power socket for car

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

hello

basically I'm looking to be able to use a 3 pin socket in my car via cigarette socket

where might I be able to find this adaptor please ?

thank. you

Jimdagym

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

hello

basically I'm looking to be able to use a 3 pin socket in my car via cigarette socket

where might I be able to find this adaptor please ?

thank. you

It doesnt work like that. You wont be getting 220 volts. What are you looking to power?

darragh o meara

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

hello

basically I'm looking to be able to use a 3 pin socket in my car via cigarette socket

where might I be able to find this adaptor please ?

thank. you

Halfords or most car accessories shops sell them. There called invertors, I have a one that plugs direct into the cigarette lighter socket. But they don't really give out a lot of power, there more for charging up laptops etc, but you can get bigger ones but the price goes up accordingly.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

darragh o meara wrote: »

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

hello

basically I'm looking to be able to use a 3 pin socket in my car via cigarette socket

where might I be able to find this adaptor please ?

thank. you

Halfords or most car accessories shops sell them. There called invertors, I have a one that plugs direct into the cigarette lighter socket. But they don't really give out a lot of power, there more for charging up laptops etc, but you can get bigger ones but the price goes up accordingly.

I'm looking to charge a laptop with it at most as I have 1 in the car for work

And the shaver from time. to time

T-Maxx

Typical laptop power supply output is 12v DC, same as your lighter socket.

***EDIT***

I stand corrected - most laptops are actually around 19v. My Toshiba's power supply output is rated 19v 4A. A lighter socket will most probably power the laptop but fail to recharge the battery.

stimpson

T-Maxx wrote: »

Typical laptop power supply output is 12v DC, same as your lighter socket.

Laptops require a regulated power supply. A ciggy lighter would vary quite a bit from 12v.

red sean

Make sure to check the inverter is true sinewave. This is very important to many electronic devices including laptop batteries. Lidl/Aldi sell them at a great price every so often but they are modified sinewave generators and can damage your charger and/or battery.

L1011

Jimdagym wrote: »

It doesnt work like that. You wont be getting 220 volts. What are you looking to power?

Inverter. It does work like that.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

probably worth mentioning then the boot has a power socket fir 12v as it says on it.

maybe the ciggy is similar ?

I would probAbly play it safe and use the boot socket anyway

coylemj

The one in the boot should be the same size as the one in the cab because the accessories all use the same plug. For the laptop, buy a known brand or you may fry the AC adapter. There would be no difference between the supply from either socket. Typically they will both be switched so you probably won't be able to leave the laptop charging in the boot when the car is lying idle.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

good stuff.

Will do some looking around for a good quality one and hopefully not have to pay loads
thanks all

dougie-lampkin

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

I'm looking to charge a laptop with it at most as I have 1 in the car for work

And the shaver from time. to time

It's worth noting that for a laptop, you can get a universal transformer that plugs into the cigarette lighter instead of the wall. It's far more efficient (and cheaper) than going 12v DC -> 220v AC -> 19v DC with a proper sine wave inverter.

I've used this type with success, it's far cheaper than any 80 W inverter in halfrauds

The boot socket and the centre console socket are identical also, and may well even share the same fuse.

coylemj

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

It's worth noting that for a laptop, you can get a universal transformer that plugs into the cigarette lighter instead of the wall. It's far more efficient (and cheaper) than going 12v DC -> 220v AC -> 19v DC with a proper sine wave inverter.

I've used this type with success, it's far cheaper than any 80 W inverter in halfrauds

If you accidently shoved that voltage selector in the wrong direction you'd end up frying the laptop battery and probably the laptop itself and your warranty wouldn't cover it. I wouldn't connect a device like that to an expensive appliance, way too risky.

The advantage of using an inverter is that you're still using the laptop supplied AC adapter which is designed to handle a wide variation in voltages so the laptop itself won't be damaged if the voltage coming out of the inverter is off. That device you're recommending is connected straight into the laptop with no buffer to protect you from an incorrect voltage.

dougie-lampkin

coylemj wrote: »

If you accidently shoved that voltage selector in the wrong direction you'd end up frying the laptop battery and probably the laptop itself and your warranty wouldn't cover it.

Come on, you'd also be an awful eejit if you did that. Sure why bother filling the car yourself, you might accidentally put the wrong fuel in. Or if you accidentally turned the wheel in the wrong direction you might hit a wall :rolleyes: and I bet your warranty doesn't cover that either :pac:

Anyway, unless you connected 240v AC straight to the DC barrel I'd be very skeptical of damage. The laptop has its own PSU onboard since there isn't a single component that runs on >12v DC (except the battery, but that's not near 19v either). It needs to step down to 12v, 5v and 3.3v.

coylemj wrote: »

The advantage of using an inverter is that you're still using the laptop supplied AC adapter which is designed to handle a wide variation in voltages so the laptop itself won't be damaged if the voltage coming out of the inverter is off. That device you're recommending is connected straight into the laptop with no buffer to protect you from an incorrect voltage.

So the advantage is that you don't have to move a switch to the correct position, and leave it there? I don't suppose you know just how wasteful AC inverters are? Or the price of a pure sine wave inverter? Going DC -> AC -> DC at such small wattage is just stupidity, aside from the risk of "accidently shoving the voltage selector in the wrong direction".

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Come on, you'd also be an awful eejit if you did that. Sure why bother filling the car yourself, you might accidentally put the wrong fuel in. Or if you accidentally turned the wheel in the wrong direction you might hit a wall :rolleyes: and I bet your warranty doesn't cover that either :pac:

Anyway, unless you connected 240v AC straight to the DC barrel I'd be very skeptical of damage. The laptop has its own PSU onboard since there isn't a single component that runs on >12v DC (except the battery, but that's not near 19v either). It needs to step down to 12v, 5v and 3.3v.



So the advantage is that you don't have to move a switch to the correct position, and leave it there? I don't suppose you know just how wasteful AC inverters are? Or the price of a pure sine wave inverter? Going DC -> AC -> DC at such small wattage is just stupidity, aside from the risk of "accidently shoving the voltage selector in the wrong direction".

Thanks for posting the laptop charger, it is very helpful.

but i think a 3 pin socket / inverter would be a lot more useful for myself as who knows what i could plug in such as , old nokia phone, laptop, lamp etc.

thanks again

Skuxx

coylemj wrote: »

Typically they will both be switched so you probably won't be able to leave the laptop charging in the boot when the car is lying idle.

In my golf they both still get power when the car is off and keys removed!! I've never seen it like that before in a car though so not sure if somebody did a mod with the wiring!! Still, its fair handy

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

alan1990 wrote: »

In my golf they both still get power when the car is off and keys removed!! I've never seen it like that before in a car though so not sure if somebody did a mod with the wiring!! Still, its fair handy

until the battery goes flat !

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

so €30 halfords gets me 220v 60W

yay or nay ?

I dont think strong enough

Pov06

Check your laptop charger.

Multiply the output voltage by the amps and it should give you the watt rate (W). It should be smaller than 60W to work with that Halfords inverter.

Example: 19V x 4A = 76W. Bigger than 60W so the inverter won't be powerful enough.

unkel

It would be pushing it alright.

I've this 350W one. Bought it for a lot less than that though, about €25 iirc

coylemj

I have a Lenovo SL510 laptop, the AC adapter says 65W so I'd say you should probably go higher than 60W, you don't want to be at or close to the limits.

coylemj

dougie-lampkin wrote: »

Come on, you'd also be an awful eejit if you did that. Sure why bother filling the car yourself, you might accidentally put the wrong fuel in. Or if you accidentally turned the wheel in the wrong direction you might hit a wall :rolleyes: and I bet your warranty doesn't cover that either :pac:

People spill coffee into keyboards, they fall off ladders and accidently break glasses, it's called living. We're not all perfect.

TheChizler

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Thanks for posting the laptop charger, it is very helpful.

but i think a 3 pin socket / inverter would be a lot more useful for myself as who knows what i could plug in such as , old nokia phone, laptop, lamp etc.

thanks again

Careful what you plug in! You don't want to try to exceed the capacity of the inverter. It'd probably be grand as it would have safety cutoffs (probably) but best case scenario the device wouldn't work.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

good advice there.

might just get one off ebay

saw one for €30 and was powerful from toptronic in cork

Zimmerframe

As you have been told already, the invertor route is the least efficient and in my opinion silly way to achieve what you want to do.
Use your mains charger at home, use a car charger in the car.
No point changing dc to ac then changing ac to dc.
Use one of these or similar, depending on your laptop.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kensington-Auto-Notebook-Power-Adapter/dp/B001F6IJ2O/ref=pd_cp_computers_0

Buy a decent one, and you will be able to use it again and again, by changing tips.

red sean

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

good advice there.

might just get one off ebay

saw one for €30 and was powerful from toptronic in cork

What's cheapest is usually not whats best. I have found in the past that a cheap inverter is very expensive in the long run.
As I said in a previous post, it's important that it is a true sine wave as it will otherwise cause damage. Remember some of the stuff you buy on ebay is cheap imitations from China.I've had a laptop battery and charger and a cordless drill battery and charger burnt out by a cheap inverter.
Also, never switch on the inverter before you start the engine. The current draw from the starter usually means the inverter cuts out,(good ones do anyway) meaning you're driving along thinking you're charging away, but nothings happening!