Double cigarette lighter wired to leisure battery

[Doog]

Hi all

have a question which may well have been covered before. Have been searching the web for a while to look this up but couldn't find anything specific. Found lots of similar stuff but it all seemed a bit more complex than for what I want to do. I'm not much use with electronics but what I want to do seems simple so thought it worth an ask here.

I've bought one of those double cigarette light devices. Its quite clear how its meant to work, one end goes into the cigarette socket and the other has the option to plug in two more devices with cigarette lighter attachments or up to 2 USB devices. The USB ports are labelled 1A and 2.1A respectively.

What I want to know is, could remove the male attachment for plugging into a cigarette socket in the vehicle and wire it up, via my aux fuse box (currently housing blade fuses for water pump and lights) to my leisure battery and use it to power USB devices. Digital camera, iphone, ipod and ipad are all that I would want to charge. Basically I want the option to charge these devices when parked up for longer periods of time. I have a solar panel to trickle charge the leisure battery and will be using this setup in Spain and Portugal this summer. There are times when i envisage being stationary for a week or more.

Someone I spoke to said this sort of thing would just drain the leisure battery but I wanted a second opinion.

Also I don't really want to get involved with inverters if possible but that might be dictated by the types of devices I want to charge. I was under the impression that the ipod and iphone would be fine on a 12v system and the device is 5v 1A option for one USB port. In the same way the ipad needs 5V, 2.1A from the device to work on a 12v system. By the look of things on my device that should be fine?

Picture of device

Link to website

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[maingate]

Yes you could do that. You would need to ensure that you do not overload it by using everything at once.

As long as there is a fuse inline then it should be OK. From memory, I think the cigar lighter plugs can have up to a 10 amp fuse fitted (internally in the plug), so I would make that the fuse rating (although Fiat have a 15 amp fuse fitted in their built in cigar lighter).

The items you want to charge are not a huge drain individually (a laptop can take up to 6 amps). Charge them while travelling, unless you have a solar panel fitted and you don't need to worry about flattening your leisure battery.

 

[Doog]

Hi Maingate

Thanks for reply

Unlikely to try to charge everything at once. Just want the option of charging up the devices when not driving as we are likely to be parked up for extended periods for the reminder of the trip and would rather not drive about if I don't need to just to charge the hpone and ipad etc.. Otherwise charging via built in cigarette lighter has been working fine.

Have fitted a solar panel so should be ok on that front

Assuming there is an inbuilt fuse, could I add another one in-line when connecting to the leisure battery to be on the safe side? Would this affect how things worked?

 

[pgandt]

I used these to add usb connectivity into my van

12V To 5V Car Inverter Dual USB Hard Wired Car Charger for GPS Tablet Phone | eBay


6 Way Blade Fuse Box 1 Positive Bus in 12v LED WARNING Kit Car Boat Marine Trike | eBay

I also added a switch panel in just so that each item can be isolated - it's not needed but it just meant I could turn individual items off. I brought a cheap charger for the laptop off of ebay and wired that into the fuse block as well.

 

[maingate]

Hi Maingate

Thanks for reply

Unlikely to try to charge everything at once. Just want the option of charging up the devices when not driving as we are likely to be parked up for extended periods for the reminder of the trip and would rather not drive about if I don't need to just to charge the hpone and ipad etc.. Otherwise charging via built in cigarette lighter has been working fine.

Have fitted a solar panel so should be ok on that front

Assuming there is an inbuilt fuse, could I add another one in-line when connecting to the leisure battery to be on the safe side? Would this affect how things worked?

If there is a fuse fitted it will be inside the plug itself. If it is fused, there will be a small knurled nut on the plug. If you unscrew it, you will find the glass fuse inside. If there is no nut then it is not fused and relies on the vehicle fuse for safety. Some are, some are not. You are cutting it off anyway, so you will need to fit a fuse somewhere on the positive line.

The usual format for a plug in connection is a black and white wire for pos and plain black wire for neg. Instead of cutting off the plug, disassemble the plug to verify which is pos. From your photo, it looks like it is fused. The centre pin is pos and the 2 metal clips on the body are neg.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I have a, Aldi on offer, lighter unit, the same as that but it will only charge not run a laptop from the USB likewise some only have 5V 1/2amp = 500 ma and are hard pressed to RUN any USB powered devices, my tom-tom is about the limit. Charge with them not run devices.

 

[Doog]

Thanks for replies all.

So I cut the plug end off and it had a wire encased in red surrounded by more wire and then the outer black casing as in the photograph. I assume the red centre wire is positive as that would make sense for it to go the positive centre pin. Anyone experienced so,etching similar before?

 

[maingate]

Thanks for replies all.

So I cut the plug end off and it had a wire encased in red surrounded by more wire and then the outer black casing as in the photograph. I assume the red centre wire is positive as that would make sense for it to go the positive centre pin. Anyone experienced so,etching similar before?

Sounds about right. You can double check by using a test meter for continuity. The black wire should give you a circuit when you put the probe on the outer metal case of the socket. The red should give you a circuit when the probe is put on the centre connection at the bottom of the socket.

 

[shortcircuit]

Although very very small the adapter will continuously draw current for the USB output. I would get one without this output and simply use a plug in unit for USB chaarging.

 

[Doog]

So got it all working then realised it would always draw the power! So back to drawing board. Could just try wiring in a basic switch?

 

[Relay Runner]

Yes you can wire in a switch,
make sure the switch has a rating of at least equal to the fuse supplying it.
remember to get a switch rated for 12vdc.
Battery positive > Fuse > Switch > Device