12V to 220V - Nice!

DaveBH

Handy voltage converter @ Lidl....

Anyone think this is a good buy or could it potentially damage a car's electrics?



http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20080724.p.TronicVoltageConverter

sunny2004

I have one of these, got it about a year ago from lidl..
you can only use it to power small items..
you wont be using a drill with it

bazwaldo

Anything up to 150W according to the picture. Should power a laptop (check the transformer label first to be sure).

Good price. Looks alright too compared to the manky plastic blocks that some are.

Gran Hermano

Cheaper here on Dealextreme

bazwaldo

On dealextreme, for the 150W at least, they don't fit UK plugs. I'd stick with the lidl one if you wanted to get one.

JackieChan

Slightly OT but if you were to be draining 100-150w from these converters with the car turned off would it take long to drain the battery?

suppafly

JackieChan wrote: »

Slightly OT but if you were to be draining 100-150w from these converters with the car turned off would it take long to drain the battery?

they don't work when the car is turned off. At least the one i have doesn't anyway

bazwaldo

suppafly wrote: »

they don't work when the car is turned off. At least the one i have doesn't anyway

Might depend on the car. They should work with the engine turned off (mine does), but you may need the key in the ignition or turned a little to activate the electrics.

How long you'd get from a car battery depends on the size of the battery, how old it is (they last 4 years), and how charged it is. If you were pulling a full 150W from it, you'd probably only get a few hours. Guessing a bit as all I've ran off mine is a DVD player and mini fridge and after a few hours I got a warning on the dash.

UrbanFox

JackieChan wrote: »

Slightly OT but if you were to be draining 100-150w from these converters with the car turned off would it take long to drain the battery?

That depends on ;

The current capacity of your battery (Amp hours).

The current drawn by whatever appliance you use.

The higher the current being drawn the quicker the battery will flatten. This assumes that you are drawing on the battery alone with current from no other source.

Remember that power (watts) = volts x current (amps) when doing your calculations !!

Jonathan

UrbanFox wrote: »

That depends on ;

The current capacity of your battery (Amp hours).

The current drawn by whatever appliance you use.

The higher the current being drawn the quicker the battery will flatten. This assumes that you are drawing on the battery alone with current from no other source.

Remember that power (watts) = volts x current (amps) when doing your calculations !!

Take in to account inefficiencies in the inverter. That is gonna generate a lot of heat. Hence the fan/heatsink (havent bothered to check which one this has).

Heat eats into your run times.