I was curious as to how the car lighter works. I am assuming it uses electricity to heat the coils inside the lighter, but how does it know when it is hot enough? Also, why does it not heat up the adapter I use to power a cell phone, radar detector, cd player, etc? I am sure it is something simple, but it still makes me wonder…
Yup, you’ve got it. The socket simply acts to provide electricity to whatever is plugged into it (just like a regular electrical outlet). The actual lighter component is simply a coil. The metal heats up due to the current. I’m not sure how the unit determines when to eject (it could be a sensor or mechanical mechanism triggered by temperature/expansion of the coil). Since the socket just functions as an electrical outlet, it doesn’t heat anything; thus, it simply provides power to your cell phone/radar detector/CD player.
There is no “sensor”, so to speak. It is a simple case of a clever design where the expansion of the hot metal forcing the lighter out.
And if the lighter sticks, and doesn’t pop out, you get a small fire (like I had one time).
thanks. makes perfect sense now.