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This is dumb. I've wired my entire truck and only have one problem, the cigarette lighted assembly. It worked for awhile and now and then it blows a fuse. I traced the entire wiring back to the fuse panel and cannot see any problems or bare wires. Sometimes it works fine when pushing in the lighter, and then other times it blows a fuse. I have it grounded also. Seems like it may be how the lighter is pushed into the socket. Could that be the problem or possible a ground that is not good enough. Man, this is embarrassing.

It sounds to me like the little clip inside the socket is holding onto the lighter element too well. You might try cleaning the raised edge around the end of the element with a scotch-brite pad. I don't know what you could use to clean the clip, maybe an emery board? The clip itself might need to be widened slightly(very slightly or it won't hold at all)

(disclaimer)Be sure to remove the fuse before working on the socket.

I'm with 54tow. If the wiring is good, the device is the likely culprit.

What size fuse are you using. A lighter takes a pretty good size, like 25 amp.

You say it worked once or more times. Must be something wrong with the lighter or as Wrechbender says check the amperage of the fuse.

Right now I am using a 20 amp fuse. I'' check the clip.

I replaced the fuse with a 25 amp and it worked fine. I then disconnected the positive on the battery, tried pushing the lighter in again, and it blew the fuse on the next try. My friend thought he saw a spark at the dash where the lighter is connected but I'm not sure. I did notice the fuse light up and blow at the fuse panel. This thing works one minute and then not the next. Real fustrating. It may be the assembly is faulty, I may try and get a different one. This one is brand new from Advance Auto.

Messed with this thing again. Seems like it blows the fuse shortly after it works the first time. Could it be that since the element is still hot, that is what is causing the fuse to blow. Just a thought. You would think you could use it even if still hot. Could it be I need larger wire. Any thoughts.

I notice you said that it was grounded. The only ground it should need would be through the dash itself. Is is possible that the socket has loosened? I would try to snug the back of the socket with pliers. If that doesn't do it - it's probably just bad.

The socket has a electrical tab for the hot wire and there is another tab that I assumed was for a ground wire. At least, thats how I wired it up.

Might not be related....BUT,
on my 91 s10 blazer it has the lighter and the remote release for the back glass all on the same circuit as the dome lite.
long story short is it would blow a fuse every so often and then got worse.
lived with it,only real inconvenience was no remote to open the rear glass.
finally got around to messin with it and the lighter sockets grip prongs,where it contacts the element were shorting to ground,but not all the time!
Regards
Steve Sr.

If you used too small of gage wire, it could do this. Pull the fuse out and disconnect the lighter terminal and check continuity of the wire, to ensure there is no short-to-ground (should be 0). With the wire off the lighter terminal and the lighter element out, check the continuity of the lighter terminal-to-lighter case (should be 0). If thats all ok, you could try checking the lighter element. It should have a certain amount of resistance. I just don't know how much that is. You could also try a lighter element from another vehicle, if you could find one that fits. If none of this points to the problem, its an attitude thing and we all know attitude things can be fixed with real big hammers

Take out the whole unit, hook up ohm meter (continuity check) one lead to hot terminal and other to the ground term if it has one. this should show continuity. Then touch the same lead all around the unit as you plug lighter in and out of socket. you will probably see continuity while touching some place on the unit (this means it's shorting). you can temporarily insulate various areas down inside till it stops shorting (tape or paper). remember, take it out of dash, socket and lighter and work on bench (wood bench!) there are other ways to check continuity using light pen etc. But it's best to use a method where no power is applied to unit. get a cheap multimeter. Bartamos

Finally got the cigarette lighter assembly to work. I took the original purchased one (Made in China) and bought a different one (Still made in China) and hooked it up. I also rewired the original wire to make sure the wire size was the same all the way through and now it works fine. I guess the original was bad.