Merrit or cigarette plugs

[Shager]

Not sure which way to go or what the real diffrance would be. What do you find to be the better

[SteveandViv]

I find the Merrit plugs are more secure for the few things I use them on, lights mostly.

[jk]

Ditto on the Merrit/Din plugs, we use them on all of our lights and the 40l Engels, have never had one come loose or get hot from movement.

[DAZnBEC]

Definately merrit plugs!
They are a bit dearer but worth it.

Dazza

[jk]

If you are buying Merrit/Din fittings they come in ally and brass, we use the solid brass ones, I was told that the ally come from China but the brass ones are out of Turkey ( one of my old clients was the importer, and claimed the brass ones were better & cheaper to import than the China made produce, so I bought 20 male, 20 female and 20 Anderson plugs )

[stevo]

Definitely a merit or Hella is better as the cig lighter ones work loose as the tip is pushing against an internal spring that is naturally trying to push it back out. The example of the female plug JK has above has an earth connection and that is the type to use. I have a home made adaptor in the console with a female merit and a cig lighter push in fitting joined together in case someone needs to borrow lights/pumps etc.

[Pipeliner]

You can buy plugs that will fit both Merit/Hella and cig lighter sockets - I fit these on all my gear.

[RebsWA]

I had 2 of them, 12v 8amp rated, brand unknown, for the two Waecos in the back of the dual cab. After a month of touring one Waeco failed as its plug had almost melted and the other was on the same path. Reason was the "spring" positive terminal contacts had lost their spring tension causing high restance and heat. They are certainly a neat looking plug but....

[Bushman]

Power lead on our Waeco was modified to an Engel Plug the screws into A-Span Socket or Standard socket if required.

[SteveandViv]

Good point. What are they used for. As noted others have replace fridge outlets with others. In my case I cut the plug off and hard wired it to the loom for travel then use another with a merrit for the camper one.

[DaveL]

The merit/hella plugs all the way.  Not only are they rated at a higher amperage (Rebs, I don't know what caused your issues, but these are better than the standard fridge plugs) but the fact that they lock in, and the sockets have dust caps standard make them far more reliable.

Cig lighter plugs are ok for temporary use of a single item, but to try to have anything plugged unattended for any period of time and you can be sure the cig lighter plug will loose contact.  Though the high quality cig lighter plugs are not too bad, just about everything these days has the cheap and nasty cig. plugs.

As a default position anything that comes with a cig plug I replace with a merit style connector, and as everything I have is now merit type there is no compatibility issues.  I also have a couple of merit->cig adapters for times out camping where I come across anything that isn't merit, but most people I travel will are also exclusively merit these days also.

There are also better options out there than the merit plugs for better moisture protection and power handling capabilities, but as a standard basis they are perfect for our needs.

- David.

[DX grunt]

Can somebody please help.  Is this a Merit socket?  What and what size 'thing' do I need to plug into it to get my 95lt fridge/freezer operational.



Signed desperate before hols on Monday.  lol

Thanks.

Ross

[RebsWA]

If you refer to my earlier post above on this topic and look at the picture posted by DX grunt you will see the "spring" contacts are already spread open. On a new one the contacts are together. I know these plugs dont vibrate out but my experience was they melt fridge plugs, two different waeco plugs in 2 different outlets.
Sorry if appearing a wet blanket on this but I think they are over rated.

[DX grunt]

If you refer to my earlier post above on this topic and look at the picture posted by DX grunt you will see the "spring" contacts are already spread open. On a new one the contacts are together. I know these plugs dont vibrate out but my experience was they melt fridge plugs, two different waeco plugs in 2 different outlets.
Sorry if appearing a wet blanket on this but I think they are over rated.

Thanks for the info.  I might need to revert to plan B - whatever that is.  Anybody else like to comment?

[Mandrake]

I use cig plugs for chargers ( camera , phone etc )
Fridge power cord has been cut and reconnected with 2 X 50A Andersons - So I can still use the Waeco Merrit / cig plug ..BUT ..
I always use the Anderson for the fridge connection and air pump ... everything else is cig or merrit .

Cheers

Steve

[jk]

The male fitting you need is like this...................have used the brass version of these for years and never had trouble of any kind. Hope it helps 

[DX grunt]

The male fitting you need is like this...................have used the brass version of these for years and never had trouble of any kind. Hope it helps 

Thanks jk.

You are my favourite friend and a legend.  lol.

Thanks heaps, bro.

Take care out there.

[Patr80l]

I tend to swap cigarette plugs over to merrits on most accessories and I have a few different brands.  One thing I noticed recently is the negative (outer) connections aren't always compatible. Most sockets (female bit) are a complete 360deg ring but one of mine is just a single prong.   This is OK if the plug (male bit) has a 360 deg contact like the one in jk's pic, but some of my plugs only have two contacts on opposite sides (ie 0 deg & 180deg).   This means its easy for the contacts on the male and female bits to not touch each other.  (is this what they mean by "safe sex"?)   This means that not all merrit plugs and sockets are compatible, even though they are the same size and shape.

[Patr80l]

Thanks for the info.  I might need to revert to plan B - whatever that is.  Anybody else like to comment?

Yes they are merrit sockets.
If the plugs insert with a firm click with little play then you should have good contact.   If not you might try closing the gap a little with needle nose pliers (after disconnecting the power!!)   I don't think they need to touch each other as Rebs suggests.

[DX grunt]

Yes they are merrit sockets.
If the plugs insert with a firm click with little play then you should have good contact.   If not you might try closing the gap a little with needle nose pliers (after disconnecting the power!!)   I don't think they need to touch each other as Rebs suggests.

Thanks Patr80l.

[RebsWA]

DX grunt, attached is a pic that shows the plugs I have fitted for my Waecos. They are Clipsal or HPM 2 pin low voltage sockets (plugs to match not shown). They are big and ugly, but beautiful cos they work and dont come loose. May need to clean pins with an eraser once a blue moon.

[RebsWA]

Yes they are merrit sockets.
If the plugs insert with a firm click with little play then you should have good contact.   If not you might try closing the gap a little with needle nose pliers (after disconnecting the power!!)   I don't think they need to touch each other as Rebs suggests.

PATR80L, They may not need to touch but thats how they start out from new. With use, the brand I had, the clips or clip-in part (+12v terminal) opened up as in DX grunt's pic. They have only a small contact area and when they get to that stage the male part is not held tight, becomes a high resistance joint and overheats.

[DX grunt]

PATR80L, They may not need to touch but thats how they start out from new. With use, the brand I had, the clips or clip-in part (+12v terminal) opened up as in DX grunt's pic. They have only a small contact area and when they get to that stage the male part is not held tight, becomes a high resistance joint and overheats.

Thanks RebsWA.

My idea is that once it's plugged in, it never comes out, but will check it out and keep an eye on it.
If need be, I'll change it - then the plug will never have to be removed from the 'socket'.

Thanks.

Ross

[Benduro]

For those of you with Waeco fridges, the supplied 12volt cig connection can be converted to Merrit/Hella by simply sliding the red plastic end off the male connection.

[Sixtys Guy]

I'm not a fan of Merit plugs either. The one on my Waeco also melted. In my Jayco I put merit sockets all around but with the new camper I have gone back to cig. sockets. It's a bit of a pain if you buy an accessory that has a cig pug to swap over to the merit style. I now use 50 amp Anderson connections on my fridge and leave the AA battery charger and other accessores as cigs.