Cigarette lighter hungry accessories

Just be sure to keep the combined total power load below the maximum recommended for the vehicle socket.
For the Landcruiser and Pajero I am pretty sure that total power load is only 120 watts.

Not sure about paying 25 quid though.

That's more than 50 bucks! Plus freight!

Most cars come with 1 12v outlet, I installed 5 more plus an inverter.
1 for the fridge, 1 for the gps mouse, 1 for the pda, 2 for the nintendo ds chargers and 1 other, save the inverter for the phone and camera charger or the laptop.
that seems to cover everything, problem is then storing all the chargers etc.......

Why do we carry so much stuff???????

Nick

I have
GPS....socket accessory.
HF Radio.....hot wired.
UHF .....Hot wired.
Car Radio No 2 ...hot wired.
Inverter....hot wired.
standard Cig lighter socket not used.

.

First of all STOP SMOKING. All jokes aside I would not use one of those sockets. Why not install purpose built outlets?

I don't think the standard cig socket will adequately handle that lot - the inverter may draw say 5-6 amps when powering the laptop, and more if running other stuff from it.

I have a separate fused wire from the battery to a fuseblock built into my console. It powers all my accessories in the cab, most of which are hardwired:
UHF radio
Pos lead to stereo
HF speaker
inverter
direct feed to Tosh laptop
Garmin GPS
Voltmeter
set of 4 cig sockets for everything else.

The best thing to do with the cigar lighter socket is to carefully remove it from the vehicle, place it on a firm surface and beat the hell out of it with a 2kg hammer.

Having satisfied that particular primeval urge I suggest fitting proper plugs and sockets to the vehicle and all your equipment. There are a number you can choose from but I standardised on this range a few years ago and they have performed well:

Jaycar Cannon socket





They are rated to 16A

Best advice is to run suitable capacity cable from battery then use plugs similar to these Link to Plugs you will never regret it.
I.H.N.A.W.T.C. just a satisfied customer

Warfer,

The type of 4-way adaptor you have indicated will suit your needs admirably.

All the devices you mentioned, (including a Laptop running from an inverter) are relatively low current drain devices.

A standard cigarette socket is rated at 10 amps and will supply power to your devices without problems.

I have two sockets in the front of my vehicle.
The standard socket which is connected via the ignition's accessory switch.
An additional 10 amp circuit I connected to my auxiliary battery, protected by an in-line fuse at the battery end, which also runs the fridge when travelling via a separate circuit and "Merit" socket in the rear.

My phone cradle is usually connected to the standard socket and being disabled by the ignition switch is not a problem.

Everything else is plugged into a 4 way adaptor I bought from Repco, or Kmart, or somewhere. This adaptor has a lead long enough to reach the floor and the socket head and anything plugged into it, sits underneath the drivers seat.

I connect the TomTom and the PDA devices to this adaptor and have another two sockets to connect a 12 volt charger, or a laptop, or anything else I require. Sometimes a 12 volt feed goes to my Bride's phone. Being "live" all the time until unplugged means the navigation gear, etc., is not powered off when I stop the engine.

Don't worry about the "doomsdayers" mate.
If, for some inadvertent reason, a short occurs, the fuse will disconnect power from the circuit and you are not running anything with a high enough current draw that will flatten your battery, unless you leave things connected for a prolonged period with the engine stopped.

Go for it. The adaptor is a practical and cheap option.

Bill.

G'day Warfer - bloody gadgets eh???

Hopefully the attached photo works - I've removed the ashtray & holder and made a backing plate to cover the hole - I put a cig light socket and a hella/merrit/two pole socket in this. Ran heavy wire from the battery to a couple of switches on the 'transmisson deck' (right side of photo which are rated 20amp) and hooked it up. I only run 10amp fuses at the battery for these as I don't have a lot of draw through them. Just the GPS or PDA, the chargers for the DSLR or video camera. The most I draw is about 8amps when running 100w spotlights.


Tim

Hi
Have a look at the following

http://www.gondwanaonline.com.au/category40_1.htm

Regards
Neil

I made up a small panel on the console with 2 merrit/hella type sockets and 2 ciggy sockets. All wired back the the terminal block near the battery through a 20 amp fuse and a relay to cut power when the ignition is off.

Cheers

Pete

Cut the cig plugs off and hard wire.

And rather than run your laptop from an inverter which will fry more than a steak if it should get wet buy a 12 volt CONVERTER. Battery world sell a Projecta model which is of enough capacity to run most laptops and costs about $65. The 6000ma version runs my Compaq core duo2 ok

Thankz Guys i have some thinking to do !


Cheers once again

I have a Bluetooth GPS that I stripped all the innards out of and fitted them into a piece of convoluted condiut with tape around and wired it through a switch and powered it off the upper console wiring. The switch is barely visible along the front and hot-melt glued into place. I can see the LED glow if the switch is on though a small grill up there. That is one way you can hide some of your peripherals.

The inverter is wired in through an Anderson plug along the underside of the drawers at the back of the car. Reachable from the back seat if tilted forward. Fridge wired the same way, the other side of the car. Thing is I can also plug in my portable power pack there instead. Got a powerpoint for a fluro behind one of the rear headrests too, can take a charger anytime.

Not sure if you are alternating the girlfriend or the charger mate, but you may get yourself into trouble.