Connecting a car radio in a VAZ 2109 yourself

Author: Ivan Baranov

A cigarette lighter is found in every car, but it is not always used for its intended purpose. Over time, this device may function unstably or fail altogether, resulting in the car owner needing to replace it. For what reasons does the VAZ 2109 cigarette lighter not work, and how to replace it yourself? You will find the answers below.

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Operating rules

If at some point the cigarette lighter stops working, what will happen? All your additional equipment will no longer receive power. As a result, you will be left without a media center, navigator, will not be able to charge your phone, and so on.

There are several important rules that are recommended to be followed when operating your VAZ 2109 equipped with a cigarette lighter.

1. It is not recommended to connect compressors directly through the cigarette lighter, which many people use today to pump up their tires on the road. It is better to connect it directly through the battery. Such devices consume a lot of energy and create an impressive load on the vehicle's electrical wiring. At some point it may melt or a fuse may blow.
2. Do not try to insert devices whose connectors are larger than the size of the cigarette lighter into the cigarette lighter socket.
3. Do not connect metal objects. Also, when connecting the device, do not use equipment that has metal rings on the body. They often fly out, resulting in a short circuit. At best, your battery will quickly run out.

And what's behind it?

To the lampshade

A common way to connect a DVR without a cigarette lighter is to connect the power supply to the backlight cable, which is located on the ceiling of the car. There are lampshades mounted near the rearview mirror, and devices located in the central part of the ceiling. Both options are suitable for switching; the use of the front lamp ensures faster installation of additional equipment.

Before starting the connection, you need to decide on the installation location of the recorder on the windshield. Then the cable is laid under the plastic trim of the body pillars and the ceiling panel. To reduce noise levels, it is recommended to lay the bundles through foam rubber tubes or wrap the surface with special insulating tape.

At the same time, the standard interior lighting lamp is dismantled, which is attached to the ceiling panel with latches or screws. Remove the part carefully using a plastic spatula. Then you need to use a test device to determine the wire to which a constant positive voltage is applied. It should be remembered that some cables are energized only when the doors are open (based on a signal from the limit switches or the door control unit).

The recorder's power is connected in compliance with polarity, the wires are connected by crimping or soldering, and the joints are carefully insulated. For connection, a modified standard power supply or an additional adapter is used, which provides a voltage reduction to 5V (standard for different models). In this case, the power supply must be equipped with a protective fuse that trips at a current above 1.5A. Check the functionality of the equipment, then replace the dismantled parts.

Modification of the adapter involves removing the plastic case. Power cables are connected to metal terminals; soldering of the harness to the printed circuit board is allowed. When using a special power supply, an additional load resistor must be installed. The advantage of the additional transformer is the plastic housing, which does not need to be removed. The device is equipped with connectors to which the wiring of the car and the recorder are attached.

In this case, the standard power supply is inserted into the socket, the connection point is located under the ceiling trim. The disadvantage of this design is that it is difficult to disconnect; there is a risk of the contacts loosening when the car is moving. It is recommended to equip the design with an additional fuse.

How to use it correctly

What happens if the cigarette lighter breaks? In this situation, the additional equipment installed on the machine will not be able to receive electricity and, therefore, will stop working.

To prevent this from happening, when using a cigarette lighter, you just need to follow a few fairly simple, but very important rules.

First of all, you should not connect the compressor, which is currently used by many car owners to pump up wheel chambers, directly into the connector, that is, directly. It would be more correct to power it from a battery. The thing is that these types of devices require a lot of voltage to operate and, therefore, create high loads on the wires. As a result, the latter often overheat and even melt. This most often happens on machines where fuses are replaced by jumpers.

Under no circumstances should you try to insert too thick plugs into the socket - they will damage the connector elements, some of which are made of porcelain.

Safety of use

As you can see, over time, the car cigarette lighter has truly become a popular and useful connector. But there are some pitfalls here. When it comes to energy-intensive appliances such as mugs and heaters, many questions arise about the safety of their use.

Firstly, the fuse in the cigarette lighter circuit has a rating of about 10 A, which is a power of 250 watts; if the load is exceeded, the fuse will simply blow out.

Secondly, the cigarette lighter connector itself is quite flimsy. The contact part cannot withstand prolonged loads of high currents, which will lead to their destruction and burning.

Thirdly, the wire in the same circuit has a cross-section of 1-1.5 mm², and even if you increase the fuse rating, the wiring will burn out instead. All such cases can lead to fire.

Therefore, you need to take these subtleties into account when including various devices in the connector. Of course, there is a way out. Draw a separate line directly from the battery with a heat-resistant wire with a cross-section of 4 mm² and through a 20-50 A fuse. Accordingly, the cigarette lighter connector must also be modified.

Main nuances

So:

• Before connecting the car radio, you must carefully study the instructions, since incorrect actions will lead to equipment breakdown or even fire.

Connecting a VAZ 2109 car radio

• In modern players with automatic tuning, due to the wiring features of domestic cars designed for older models, settings may fail when turning the ignition key.

Note: therefore, it is also necessary to study the features of VAZ cars.

Typical recorder installation locations

The installation location of the device is important for laying power wires and choosing where to connect the DVR. The main places for installing DVRs were the top panel of the dashboard and the windshield of the car.

The advantages of mounting the device on the dashboard are the stable position of the recorder and the ability to remove it when parked in the yard. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the lower view of the video camera is limited by the hood of the car.

When installing the DVR on the windshield, the hanging power cord interferes with the view, which often manifests itself during sudden maneuvers of the car. Otherwise, the location of the camera behind the interior rearview mirror is quite convenient.

Causes

Practice shows that there are two main reasons for cigarette lighter failure on a VAZ 2109.

Cigarette lighters are designed for a certain load, exceeding which leads to failure of the unit. When developing the VAZ 2109, engineers at that time could hardly have taken into account that the cigarette lighter would be used to connect portable compressors, powerful multimedia centers and other energy-consuming equipment.

The cigarette lighter doesn't work

Why it breaks and what to do

Experts say that there are only 2 reasons leading to cigarette lighter failure:

• fuse blown;
• loss of any contact.

In the first case, you will need to replace the melted protective device with a working one. It is located directly in the mounting block. So, if you have:

• low instrument panel (that is, an older car), then this is F4 or F10;
• high panel – 11.

It is worth noting that in this situation the following will also stop working:

• rear window heating element;
• socket for extension cord.

In early cars the fuse rating was 20 amperes, in new ones it was only 16.

By the way, the stove is powered through F7 in old models, 4 in new ones.

The blown fuse is removed with the battery disconnected and replaced with a new one. It is important to monitor his condition for some time. If it burns out again, then you should look for the cause in a short circuit.

If contact is lost, you must:

• inspect the cigarette lighter socket;
• make sure that all wires are holding well;
• use a tester to check the voltage (black and red wires - should be 12 volts).

If everything is in order, then you should look for the problem in the socket. If there is no electricity, inspect the wiring for integrity.

It is important to understand that the cigarette lighter itself has a certain margin of safety, and not every load will pass without leaving a mark on it. If the norm is exceeded, the risk of breakdown increases. Therefore, you need to be more attentive to the selection of gadgets, giving preference to the most energy-saving ones.

Design and purpose of the cigarette lighter

The cigarette lighter in VAZ 2108, 2109 and 21099 cars is used:

• for its main purpose, that is, for lighting cigarettes;
• for powering devices such as video recorders, navigators, radar detectors, etc.;
• for charging mobile gadgets, players and tablets.

As for the device, the cigarette lighter consists of:

• a housing in which all the constituent elements are enclosed;
• insulator;
• terminals for connecting to the power circuit;
• holder contacts;
• heating element - the main component of the device;
• metal legs fixing the element;
• a spring that knocks the cigarette lighter itself out of its seat in the event of full heating.

Classification of electrical circuits

According to their purpose, electrical circuits are:

• Power electrical circuits;
• Electrical control circuits;
• Electrical measurement circuits;

Power circuits are designed to transmit and distribute electrical energy. It is the power circuits that conduct current to the consumer.

Circuits are also divided according to the current strength in them. For example, if the current in the circuit exceeds 5 amperes, then the circuit is power. When you click a kettle plugged into a socket, you close a power electrical circuit.

Electrical control circuits are not power and are designed to activate or change the operating parameters of electrical devices and equipment. An example of a control circuit is monitoring, control and signaling equipment.

Electrical measurement circuits are designed to record changes in the operating parameters of electrical equipment.

The relationship between a car lighter and a radio in VAZ cars

A common problem for all VAZ car models (2114,2115, 2109, 2110, 21099), this is the same voltage supply circuit to the car player, with output to one common fuse, which is additionally responsible for the power supply:

• cabin heater (stove);
• cigarette lighter;
• heated rear window;
• the radio itself.

Thus, a failure as a result of a break, short circuit, etc., in the electrical circuit of any device leads to the shutdown of the rest.

Since the tape recorder is equipped with an additional safety device, coming after the main one, after checking them and replacing them, if necessary, the operation of the head unit, like all the above-mentioned equipment, is restored. If only the cigarette lighter (without the player) resumes operation, the cause of the malfunction should be sought in the car radio itself (which is the topic of a separate article).