Battery tender charge through the cigar lighter???

[Cal Cobra]

Hi,

I see a lot of the new batter tender/trickle chargers are coming with a quick release plug and three choices of connectors - small jumper cable style cables, o-ring connectors or a connector for the cigar lighter outlet.

My question is will the cigar lighter outlet connection work OK?

Thanks,
Cal

 

[carguy07]

Yep, just got one for my 95. Works perfect. I used to have it hooked up to the remote jumper terminals but the wing nut kept working loose and the little plastic door would not close correctly.

I am assuming that the power to the lighter is always hot on your car like mine.

 

[Randy]

My question is will the cigar lighter outlet connection work OK?

It'll work on the Viper, as well as on any other car where the cigarette lighter socket is live without the key on. However, I'd guess it wouldn't be a good choice if the battery was severely down. A very dead battery, i.e. very low battery voltage, will result in more current draw - up to the limit of the charger, and you wouldn't want to pull really high current levels through the cigarette lighter wiring, even though the cig lighter is designed for a couple of amps. Most trickle chargers can't deliver high current levels (hence why they are "trickle" chargers), but its good to be aware of the issues involved...