Is the accessory socket in the rear of my '07 OBS fused the same as the socket in front in the dash? Someone suggested that I shouldn't run an air compressor off the front socket because they aren't rated for the same load.
David
Read your owners manual, in the back it lists which fuses are for what and how many amps. In my 08 Impreza the front socket is fused for 10 amps and the one in the center console is fused for 20.
I don't know about that. I have a 2000 Forester and always plugged my compressor (portable) into the front socket without any problelms - had the engine running, of course.
My suggestion is that you just ignore what "someone" said just run it. My guess is that nothing is gonna happen. If the fuse blows, it's not a big deal at all. OTOH, you could worry about it and maybe develop an ulcer and then die.
The front one has shorter wire connecting to the battery - so it would make sense, all else being equal (which it MAY not be) the FRONT outlet would be the best to use. The sockets themselves in MOST vehicles are identical.
What makes sense is to use the one nearest the tire - at least to me it does. What bad thing is going to happen if you fill the rear tires with the one in the rear? How many amps can those things handle anyway? They use small toy motors and the power cords are skinny affairs.
if you use over 120 watt for a short time it should be fine i guess. if you are overloading the socket continuously (not your use case) then you are more likely to have a problem and, thusly, it pays to be proactive running heavier gauge wires to the trunk acc socket.
besides, who won't be benefit from the extra sound deadener you could install while you are disassembling the floor carpet anyway?
This makes little sense, you're stuck with whatever gauge wire you have that comes with the pump. Any pump that uses a socket for power is gonna be using wire a lot thinner than the wiring to the socket and have a small motor - if it's designed properly. The main problem I have with these things is that they are too noisy and the motors tend to get hot. You cannot run these things continuously.
I think that people that are nervous about blowing their wiring should probably stick with inflating their tires at a gas station since the noise and vibrations of these cheap pumps will probably make them even more anxious.
There are better, faster, pumps that use bigger motors but those are wired directly to the battery, not to a plug. You might want to get one of these instead.
I don't know how your OBS is fused but on my '08 Outback I've run two different sorts of tire-fill compressors off of the front (cigarette lighter) outlet, the console outlet, and the rear compartment outlet at various times and had no problems with any of them. I just use whatever seems the most convenient at the time. What's the worst that could happen? A blown fuse on a non-critical circuit is not a world-ending event.
Again, I was describing solution to the case of plugging an accessory that uses over 120W or power into the rear socket. In a (rare?) application when you can't run that accessory from the from I think that people that are nervous about blowing their wiring should
noted, thanks
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