Confusing :o(

[Sproket]

Confusing ?

In my van I have a combined socket near to the TV with ( 240v & 12v & TV aerial ) what is confusing is that the 12v socket is showing 13.8v on my multimeter but certain things won't work (

But if I try them in the other 12v sockets in the van they work ok ....

Could there be some sort of resistor built in the socket so that it won't let you draw too many amps ? the voltage is identical on all the sockets.

The reason I ask is that I have just had to send back a new item to a supplier, who then tested it & returned it the next day, saying that it was working ok, I have now plugged it into the other sockets & it works ok ) but it will not turn on when plugged into this particular socket.

If anything it seems a bit like the two sockets on my truck one will charge things & the other will only work the cig lighter.

Any ideas as how I can test this socket ?

 

[Zbungle]

OK, you've got 13.8v at the dodgy socket, but presumably that is with no load. What is the voltage when you apply a load? Could be that there is a problem with the socket/wiring and there is an unusual amount of internal resistance so that when you try to draw a couple of amps, the voltage drops significantly. Only a thought.

 

[mcghee]

probably the -ve wire in the socket doesn't have a sound enough connection to allow your appliance to pull a big enough current to run.

 

[forestgump]

had this in a sprite it would omly run tv but nothing more. Tried other things in 12v sockets and worked ,may be the booster draws from this as well,never did solve it.

 

[Chris_Hyde_Cheshire.]

Another thought - Could the polarity be reversed? Some items are polarity sensitive so will only work the correct way round, however a light bulb for example will work either way.

Chris.

 

[Sproket]

Turned out that there was a high resistance causing the problem & this particular socket has it's own dedicated fuse.

 

[Chris_Hyde_Cheshire.]

Glad to hear you have got it sorted out..........

Chris.