The cigarette lighter off with ignition off is a safety thing. Some years
ago, I had to rewire the under dash area on a 55 Chevy. The lighter had
stuck in the on position, and was not drawing enough current to blow the
fuse. The plastic insulation just fell off the wires when moved, and various
wires were stuck together by melted insulation.

"XS11E" > wrote in message
...
> Grant Edwards > wrote in
> :
>
>> On 2005-03-14, XS11E > wrote:
>>
>>>> I am looking for specific recommendations for a solar battery
>>>> charger, preferably one that plugs into the cigarette lighter.
>>>> And, does plugging an s.b.c. into the lighter work when the car is
>>>> switched off?
>>>
>>> Does the lighter work with the car switched off?
>>
>> No. The lighter socket is dead when the key is in the off
>> position.
>
> Same as my Jeep, that means that the solar charger will require a
> different wiring connection and it still probably won't be much good.
>
> Sorry you had to answer this, the reason is simple, I was WAAAAAY to
> lazy to walk out to my Miata and check.. :-(
>