How to Install an Outlet Cigarette Lighter in a Boat for a AC Adapter

You can install an automotive cigarette lighter on the dash of your boat to serve either as a cigarette lighter or as the receptacle for a variety of electrical devices, including air pumps, stereos and some kinds of spot lights. If you plug in an AC adapter--a DC/AC universal power inverter--you can use your boat's battery or batteries to power 110V AC appliances, like a refrigerator or hot tub.

• 1

  Bend down and look under the dash to ensure the location you've chosen for the cigarette lighter isn't above a nest of wires or hoses that can't be moved. Move any wires you can, taping them out of the way with duct tape. Once things appear clear under the dash, drill a 3/4-inch hole in the dash with a drill and a hole saw.

• 2

  Drop the lighter into the hole, slip under the dash slide the "jam" nut up to the threads on the lighter body, thread the jam nut onto the lighter and tighten the nut against the bottom of the dash. Solder the red wire of the cigarette lighter to the "ACC" terminal of the ignition switch using a soldering iron and silver-bearing rosin-core solder.

• 3

  Loosen one of the screws on the common ground strip beneath the dash, wrap the black wire from the lighter around the screw and re-tighten the screw with a screwdriver to complete the connection. Plug the power inverter into the lighter socket.