Ciggy lighter

Find out the original fuse rating. Multiply by 12.

If it's a 5A fuse, you can use a 60W load.

Pete.

However, if protected by a 20A fuse (and some are), they will *not* carry a constant 20A!

As they were originally intended for intermittent use I would not trust one to carry more than 5 or 6A continuously, or 10A short term.

HTH

Chris

Yeah...COMMUNICATIONS, not supplying power.

Why? It costs them money.

..non of which require a 10 amp supply.

The message from "51" contains these words:

Because a) they can't get their arses into gear to agree a standard, and b) 'cos they're worried about being sued by someone who plugs something in that the buggers either the car or the gadget.

Bollocks. A power invertor can be rated at well over 10A, and that's one device that would be particularly handy to be able to keep plugged into that socket.

So you regularly carry around a power invertor do you?

Who the hell carries a power invertor around with them?

Those fan heaters are usually rated at about 200W. They're not the most effective of things, but they do make a difference in a DI diesel in winter.

Well I regurlarly have one in the vehicle, carrying it's a bit pointless, the big one has it's own trolley.

Well me. It's rather handy for laptops, cordless batteries, phone chargers etc. when I can't be bothered to run the genny.

Read all about it! "FlexRay bus", not a plugin but a system upgrade.

from 1/2 down the page: "When it comes to the technologies at thedisposal of chip firms....FlexRay was envisaged as a 42V system....two 10Mb/s channels on twisted pair....initially aimed at hybrid car engine management...."

10 amps is the accepted maximum - but not all accessory plugs make good enough contact for this amount.

Some of us do. I log mobile phone cell data when on the move, and can have the laptop running all day.

John

I can charge my phone and camera from a USB port. That seems to be getting more common. So a standard powered USB hub would be fun I suppose. They could use it for diagnostics too then.

Warwick

I carried one all round Europe to power my laptop, the engine had to be running though or the battery would die in about 10mins. I usually drove while charging the laptop up then stopped and used the laptop off the charge so I didn't waste too much petrol stood idol. Laptop was connected via

130Watt power adaptor in a 200Watt invertor

You must have had a grossly ineffienct system given a laptop can run for rather more than 10 minutes on its battery which is a tiny fraction of the capacity of a car one.

Ever thought of fitting one of those Webasto heaters like we have in lorries? THey have a timer you can set so you can have it come on 10 minutes before you get in the car.

I ran my laptop straight off the cig lighter socket. Knocked up a lead and away we went.

I've never worked this out. Most laptop bricks output not much more voltage than the car system is at. I've successfully run a few laptops straight from the cig lighter socket with a homebrew lead.