Halfords cool box

[thrifty]

Please be gentle, i'm new here.
I have a halfords cool box which I run off my 12v power supply on my wagon. Problem is shut the door on the cable, cutting the plug off. I have a new plug (with 8 amp fuse), but am unsure which way round to connect the plug.

Will it just blow the fuse if wrong way round? I can't open the unit to follow the wires into the casing to see which is which. On the cable, one of the cores has a black grove running the length of the plastic.

Help! I really need my "fridge" to keep my milk and beer cold. I can't live without coffee and beer!

 

[spidersparks]

Why don't you open up the old plug that has been cut off, as you have a new one it doesn't matter if you break it and find out how it was done before.

 

[Dizzy_Maskell]

Why don't you open up the old plug that has been cut off, as you have a new one it doesn't matter if you break it and find out how it was done before.

Great idea mate

 

[dan86]

you'll probably have a red and a black cable?
The red wire ( +) should go to the centre connection of the plug, and the black wire (-) should go to the side connections of the plug. Most plugs use soldered connections.

assuming you're on about a cigarette lighter plug?!

hope this helps

 

[ian.settle1]

Why don't you open up the old plug that has been cut off, as you have a new one it doesn't matter if you break it and find out how it was done before.

Unless it's been sealed after terminating and not screw terminals

 

[thrifty]

Plug has gone after I shut door on the cable and drove down the road!

The cable is two black wires. Not a red and black.

 

[dan86]

does one of them have another colour running down the length of it?

 

[thrifty]

No, both cables are black. Even stripping back the plastic just has pain copper wires. Only difference is one of the black plastic outers has a groove running down it's length.

 

[thrifty]

No colours at all, black plastic outers over copper cabling. One core has a groove running the length of the cable.

 

[Dizzy_Maskell]

^^^ yes sometime one has a white stripe down it.

 

[thrifty]

Definitely no stripe, red or white or otherwise. If it was wrong way round, would it not just blow the fuse?

 

[thrifty]

No both cores are the same

 

[thrifty]

Where do my posts go?

 

[Marvo]

Where do my posts go?

As a new member your first six posts need to be manually approved by a staff member. You have 7 posts on the board now so they should appear immedaitely from now onwards.

 

[thrifty]

I spoke to a local sparky last night and he reckons it should be fine either way round. But he was drunk!

 

[camerabloke]

Surely if its connected the wrong way round it would be a hot box ; )

 

[thrifty]

Surely if its connected the wrong way round it would be a hot box ; )

Boom tish

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It probably won't blow the fuse. If it is a thermoelectric cooler, if you get the polarity wrong the actual cooling element will work in reverse and heat the interior. However if the fan has an electronically commutated motor, you will kill it instantly. If it has a brush motor, it will simply run backwards.

There is no convention for whether a stripe is positive or negative, even products from the same manufacturer can be different. I think you will have to open it up and look at the polarity markings on the fan motor or the direction of the power LED (if it has one) and trace it through to the cable.

 

[telectrix]

i'd cut the plug open as said before.

 

[sean_ork]

i'd cut the plug open as said before.

he doesn't have the plug ........

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Possibility: connect to low voltage around 3-4V, briefly, while carefully watching power LED. Will glow very dimly if polarity correct, but voltage probably won't be high enough to cause damage if reversed. If you are lucky it has reverse polarity protection on the fan anyway. OTOH what's the most it can cost you if it goes pop!

 

[ruston]

Possibility: connect to low voltage around 3-4V, briefly, while carefully watching power LED. Will glow very dimly if polarity correct, but voltage probably won't be high enough to cause damage if reversed. If you are lucky it has reverse polarity protection on the fan anyway. OTOH what's the most it can cost you if it goes pop!

Well it is no good the way it is. It probably is not polarity critical because it may be designed for camping applications where the polarity of the output cannot be guaranteed.

 

[UKMeterman]

What is wrong with a little dead testing with an ohm meter!
Take old plug and find out which contact had contiunity to the side with the ridge on the wire and which contact had continunity to the other. Once this has been done examine new plug and do the same tests, then based on your results wire up new plug!

 

[sean_ork]

he doesn't have the plug

 

[thrifty]

I Dinny have the plug! I have managed to open the case and trace the positive and negative back.....and rebuilt it, and it works!

Thanks for your input folks

 

[Earthstore]

Well we we all drink to that, and a cool one too...