Hello, This may sound strange to you guys, but i thought hey, why not utilize the GPS function of my Humminbird 363 combo fishfinder+gps and stick it in the truck when not on the boat and use its GPS (for what its worth)

The question is that i can connect it to my 12v deep cycle battery and it powers up like normal, but when i plug it into my cigarette lighter socket in my truck, it won't come on. I am wondering why. I thought that the cigarette lighter puts out 12 volts the same as a deep cycle right?

How can i get this to work? Has anyone else done this?

I do it all the time with my Lowrance H2O with no problems.

The cigarette lighter puts out 12V, just like your battery, assuming the socket is working.

Two things I would note.  My Suburban has three "lighter" outputs.  The one that actually holds the lighter is slightly smaller in diameter than the auxiliaries.  That one always works.  The other two are iffy.

Secondly, my H2O runs on only three volts, not twelve, so the lighter adapter MUST be the one that came with the unit, because it has a transformer in it that reduces the voltage.

Hope this helps.

Three possible causes.

1. If the lighter socket has been used for it's intended purpose (lighting cigaretts) there might be corrosion on the contacts.

2. The fuse to the socket my be blown.

3. Your ignition switch may have to be on to provide power to the socket.

I have to say its really strange that its not working. Only thing i can think of is that it is not outputting 12 volts? I can use my radar detector just fine with it and the cord that i built actually has the cig lighter adapter on the end of the power cable where i plug that into a female male socket where that has battery clips and all that works on the boat, but when i move that to my truck, it won't power on. There must be a different voltage or something.

Thanks for the ideas so far, anyone have any other solutions?

How are you connecting the FF/GPS to your cigarette lighter? Did you put an cigarette lighter plug on the end? did you wire it correctly? The center is the + red wire. the outside is the - black wire.

Does the unit need a transducer hooked up to power on?

Edit to add:

On page 87 of the manual it does state that a transducer does need to be hooked up or it will go into simulation mode.

http://www.humminbird.com/images/PDF/363.pdf

Team_Dougherty, good suggestion. Reverse polarity at the plug would definitely cause it not to work.