This discussion has been locked.

You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Getting power from European cars

Former Member over 14 years ago

I was in Germany recently and brought along my Garmin. It turned out that the cigarette lighter socket in the rental car was incompatible with the adaptor that I use to power my Garmin in the US. Apparetly while many European cars use the same adaptor as US cars, some use a different adaptor -- possibly called "type B" -- which is different enough that I could not use it.

Is there a way to use this format power outlet? Is there an adaptor which will allow my existing plug to work? A place where I can buy a plug which will work in them?

0 t_smit over 14 years ago

It looks like, according to the spec, there isn't really very much difference between the two sizes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigar_lighter_receptacle

I'm surprised that the plug supplied with your unit couldn't accommodate the extra 0.5 mm of diameter. Maybe the fuse in the rental car was burnt out?

0 Former Member over 14 years ago

The difference was signifcant

My standard connector really rattled around -- it would not even stay upright. Part of the problem is that the socket is not only wider, but shallower.

0 t_smit over 14 years ago

As it happens, we were camping last week and in order to support charging of our collection of phones and entertainment electronics, I'd installed a 12V accessory socket on the trailer. To charge the iPhone and iPods we had got a Belkin 12V charger adapter, which fits into the accessory socket and has a USB A-type socket on its other end. This adapter fit perfectly on the Tundra but it was a very tight fit on the trailer's new accessory socket.

I went and measured it - its body is 0.5mm larger diameter than the Nuvi's cigarette lighter adapter, and the tip is also shorter. According to your description this would likely make it a good fit in the shorter, wider socket you found in Germany.

The output of this adapter is (rated by Belkin) at 1A at 5V, which is the same as the rating stamped onto the Nuvi adapter. So if you get a right angle USB cable then this combination could work for you. Of course, all disclaimers apply: I haven't tried this, not supported by Garmin, and all that.