hey guys, stupid question I'm sure but on a cigarette lighter, which is negative- the center or the cylinder? I can't find it anywhere on the net, they all say red-pos black-neg, well no @#$@ but both of my wires are black and the lighter in my truck is up inside the dash (thankyou son...) so I can't figure out how to wire this thing in. Help please

If you have a meter, the easiest way to know is to check your cig lighter that way. Just my thinking, but I beleive that the outside ring is negative and the center is positive, just makes sense since the ground is usually outside frame. I'd check it with a meter if you can.

No help, but there you go.

Ratl.

Yes, The center is "Positive" & the cylinder is "Negative"

I am installing one on Lucky Star, and don't have a working one around. The one in my truck was pushed through the dash by my son, I thought about just checking with a meter but can't

BadBikerBob wrote:
Yes, The center is "Positive" & the cylinder is "Negative"

Thanks Bob!!

I've got a power port on my Roadie as well, to charge my cell phone on the go & power my radar detector on trips. I bought one from Wal-Mart in the automotive electrical section that has a snap cord end that plugs right into the cord for my Battery Tender so I didn't have to do any wiring. I did have to cut & extend the snap cord from the outlet to reach the Battery Tender cord (you can buy extenders, but they're close to $14!) To mount it, I had a insulated pipe holder I bought from Lowe's for another project (it fitted around the power port perfectly) & mounted it to one of the windshield bolts on the left side. I'd take & post pics, but I didn't ride my bike to work today (rain ).

I just install this one for the GPS. I'm going to the Dragon (US129) this weekend and with I-40 being down I thought some back road knowledge would come in handy.

Sometimes the thing screws appart and you can see where the wires are going. They are right the center post is Power or POS.

So you don't have a test light? You can take one wire from your plug, put it on Neg, take any 12V bulb and plant the center on the Pos terminal and touch the side with the side of the Cig plug metal part (Use a short wire if you have to) If it lights you got it right mark that wire BLACK or Ground. (Other is POS) if it does not light switch the wires and try again until you get the result.

Test lights are cheap.

Pos terminals are almost always the hardest to get at. In this case the tiny thing in the center. In a two prong plug POS would be the insulated wire and the exposed one the ground. (On live ends)

Normally when two wires are black the Pos has a white line through it, sometimes grey.

Wire it up and plug something in that won't burn up. like a LED light. That type will only light if you have POS correct.

SurveyWaters wrote:
I just install this one for the GPS. I'm going to the Dragon (US129) this weekend and with I-40 being down I thought some back road knowledge would come in handy.

PM StoneColdStar. He lives in Murphy & I'll bet he knows the best route.