
So evidently you can use a plug in a/c to d/c adaptor to bench test just about anything in the gauge cluster including the higher amp drawing lighter with confidence.

I was SO confident I moved my attention to the non working clock and carefully pulled the clock back off to look at some of it's GREEK inner workings to try to understand it's function and how all the gears and strange things within work together.
After looking and moving this and that I realized it didn't appear anything I was seeing was damaged. ( I first thought the plastic gear was trashed) But after some careful cleaning of the points and blowing out all the dirt and a little wd40 I was able to get the clock working again ( so far).

Let us know if your battery drains abnormally fast. I hope you have better luck than I did, I was able to get my clock running the same way by spraying WD-40 at the gears after doing so my car battery drained much more rapidly. Just a heads up if you do end up experiencing the same thing.

 

[soybean]

Yep, if you get the clock working, get a Battery Tender. They are relatively cheap. The clock will kill the battery.

 

[terrylewisac]

I think I've lost hope on the clock, I let run for hours with no problems but decided to see how well it was actually keeping time.
So I set the time and checked on it with my phones time
The clock was running very fast so I made small adjustments to slow it down.
Checked it again 20 mins later and it was 15 minutes behind
Then I realized 5 mins after the adjustment it just stopped (ticking)
Got it started again and sat there listening for it to click which resets the (spring action) to keep it moving.
After the third click I was timing how often this reset happens. WELL it stopped ticking again once I started my timer in the middle of it's cycle and the points were still open
I guess it's done.
Just weird how it ran all night no issues but when I disconnected power to adjust the time and start timing it the crazy thing just flat stops in the middle of it's cycle

 

[The Scifi Guy]

It sounds like that clock is a disaster waiting to happen. I suggest chucking it and using the hole as an ash tray.

Or run a heater duct to the hole, it points right at you. 🤪

 

[rrossjr]

This is how I "fixed" my GT clock...

https://www.opelgtsource.com/search/3361/details