Re: Cigarette Ligher Power Inverter with 4 Cylender car

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 10:56:03 -0500, "Bob" <bobb25@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>
>Get a cigarette lighter multi-plug adapter. Every auto parts store sells

Normally, I just accept the premises of the poster, but this was my
reaction too. This would be a lot simpler, take up much less space,
and I don't see any drawbacks. Each item would draw only what it
needs and there would be no conversion losses either.

>them. Then you can keep several plugged in at the same time. Just make sure
>your vehicle's cigarette lighter is wired through your ignition switch, so
>you don't drain the battery when the engine isn't running.

Used to be, all cigarette lighters were on all the time. Not so much
in later model cars. If he wanted the op could move the power from an
always on place to Accessorty place, although I'm not sure I would
want to do that. I might want to charge the cell phone while
sleeping, if I were hiking all day for example, or otherwise out of
the car.

What I think is great is Battery Buddy (there is a competitor I
haven't tried) I used BB for a couple years, a year of which I had an
almost dead battery. BB tripped 100% reliably if I let the car sit
for more than 36 hours. Just push the button and there was always
more than enough power to start the car again. The radio lost its
pre-sets (and supposedly the engine computer lost its best settings,
but I couldn't tell the difference).

>
>
>http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-4-in-1-DC-Power-Cigarette-Lighter-Outlet-Adapter_W0QQitemZ5851462800QQcategoryZ60208QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
>
>
>
>"MG" <nomail@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:E1awf.537$Hd4.142@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> "Robert Fenster" <bfenster1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:rC9wf.4036$Dh.2062@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> >I am interested in getting a 100W - 150W power inverter for the car.
>> >
>> > I figured rather than buy every single ligher adapter for every cell
>> > phone/laptop/digital camera, the power inverter would do the trick.
>> >
>> > My concern is based on the fact that both cars i have are small 4 cyln
>> > engines.
>> >
>> > Assuming i remove the lighter adapter if while i drive throught the
>> > mountains of West Virigina (once a year), what are the pro's and con's
>of
>> > such a solution.
>> >
>> > (NOTE: I do see the irony of plugging a transformer into an inverter,
>but
>> > it
>> > seems like a workable solution).
>> >
>> >
>> > Thanks in Advance,
>> >
>> > Robert Fenster
>> >
>> >
>>
>> A word of caution with cheap inverters, they deliver a square wave that
>has
>> the same RMS as a 120V outlet, but not always the same peak. They are
>fine
>> for heating but may give problem with rectifiers like battery chargers.
>>
>> I would measure and compare the charging current to make sure is roughly
>> the same with inverter or 120V house current. Need to measure the current
>> because the voltage is determined by the battery and is fairly independent
>> of the current.
>>
>> As far as the 4 cylinders, I would not worry. A 150W inverter is more
>than
>> adequate for charging and it will only take what it needs from the
>battery.
>>
>> A phone charger may use 2W and the inverter efficiency at such low load
>may
>> be only 10% so you may have a 20W drain on the battery, that is less than
>> one head light. You can measure the No Load current to the inverter and
>> expect that to be a baseline, small loads will add little to it a full
>150W
>> may add 15Amps at 12V.
>> Running the inverter at full load is probably more taxing for the inverter
>> for the battery and the engine, even uphill.
>> The figures above are only ball park not knowing the specifics.
>>
>> If you can find a 20W sine wave inverter than all concerns disappear.
>>
>> Mauro
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>


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