I plugged my dashcam into the 12V socket today, there was a big spark and it stopped working.

From what I can see I have the Type 1 fusebox and according to the manual the "Cigar lighter" is at position 22 and should be a 20A fuse.

Having looked at it, there's an intact Ford original 7.5A fuse in that position. I've swapped it for a known working fuse but no luck.

The car is a 2012 Ford Fiesta, pre-facelift.

Does anyone know if I've got the correct fuse, should I be looking anywhere else?

 

 

Fuse 22 is the instrument cluster (and should be a 7.5A).

The 20A cigarette lighter socket is fuse 18.

I will have a look at that tomorrow. The manual says 18 is the instruments cluster, I have attached two photos from the manual showing the fuse layout and locations.

I've put a 20A fuse in 18 and the dashcam is now working, there wasn't a fuse in that position. A little bit worried as the fuse layout says that's the 'Instrument Cluster' and should be a 7.5A fuse.

Is the diagram in the manual wrong?

The diagram I have says the layout is like I said above. Not sure why there wasn't a fuse in that position when you said it used to work, however it must be the right fuse as it started working again when you put one in the slot.

If you're worried then stick a 7.5 amp fuse in there. You won't need anywhere near that current to run a dashcam.

Really you should hardwire the dash cam in so you don't have a wire trailing over the dashboard and saves you plugging/unplugging it all the time.

I have no idea why there was no fuse there, if there had been a blown 20A fuse there it would have saved me a lot of bother! I will have to find the correct diagram online.

I have put the wire underneath various bits of trim so it's not in the way. I had planned on hardwiring it but was worried about draining the battery as the 12V socket is always powered.

If you aren't very confident with wiring, get an auto electrician to wire it into a switched live, not a permanent live.

Just in case anyone stumbles upon the same problem, I've found the correct fuse chart for my car and have attached it. Have printed a copy off to go in my manual.

Interesting...my 12v socket has just stopped working on a 2012 Fiesta. I checked the fuses against the diagram & they don't match (I have the same type 1 diagram as shown above). In position 18 there is a 7.5A fuse so clearly not the right one. However there is a 20A fuse at position 22, so maybe this is the one I'm looking for. Glad I came across this post as I've been searching the internet looking for the right fuse layout for my car!

52 minutes ago, Maevish said:

However there is a 20A fuse at position 22, so maybe this is the one I'm looking for.

If in doubt always read the Ford Owners Handbook for you model.

See page 120

 

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/ENUSA_CG3545_FTA_og_201003.pdf

 

For 2011/2012, the handbook is wrong. Ford revised the fuse positions but not the handbook. F22 stated to be Cigar lighter is no longer wired, the Cigar lighter is now F30, 20amp JCase low profile.

6 minutes ago, Another old guy said:

Cigar lighter is now F30

Not for the vehicles in this thread. They all have the pre-facelift fusebox (type 1) and it only has 27 fuses, so we can be absolutely sure it will not be F30