I have a Corvette and can trickle charge the battery by using the cigarette lighter. Can you charge the RC using the same method?

 

I would not be inclined to run much current through cigarette lighter cables. I use a Battery Tender when I'm out of town, and I used the accessory external plug, which is simply some zip cord that has connectors on one end to connect to the + terminal and a ground, and a conventional polarized plug on the other, which can be placed in an accessible spot, like at the base of the windshield wipers. This allows connection to the Battery Tender (a brand name) quickly and without lifting the hood, or screwing around inside the car with a lighter plug. Use a real battery charger to charge a dead battery; newer ones charge hard at first, then ease up to a trickle charge.
What this means is that I don't know the answer to your question about whether the lighter socket on an RC can be used to charge the battery. I don't recall seeing that question here before, which should tell you something.

 

I am referring to a battery tender not a charger. I have been using the tender on my Corvette each winter when I store it using the cigarette lighter socket with no issue. Since I don't smoke or for that matter even have the lighter itself I'm not sure the socket is active when the car off.

 

MKen: I'm not an electrician, but if the lighter socket is not hot when the ignition is shut off, then I would not think that the battery would be getting charged during that time. I think the lights on most Tenders signal when the circuit is not complete.
Also, it's a pretty easy thing to test for, and I usually do it for any new car. My impression is that older cars were always hot, while newer cars put the lighter socket on a switched circuit, probably because the use of that socket these days is to power and to charge phones and such devices, which might drain the battery if left in the car. (It's why we always wire our radar detectors to a switched circuit.)

 

My RC is not my daily. I use a battery tender once in a while if I haven't driven it in a while. But I mainly use it on my Evo which I drive even less.

I'd stay away from charging through a cigarette port. Nothing wrong with connecting to the positive battery terminal and a ground point.

 

OK simple question, if the ignition is off and you push in the cigarette lighter in does it work?

 

And by "does it work," he means does it get hot, as it may pop out without getting hot.

 

Yes, does it get hot.

 

I have a CTek trickle charge and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that thing!!

 

Thank you I have one also. Still need to know if someone can answer my post # 6 and 8.

 

MKen:
The lighter socket is deep inside the center console, and is far less accessible than those that were on the dashboard of your Dad's Buick. I put a plug in there with two USB ports, to power and charge phones, ipads, etc. I don't have the lighter part, and I can't even recall if one came with the car. With the engine off, however, I can say that no power is going to my phone, which is, I think, the way almost all cars are configured these days. This socket will surely not work with a Battery Tender.

 

Thank you!!!

 

This is correct.

Toyota no longer leaves the cigarette lighter one when the car is off, for that matter I don't think any manufacturer does anymore.

When I was installing my dashcam, I checked all the fuses to see what was constant on and none were the cigarette lighter socket.