Cigar lighter installation, features, and AD explanation

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Originally Posted on Sun Aug 07, 2005 1:52 am

The AD about the cigar lighter has often been miscontrued, with the owner ending up not really in compliance because of the mis-placement of the fuse or circuit breaker to protect the wire to it.

This article shows how it should be connected, where the circuit protector should be connected (right at the bus or the ammeter) and points out that you might already have a compliant fuse holder if the holder for the right landing light has not been used for something else.

Not well known is that the newer cigar lighters from Cessna were combined with a circuit breaker and connection terminal, but the circuit breaker does NOT comply with the AD. It does allow local resetting in the event it pops. There is an old sketch of one of those in the article.

Wire size from AC-43B is noted in the table.

All cigar lighters of current ilk seem to loosen when vibrated, making for a terrible ground that causes fits. When you tighten the outside of the housing to the body, do it tight so the points dig in a bit.

Neal