12V accessory outlets inside FWC

[WMPB]

We just ordered a new FWC Grandby. Are the 12V accessory outlets in the camper the same as a cigarette outlet or do I need a special 12v connector?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[NorCalSteve]

Lighter outlets like the cars. In my Hawk, they are in front of the stove. It is not a convient location. I added another behind my bench seat near the batteries with a separate fuse.

Steve

 

[MarkBC]

Yeah, I think there is only one kind of 12-volt power outlet, in the USA, anyway -- the one formerly called cigarette lighter receptacle.
(not counting trailer-light connector and the 12-volt connectors inside computers)

 

[ntsqd]

There is a similar but not interchangeable DIN std plug/receptacle combo that is most commonly found on BMW touring bikes. Don't know too much about it, but I've read that it is considered more robust than the common "Power Point"/cigarette lighter plug and socket.

I try to use the Marinco plugs and sockets as so far they're the best that I've found. Their locking feature (only works with their mated parts) is nice to have, but not always necessary.

Marinco also makes a dual USB charging only port in the same form-factor as their receptacles. I've added a couple of them to our rig. Nice feature is that they have the voltage reducer built-in so you can feed them 12VDC and be fine.

 

[Alley-Kat]

The questions that I see almost always left out of the discussion, is...

1) what amount of amps can the receptacle safely deliver,

and

2) what are the amps the device a person is going to plug in to the receptacle going to pull?

Things like small portable air/tire compressors are often right at (or over) the limits of the receptacle, yet those devices often are sold with the male plug end that fits the receptacle. Alligator clips directly to the truck battery with the engine running is how I use those high amp drawing devices.

Always good to know what you're doing in this regard... to be electrically safe.

 

[Hittheroad]

My air compressor works off the camper plug. I have blown fuses using the car or truck connection but never using the camper.

 

[WMPB]

Thanks for the replies. So my next question is what kind / brand of 12 v inverter / converter does everyone use as a power source for your notebook computer, cell phone and other portable electronic devices?

 

[MarkBC]

.....what kind / brand of 12 v inverter / converter does everyone use as a power source for your notebook computer, cell phone and other portable electronic devices?

For those kind of electronic devices, I use chargers that plug into that 12-volt receptacle....rather than invert to AC and then back to DC, since most portable electronic devices want DC.
Specifically, all smartphones (I think all) and most modern dumb phones and a lot of other modern small electronics are charged off USB voltage -- 5 volts -- and chargers that plug into a 12-volt receptacle and have USB out are available cheap everywhere. Most phones require 1 amp or less and most tablets require more like 2 amps. Here's an example of a dual-output USB charger I bought recently.
12-volt chargers for laptops are more expensive and not usually included with the purchase of a laptop...but they're available (from OEM or 3rd party) and I always buy one when I get a laptop.
One common scenario for me is: I'm in the camper running my laptop with it charging off the 12-volt receptacle, and I have my smartphone plugged into one of the USB ports on the laptop -- charging the smartphone AND the smartphone is acting as the Internet connection ("tethering") for the laptop over that same USB cable.

I do own a couple of inverters, and I have them behind the seat of my truck...but I haven't used them in years.

 

[NorCalSteve]

I use the exact same methods as MarkBC. I do have a 75 watt inverter I use for charging my camera batteries. I also own a 400 watt inverter that never gets used but I keep it in the truck just in case. 75 watts is more than enough for my AC camera battery charger. Many of the new cameras will charge the camera battery using a 12 volt to USB adapter like the one MarkBC linked to. I hope my next camera does that. My power supply for my Laptop says 90 watts so I know I would need something bigger than my 75 watt inverter if I wanted to use my AC adapter to charge my Laptop.

Steve

 

[MarkBC]

...I do have a 75 watt inverter I use for charging my camera batteries...My power supply for my Laptop says 90 watts so I know I would need something bigger than my 75 watt inverter if I wanted to use my AC adapter to charge my Laptop.

Steve

Good points!
The battery in my Canon P&S charges from an AC-only charger...and I remember now that I used my smaller inverter with that charger last year (so I guess I'm a liar ). For the battery in my Nikon DSLR I use a 3rd-party (non-Nikon) 12-volt charger.
Yes, laptops draw a lot of power (relatively)...more than anything else in the camper when I'm charging it.

 

[ntsqd]

My netbook's AC power supply's output is 12 VDC. Aha! I thought, made up a jumper to go from the power point to the power input of the netbook and it worked! And then it didn't. And then it did. About then it just made me crazy. Would work fine until it wouldn't, and no obvious reason why. After much testing and monkeying about I concluded that the truck's regulator doesn't do all that great a job of maintaining the line voltage. Every time it bumped or dipped beyond the netbook's input voltage limits the netbook would switch to battery power. Of course it did this without displaying the notification long enough for me to notice it since I was driving every time it did this. So usually my first clue that it was on internal battery power was when the battery failed and I'd lose my GPS. The lesson for me was to always have something that can smooth out and regulate power to non-vehicle specific electronics becaue the alternator/regulator can't or won't supply smooth DC power.

On further investigation it was far less expensive for me to buy a dedicated AC power supply and a 75W Inverter than it was to buy a DC to DC power supply. These are now hard wired together (leaving the inverter's receptacle free for camera battery charging) and attached to the "power box" (4 power points & one double USB charging port) that I added in the cab. Has worked flawlessly ever since.

So I now have two small inverters, the mentioned 75W unit that is a Go-Power or a name like that, and a 150W Cobra used for random needs. The 75W came from amazon, the 150W from the TA truck stop in Barstow. These aren't pure sine wave devices and they aren't terribly expensive so I expect that eventually I'll have to replace them.

 

[MarkBC]

...12-volt chargers for laptops are more expensive and not usually included with the purchase of a laptop...but they're available (from OEM or 3rd party) and I always buy one when I get a laptop...

As a follow-up to this, I found the source (or a source...don't remember where I actually bought it) for the DC-DC laptop charger that I'm using for my Thinkpad laptop, and it's less-expensive than I remembered it being: Hipower 90W DC Car Automobile Power Adapter Charger ~$30 with shipping.
Yeah, it's Chinese-cheap, but it's been working fine for the couple/few years that I've had it. I keep it in my laptop traveling case -- works for me. (same company makes chargers in the required voltage and plug for other laptops)

..The battery in my Canon P&S charges from an AC-only charger...and I remember now that I used my smaller inverter with that charger last year (so I guess I'm a liar )...

And as a follow-up to this, here's the "smaller inverter" I'm referring to:
Rosewill RCP-E150C 150W Can Sized Silence Car Inverter with 1Amp USB Port $27 with shipping (but I bought it when on sale and paid less than this)
5-star average review -- can't beat it!

 

[craig333]

About the only thing my inverter gets used for is the microwave. Most everything else charges off the usb. That may change for this trip, thinking about dragging along the laptop.

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[MarkBC]

About the only thing my inverter gets used for is the microwave...

Craig, what wattage is your MW? And it'll run from the stock 12-v receptacle, that is, that receptacle has the amperage capacity to power the inverter-to-MW?

 

[craig333]

Its a 1200 watt inverter and no, it doesn't plug in to the 12v receptacle. Its hard wired directly to the camper battery. The microwave is a 600 watt model.

 

[The Next Adventures]

I use a Morningstar sure sine 300 watt inverter that is hard wired to two 120 volt receptacles, This powers sensitive electronics like laptop computers and tablets that need a pure sine wave power to operate normally and not be damaged. I also use a blue sea usb charging port for ipods, phones etc, It is on the far left in the picture below with its dust cover on it next to the cigarette style receptacle. Check the pics below: