Insignia Blowing fuse

Mr Magners

I'm driving a 10 reg Insignia diesel.

It has 3 cigarette lighters which I use to charge laptop/phone/sat nav etc. Only have the car a little over 2 weeks and the fuse for the charge points has just blown for the second time in a week.

I really need these working and I'm kinda lost without them. I don't use all 3 points at the same time but it seems to be the laptop causing the problem. Is it a problem with overloading the fuse or is the charger at fault?

If it's a case it's going to keep happeneing I'll buy myself a box of fuses!

Thanks.

Paulw

It might be the laptop charger.

Maybe try the laptop charger in a different car, and compare?

user1842

Just insert a higher rated fuse into the fuse box.

Do the calculation to check. Check the AMP marking on the current fuse and look at the max amount of AMP's the laptop input takes (should be written on it). If the Laptop AMPs > Fuse AMPs you need a higher rated fuse. If its not your laptop is drawing too much power (fault).

shamwari

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Just insert a higher rated fuse into the fuse box.

Nope. Do not insert a higher rated fuse under any circumstances. This is dangerous. The fuses are selected for the task at their rating for a reason. You risk causing serious damage and even a fire doing this.

OP, get your laptop and PSU checked for faults, and if this is not the cause, bring the car to a main dealer for checking as it will still be under warranty.

user1842

shamwari wrote: »

Nope. Do not insert a higher rated fuse under any circumstances. This is dangerous. The fuses are selected for the task at their rating for a reason. You risk causing serious damage and even a fire doing this.

OP, get your laptop and PSU checked for faults, and if this is not the cause, bring the car to a main dealer for checking as it will still be under warranty.

No dont, do the AMP check first to see if there is a fault at all. The fuse could be rated for 1AMP and most laptop chargers require 1.5 to 2AMPs therefore the fuse will blow as it should and there is no fault.

I do agree that inserting a higher rated fuse might be dangerous but if its only 1 or 2 amps higher I cannot see the harm but its up to you. Your right the fuses are selected for the task and charging laptops was definitely not one of them.

stevenmu

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Your right the fuses are selected for the task and charging laptops was definitely not one of them.

Correct on this bit at least. The actual task that the fuse is selected for is to prevent too much current through the wiring. Putting in a higher rated fuse could allow too much current through the wiring, causing it to overheat or even catch fire.

user1842

stevenmu wrote: »

Correct on this bit at least. The actual task that the fuse is selected for is to prevent too much current through the wiring. Putting in a higher rated fuse could allow too much current through the wiring, causing it to overheat or even catch fire.

Agreed, then the best option if you are drawing too much current is to ring your dealer and ask him/her if its ok to put in a slightly higher rated fuse.

If he says no you need to get a laptop charger that draws less current

shamwari

stevenmu wrote: »

Correct on this bit at least. The actual task that the fuse is selected for is to prevent too much current through the wiring. Putting in a higher rated fuse could allow too much current through the wiring, causing it to overheat or even catch fire.

Correct! Plus the electronics in the Insignia are full CAN. Interfering with the electrics to fix one fault can cause a host of other spurious electronic faults that seem unrelated to the original. CAN systems are not tolerant of abuse.

Mr Magners

Had the car at an Opel dealership today and they replaced the fuse (30amp?). Service manager was under the impression that charging the laptop should not be a problem but to keep an eye on it for a few days.

It's starting to look like it might be a charger/laptop issue.

user1842

Mr Magners wrote: »

Had the car at an Opel dealership today and they replaced the fuse (30amp?). Service manager was under the impression that charging the laptop should not be a problem but to keep an eye on it for a few days.

It's starting to look like it might be a charger/laptop issue.

What was the rating of the fuse that was in it? If it was 30amps then you have a big problem with your charger. There is no way a laptop charger should take 30amps.

I think 30amps is the max small fuse you can get, I thought 10amps was the standard for a cig car lighter.

Also what kind of laptop charger are you using? if your using an inverter then plugging in your charger into the inverter, this can take a lot of power and might blow a 30amp fuse.

An inverter is a device that changes 12volt DC power into 240V AC power (a normal house plug socket)

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

What was the rating of the fuse that was in it? If it was 30amps then you have a big problem with your charger. There is no way a laptop charger should take 30amps.

I think 30amps is the max small fuse you can get, I thought 10amps was the standard for a cig car lighter.

Also what kind of laptop charger are you using? if your using an inverter then plugging in your charger into the inverter, this can take a lot of power and might blow a 30amp fuse.

An inverter is a device that changes 12volt DC power into 240V AC power (a normal house plug socket)

He replaced like for like so there was a 30 in it. I'm assuming the rating is higher than normal because there are 3 power points in the car

This is the charger I'm using.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3254762&CatId=608

Looks like that's my problem.

user1842

Mr Magners wrote: »

He replaced like for like so there was a 30 in it. I'm assuming the rating is higher than normal because there are 3 power points in the car

This is the charger I'm using.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3254762&CatId=608

Looks like that's my problem.

So im assuming you are using an inverter too as there is no way that charger will plug into your cars power point.

So its probably not your charger its your inverter that's causing the problem

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

So im assuming you are using an inverter too as there is no way that charger will plug into your cars power point.

So its probably not your charger its your inverter that's causing the problem

Not sure what you mean by an inverter.

The charger I linked to has a cable with an attachment that plugs in to the cigarette lighter. I'll attach a pic of what I have

Mr Magners

Sorry it's so big don't know what happened there.

user1842

Mr Magners wrote: »

Sorry it's so big don't know what happened there.

Thats not the exact charger that you linked to earlier on so it does look like you can use it in the car.

Ok is there a slide switch on the underside of the charger? If so make sure the switch is always set to 12v mode when you are using it in the car.

If not, you are right there is a problem with your charger

keithclancy

Mr Magners wrote: »

Sorry it's so big don't know what happened there.

That looks cool !

What model is it ?

user1842

keithclancy wrote: »

That looks cool !

What model is it ?

I think its this:

http://eu.kensington.com/kensington/en/gb/p/672/33403EU/wall-auto-air+laptop+power+adapter+usb.aspx

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

I think its this:

http://eu.kensington.com/kensington/en/gb/p/672/33403EU/wall-auto-air+laptop+power+adapter+usb.aspx

Yup, that's the one.

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Thats not the exact charger that you linked to earlier on so it does look like you can use it in the car.

Ok is there a slide switch on the underside of the charger? If so make sure the switch is always set to 12v mode when you are using it in the car.

If not, you are right there is a problem with your charger

There is a slide switch on the underside of the charger, there is two options...

14-17 volts

17-21 volts


Which should I have it set to?

Thanks again.

user1842

Mr Magners wrote: »

There is a slide switch on the underside of the charger, there is two options...

14-17 volts

17-21 volts


Which should I have it set to?

Thanks again.

What type of Laptop do you have. Check your original laptop charger for the output voltage and select the option on the car charger that is closest to it.

If you cant find the voltage just post your laptop model here and I will look up the voltage.

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

What type of Laptop do you have. Check your original laptop charger for the output voltage and select the option on the car charger that is closest to it.

If you cant find the voltage just post your laptop model here and I will look up the voltage.

Fujitsu Siemens Lifebook T Series Model T5010

fergygarrett

What model are you driving? - Apart from this issues how are you finding the car? Thinking of buying an Insignia SRI and would appreciate your thoughts on the Insignia.

user1842

dmclean1842 wrote: »

What type of Laptop do you have. Check your original laptop charger for the output voltage and select the option on the car charger that is closest to it.

If you cant find the voltage just post your laptop model here and I will look up the voltage.

Use the 17-21 volt setting.

If you are still blowing the fuse you need to replace the charger

Mr Magners

dmclean1842 wrote: »

Use the 17-21 volt setting.

If you are still blowing the fuse you need to replace the charger

Bought a couple of fuses, tested them with phone charger, sat nav and bluetooth kit (not all at the same time), all worked fine.

Plugged in the lt charger and it blew again.

Result...charger in bin, new one on seat beside me.:)

Thanks for your help.

Mr Magners

fergygarrett wrote: »

What model are you driving? - Apart from this issues how are you finding the car? Thinking of buying an Insignia SRI and would appreciate your thoughts on the Insignia.

The model I have is the SC 2.0 CDTI 130PS ECO 4DR

Thats the model info from Cartell. It's a hire car so I'm not sure of the spec.

The one I have has 18" wheels which look the part but you get a proper rattle if you hit a pothole.

Apart from that, very comfy, all the gadgets you'd need, climate control, cruise control, electronic parking brake (which is cool as a toy) and all the safety features and airbags you'd expect from a car at this level.

Oh and I'd much rather a hatchback if I was picking it for myself.

Only downside is 6th gear is fairly lacking in poke if you need it on the motorway but a heavy car with less that 130bhp is gonna do that.

Overall a good drive though

fergygarrett

Sounds Good. many Thanks for the reply. Take Care and safe driving.