Bongo Fury

Hi

Following on from a further post today (cheers John), just wondering if anyone has used a cheap inverter from e-bay that plugs in the cigarette socket and claims to power a 240volt tv or laptop.

Do they work?

Travis

Well Inverters work, but do remember that what is a small current drain at mains voltage becomes a significant current at 12 volts, so a TV that is rated at say 60 watts will draw something like 5 Amps at 12 volts. Cigar lighter sockets/plugs were never designed as power connectors having said that they do work but you can get a lot of voltage drop across them if you don't make sure they are well connected - you will often find them running quite warm simply because they have a bad connection.

Do cheap inverters from Ebay work, don't know never tried one, a couple of 300 watt devices I have work fine and have done for several years very similar to the ones available in Maplin.

Thanks I was looking at running a small tv and a playstation for my son, while on the move and maybe for a short spell in a supermarket car park...not for too long.

Travis

There's also a possibility that the inverting is not good enough to power a laptop. I think Pippin thoroughly explained this on the forum.

We have a 300w inverter that we use for a PS2 occasionally. Got it from Maplins and it seems ok - had it for a few years as well.

I have a little Belkin one (150W, IIRC) I use for charging phones, laptops and bike batteries; it does the job nicely and nothing has exploded, melted or caught fire so far.

My only gripe is that the thing is supposed to cut out before completely flattening the battery; I started carrying jumpleads because it actually doesn't...

Phil

Travis wrote:Thanks I was looking at running a small tv and a playstation for my son, while on the move and maybe for a short spell in a supermarket car park...not for too long.

Travis

Maybe something like http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SLIMLINE-IN-CAR-C ... 1|294%3A50 would be easier for your PlayStation?

I'd do it properly and fit a decent inverter, preferably running from the leisure battery if you have one. I bought a 300W one and it was easily strapped to the tubular steel crossbar accessible up behind the glove box (a tip from Dandywarhol - thanks!). The cables are easily fed through a large rubber grommet into the under bonnet area, and a 1m 4 gang lead runs from it and is attached to the side of the centre console on the drivers side (the gang lead cable hides well in the gap across the front of the centre console. You then have plenty of plugs for your usual 240v adaptors insde of having to buy extra adaptors (aaarrrgh! all those extra adaptors and trasnformer packs drive me buts).

Even my 300W invertor sometimes trips when a PS2 is started up, though if I switch it off then on again all is fine. But I wonder (and think I've read on here before) if those ciggie socket ones are up to much.

You can just make out the 4 x gang lead in this pic (click to enlarge)



Not much effort for a solid result.

I got a good one and if I remember if it was from amazon, my missus has used it loads of times whilst on the move in the bongo to power her laptop, it was an all in one plug in unit, I did post a piccie of it on here before, perhaps a search would find it, I will have a look and see if I can find da photo and post it again. I know it was around £19.00 thats all. I think if you look on the site and just put in power inverter it will bring up a load of em. Just looked on da site and it is still there..ex pro make at £18.97.

Do you mean the sort that looks like a 3 pin socket with a plug that goes in the cigarette lighter socket? About £12 or £13?

Got one from Argos about 2 years ago for emergencies such as running low on battery power on the laptop just as I was about to finish something really important. I also used it for charging my mobile as it didn't come with a car charger and I was too tight to go out and buy one. Works fine, although haven't used it for long periods with the engine off, neither have I used it for long periods with the engine on except to charge the phone and once I think I charged the laptop.

As for other stuff like in-car TVs and PlayStations would they not come with their own lighter cables? I know nothing about either, I must admit, but we have a portable DVD player and whilst we don't use it on the move it's got a lighter cable for charging (actually, we've taken it away in the Bongo on both occasions we've been away so far and actually forgotten we packed it so next time it stays at home If we do take it, we'd probably charge it on the move if we needed to and watch it on its own battery power.

Don't suppose this really helps, but the 3 pin sockety thing has definitely proved a useful thing to keep in the glovebox.

When I bought ours first we used it in my espace and with the engine off, (didnt know any better) so it comes as no surprise that when I then tried to start the car she was as flat as a witches chest, we have used it on the way to devon to power a laptop, a cd quiz keeps me awake, lol, with no problems at all, it was also used to power me mums nebuliser with no probs, we too have also used it to charge phones until a car charger was bought. Must admit this one is a cracker so far, got one in the sons car now as well.

Thanks everyone

I think I am sorted now

I found out today that my LB is under the bonnet, I was a little suprised as I thought it was going to be in the van somewhere.


I also found out the cig lighter is not attached to the LB (i suppose there was no point in them moving it)

So my options are now either to do some mechanics and run an inverter from the LB through the glove box or get a plug in inverter and let it run off the main battery via the gig.


I think I might try the LB option to ensure I dont run out of charge if I use the inverter for too long when not driving.

It doesnt look too hard a job does it?

Thanks for help, any more advice would be appreciated

Travis

Travis wrote: So my options are now either to do some mechanics and run an inverter from the LB through the glove box or get a plug in inverter and let it run off the main battery via the gig.

I think I might try the LB option to ensure I dont run out of charge if I use the inverter for too long when not driving.

It doesnt look too hard a job does it?

I'd be inclined to run it from the LB, for the reason you state. I'm definitely no autoelectrician, but I've done a similar job and it was pretty easy.

1. Remove the glovebox (its easy), and then open the bonnet.
2. There's a rubber grommet in the bulkhead behind the expansion tank - pull it out.
3. There's a nipple on the cab side of the rubber grommet - snip that off and run the cable through the hole it creates (I used 40A cable which I sheathed with convoluted tubing just to be on the safe side to help prevent the cable being rubbed). Feed quite a bit of cable in.
4. Relocate the rubber grommet.
5. Go back into the cab and you should be able to reach the cable and work with it.
6. You'll need to cable it to an earth too. I found a suitable location in the cab.
7. When you've finished doing whatever wiring it is you're doing inside the cab, go back under the bonnet and connect the cable to the battery terminal, making sure you've got an in-line fuseholder (preferably splash or waterproof) close to the battery.
8. When finished, put the correct fuse in the fuseholder.

I'm sure someone will come along and add any bits I've missed to this (or probably tell you a better way).

I did it cruder than that. The inverter came with cables and croc. clips attached. I stuffed them through the bulkhead and clipped the crocs on the LB (if I'm worried I just unclip them to isolate the inverter). The inverter has its own overload protection etc. So really, all thats needed then is:

1) Suitable straps/ties to bind the inverter to the cross member, preferably so it doesn't rotate around. I think I put some foam pipe lagging round the steel member then used copper wire twists and it has held really well

2) get a 1m gang lead as per my earlier post. Two suitable self tapper screws in the side of the console are used to attach the gang lead by the keyhole slots they all have on the back face.

Job done

You could easily make the cigar lighters, interior lights, radio and blinds work off your leisure battery.
I used Pippin's instructions below (easier than it looks ) but others have done it in a different way, but I can't remember how

Look at the fuse board by the drivers right knee.
Remove the fixing screws and wiggle it forwards so that the rear is visible.

Counting from top left to right the numbering goes 1 to 8.

Fuses 1 to 5 are fed by a thick white/red from fuse BTN under the bonnet, which is always live.
(the fuse, silly, not the bonnet!)

Fuses 6,7,8 are fed only when the ignition is on via the thick red/black wire.
6&7 are curtains L&R, 8 is cigarlighter & mirrors.

1] If you do not have a secondary battery:

You can either select just the cigarlighter/mirrors or probably easier and handier select those and the curtains so that you can operate them without the ignition on.

Cut the thick red/black wire going in a couple of inches from the rear of the fuseholder for 6,7,8. Insulate the end that comes out of the loom.
Use a short length of similarly sized wire to extend the end going into 6,7,8 and tap it into the thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.

If you want to select just fuse 8 for the cigarlighter/mirrors then you would have to identify the blue wire coming out of fuse 8, cut that and insulate the end coming out of the fuse 8. The blue wire going into the loom would then need an in-line 15A fuse fitting and then tapping onto the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.

2] If you have a secondary battery you may wish to feed things from that rather than from the engine battery.

The instructions above are modified only by disregarding tapping anything into the aforementioned thick white/red that feeds fuses 1-5.
Instead you would need to connect it/them into an appropriately fused wire connected to the secondary battery.

While you are at it you could also feed all the internal vehicle lighting from that source as well.
To do so, cut the blue/red wire coming out of fuse 1 and insulate the end coming out of the fuse. Fit an appropriate 10A inline fuseholder to the end disappearing into the loom and connect it to the secondary battery.

Cor guys all this fiddling with the wiring, does this constitute a modification that needs to be told to insurance companies..in case of fire in the cab..eh.. just wondered.