On 2015-04-09, robobass wrote:

When the family makes a road trip I bring along a 12v 4 amp cooler.
The ciggie plug melted long ago and I wired up one of those 3/16" cannon
shaped connectors used for low voltage home stuff like laptops, external
HDs etc. It also gets very hot and is starting to melt. What's a good
off-the-shelf solution which doesn't take up much room? The whole ciggie
plug thing is the dumbest convention ever, I must say. I can't believe
it's still extant.

Look into Anderson PowerPole connectors.

You can find them -- and the crimpers needed for them -- on the
QuickSilver web page which mostly sells to ham radio operators.

http://qsradio.com/Powerpoles.htm

You can get terminals for these for 15, 30, and 45 Amps.

The shells come as individual wire shells, or as solvent-welded pairs
(Red & Black). The individual ones come with dovetails so they can be
slid together to make pairs, or larger counts of pins at need. Lots of
other individual colors available. And mounting blocks to make them
panel mount. (They are normally just wire mounted on both ends. :-)

They are both insulated at both ends and keyed so they will only
go together the right way.

Plan on having a really good grip to operate the crimper,
depending on which terminal you use. The barrel style crimps seem to
take more force than the folded flag style (which is the 45 Amp
terminal).

The WPL-7PK45 set has seven pairs of terminals with the 45-amp
crimp terminals and the solvent-welded Red/Black shells. ($13.00 for
the set).

The crimper set is $99.73 for all that you need, including a
number of individual shells (no welded pairs), or less for just the
crimper and dies, without the stripper and insertion/extraction tool
(and the fitted case. :-)

No relationship with the QuickSilver site, other than as a
satisfied customer. You can get the terminals/connectors at hamfests,
but I had to go on line to get the crimper -- it was beyond the
capability of any crimper in my collection. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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