Question about Car power (inverters & 12V)

[Kaido]

So I'm taking a road trip this summer. I have an inverter that I'm planning on using, but I also have a couple devices that only run off the cigarette adapter. Are there A/C to cigarette adapter (called 12V now?) adapters that I can use?

 

[Crucial]

http://www.amazon.com/Hitech-1...onverter/dp/B00067LQZU

Looks like amazon has quite a few different models with varying levels of customer satisfaction. 100

 

[NiteWulf]

Are you planning to use the 12v devices in a hotel room or something? They should have a port for an AC adapter somewhere on them (maybe interchangeable with the cigarette lighter adapter). If you want to use them in the car while the inverter is plugged in, you can get a Y adapter for the cigarette lighter

 

[Safeway]

Make sure you use it while on the highway. Using it while in traffic or stopped puts a lot of stress on the battery. At least, that's what I was told. 111

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Safeway
Make sure you use it while on the highway. Using it while in traffic or stopped puts a lot of stress on the battery. At least, that's what I was told. 111

Yah cross-country trip, 10 hours a day on the highway

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: NiteWulf
Are you planning to use the 12v devices in a hotel room or something? They should have a port for an ac adapter somewhere on them (maybe interchangeable with the cigarette lighter adapter). If you want to use them in the car wile the inverter is plugged in, you can get a Y adapter for the cigarette lighter

Well like the GPS has the receiver/memory part in the cigarette adapter, and the FM transmitter only works off the cigarette adapter.

 

[Kaido]

Anyone else have a good solution?

 

[Crucial]

Is there any other solution?

 

[d33pt]

You don't want to convert the AC back to DC. That's just an incredible waste of energy. Get a cigarette lighter splitter adapter. They make them up to 3 ports. Here is an example:

http://www.buy.com/prod/cellul.../loc/111/90109471.html

That way your DC stuff stays DC and you can use one of the ports for the inverter. Make sure all the components don't pull more than 10amps or you will blow the fuse. In any case, bring along some extra fuses and make sure you know where it is.

 

[mugs]

Just get a cigarette lighter splitter.

 

[DrPizza]

If you really wanted to, you could run a separate fused line through the firewall, directly from the battery for a second lighter thing, instead of a y-adapter. That may alleviate the problem of drawing too much current for both the DC device and the inverter. Just be careful that you're not discharging the battery faster than it's recharging. For what it's worth, suppose you needed 1 amp of 12 volt DC - and you used an 110 volt adapter from the inverter. The inverter would have to pull something like 2 amps in order to provide you with that 1 amp - neither operates at 100% efficiency.

This thread probably belongs in the garage, so I'm going to move it over there.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: d33pt
You don't want to convert the AC back to DC. That's just an incredible waste of energy. Get a cigarette lighter splitter adapter. They make them up to 3 ports. Here is an example:

http://www.buy.com/prod/cellul.../loc/111/90109471.html

That way your DC stuff stays DC and you can use one of the ports for the inverter. Make sure all the components don't pull more than 10amps or you will blow the fuse. In any case, bring along some extra fuses and make sure you know where it is.

Exactly what I was going to say.

The cigarette lighter in my Focus is 20A, FWIW. Just be sure and check.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: d33pt
You don't want to convert the AC back to DC. That's just an incredible waste of energy. Get a cigarette lighter splitter adapter. They make them up to 3 ports. Here is an example:

http://www.buy.com/prod/cellul.../loc/111/90109471.html

That way your DC stuff stays DC and you can use one of the ports for the inverter. Make sure all the components don't pull more than 10amps or you will blow the fuse. In any case, bring along some extra fuses and make sure you know where it is.

Looks good, thanks! It will be in a U-Haul truck. Would something like this work?

Cigarette port -> Splitter
Splitter 1 -> Second Splitter (GPS 12V, FM Transmitter 12V)
Splitter 2 -> Inverter (Whatever A/C stuff we have)

Or would that suck waaaaay to much power and split the power too much?

Edit: Or, how would I measure 10 amps? Probably would have an 85w laptop plus phone charger on the inverter, maybe 1 or 2 other things. I'd rather not even get close to the 10 amp limit than have to carry spare fuses

 

[iamwiz82]

That's a lot of load, I'd think. Plus, you said it's a U-Haul. I would question whether that outlet will even work

 

[Eli]

The laptop won't draw 85W all the time, only when it's charging. My laptop only draws about 25W once it's charged. I think you should be OK, just watch things. If the fuse blows, you'll know.

It's the same general idea behind stacking power strips on power strips. It isn't a good idea, because it can overload the circuit.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Eli
The laptop won't draw 85W all the time, only when it's charging. My laptop only draws about 25W once it's charged. I think you should be OK, just watch things. If the fuse blows, you'll know.

It's the same general idea behind stacking power strips on power strips. It isn't a good idea, because it can overload the circuit.

lol, maybe I should pick up some spare fuses. We'll probably have the following:

GPS (12V)
FM Transmitter powering iPod (12V)
Laptop (A/C)
Cell phone charger (A/C)

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Kaido

Originally posted by: Eli
The laptop won't draw 85W all the time, only when it's charging. My laptop only draws about 25W once it's charged. I think you should be OK, just watch things. If the fuse blows, you'll know.

It's the same general idea behind stacking power strips on power strips. It isn't a good idea, because it can overload the circuit.

lol, maybe I should pick up some spare fuses. We'll probably have the following:

GPS (12V)
FM Transmitter powering iPod (12V)
Laptop (A/C)
Cell phone charger (A/C)

The inverter and laptop are the big current suckers there.

The GPS, cell charger and FM transmitter probably only draw a couple of amps all together, peak.

I bet you'll be OK.

FWIW, I had my inverter/laptop, GPS and a peltier drink cooler that draws ~4A going at once. The cigarette lighter splitter did get warm tho. :Q

 

[Crucial]

I thought you were asking how to power those items outside the car. Splitter FTW!