Plugs in cars

cormie

Hi,
Does anyone know if there are any connectors you can buy that will power from the cigarette lighter and allow normal plugs to be plugged in? So basically it would be a wall socket connection to the lighter and you could then plug any normal plug into that. Is this possible even with power consumtion/transforming etc?
thanks

lomb

you need an inverter 12vdc to 240 ac. there generally around 50 euro. do a search online

the evil belly

excellent. i was thinking of going looking for something like that so i can use my laptop in the car

maccydoodies

Or you could watch pimp my ride. Seriously! They put a tumble bryer in the boot of a guys car. my sons loves watching it!!

cormie

It's possible? That's great, I thought I was asking for a bit too much. how would I know what type of inverter to get?
thanks..

pimp my ride is great, they put a fireplace in some girls car, a fish tank in another and I saw that clothes dryer too. Not forgetting the 41" tv!!!

lomb

http://www.eurobatteries.com/sitepages/inverters.asp

cormie

cool thanks!

stratos

Maplins do them as well, in Blanch, 70 yoyo's I think. Make sure the wattage of the one you buy is adequate for what you want it to do. Though if it's just for a p.c. I'd say the smallest one would do.

cormie

how can you tell?

what would happen if you plugged a 4 way adaptor into the socket and powered say a laptop, an mp3 player, a tv, a microwave all at once? Not that I would be doing that, just out of curiousity!

stratos

well hopefully if you overload the invertor it should just cut out/blow fuse. I have never fitted an invertor to a vehicle so I don't know if the cableing comes with it. however th 12 Volt cables must be of adequate size for the invertor as these carry more amps than the 220 side. I saw a van go on fire because a 3 kW invertor was installed with cables to small on the 12V side. The loom ran under the drivers seat, bye bye van!

cormie

well if you ever see a flying car with a poker.ie logo on it you will know it was done wrong;) I wont be doing it myself anyway. Anyone know of a good company who does this kind of thing? Could you trust your local mechanic to do it or is it allot more complex?

stratos

Well nothing is complex if you know what your doing. My preference would be to have an auto electrician fit it. Having said that it is a very straight foreward job.

cormie

Ok cool!

thanks allot for the help everyone!