12v charging, powering?

[EllPea in CA]

We're slowly getting there.

The Northern Tool 35 watt crystalline solar panel just came, along with a charge controller.c

1. I have a Fantastic fan, floor model, with a car-lighter type plug. We need to make this play with my 12v system... with some other kind of plug.

We need to charge cell phones and laptops. I'd like to install a USB wall plate but am only finding plates powered by shore power. Are there plates which run from the battery?

What kind of plugs can I use to power 12v items, apart from the cigarette lighter?

[Bob Miller]

Look on Ebay or Amazon for "12 volt Charging Centers" like this one

[Byron Kinnaman]

I like this
+ this

Keeps everything compatible with trailer and the tow vehicle.

I also have 12 Volt chargers for the laptop computers. All plug into the standard cigarette light socket.

[EllPea in CA]

THANKS!

I found what I needed, I think. Bob, do your USB chargers have varied power? (Does one charge faster than the other?) I was hoping to find a zoomy one...

[Bob Miller]

Usually when there is only 1 port it is usually about 2.24 amps, when there are two ports together, one is usually 2.4 amps the other 1.6 amps or so.


What Byron suggested also works just fine, but beware of inexpensive versions at discount stores, auto supply stores and Flea Markets, etc. There have been reports of cheaper ones having poor voltage control and damaging the battery they were charging.


You don't want to be to "Zoomie", that can sometimes damage the devices battery. Even the 120 VAC versions have current limiters that are about the same as the 12 volt variety

[NedMac]

Bob, is that charging center a simple install? My 16' scamp's previous owner installed an LED strip light on the wall next to the stove. We never use it, so when we started to take it down we saw that it inside/behind it were a huge "knot" of wires. Curious if something like this could be installed there (this is screaming newbie, I know!)

[minke]

For the ham radio gear in my truck I use West Mountain Radio - RIGrunner which has two USB charging ports. For many folks this would be over-kill. It uses Powerpole connectors West Mountain Radio - Powerpole .

[Bob Miller]

The "Power Center" is just 2 wires, 12 VDC hot and a ground wire. As I remember it was less than $20 including shipping.

[mbbear]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

I like this
+ this

Keeps everything compatible with trailer and the tow vehicle.

I also have 12 Volt chargers for the laptop computers. All plug into the standard cigarette light socket.

Byron would you share where you got the 12 v laptop chargers? I have a small inverter that will work but there is loss using that. Thanks, Mike

[redbarron55]

A note on USB charging sockets. The USB has 4 pins 1 & 4 are charging pins and 2&3 are data pins. The resistance or the voltage on these pins are read by the device to determine if it will use it to charge and how much.
The "Chinese" standard is for these data pins to be shorted together or 0 ohms. The device will (if compatible) will draw 1 amp charging.
The same "standard" is 200 ohms (essentially shorted) also draws 1 amp.
The tablets and Apples look for something a little different.
Apple has been working to keep their experience pure for their customers ( this really means more $$ for Apple).



Nowadays the iPhone expects a certain voltage on those two pins to decide how much current to absorb from the charger. Putting a 2.0 V voltage on both the pins the iPhone will absorb about 500 mA, while with 2.8 V on D- and 2.0 V on D+ it will absorb about 1000 mA.

There are different setups for different devices so it is likely that a generic charging port may not work with all of your devices. There are some ports that are switchable that will work with 1 amp, 2.1 amp (or 2.8) both apples and other devices.

Here is one, but no charging specifications other than 2.1 and 1 amp



Unfortunately it is difficult to a 12 volt multi device charging system.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by redbarron55

Unfortunately it is difficult to a 12 volt multi device charging system.

Difficult to??? Install???
(thanks for the explanation and link. Wouldn't you know, I have Windows, hubby has Apple!)

[redbarron55]

Sorry...
It is difficult to tell just what you are getting in a USB charging port and what devices they work with.
Apple has their own thing and even though the euro zone requires that a mini usb charge any phone sold there of course Apple figures that doesn't apply to them.
All of the different standards and charging rates mean that there could be a number of nice looking units that won't work correctly with your devices.
Especially in mixed marriages between Apple and android users ( or others)
Just looking at the current capabilities only tells part of the story.

[EllPea in CA]

Three questions:

1. Do I need an inverter to charge phone and computer from battery?
2. Do I need an inverter to power 12 volt items?
3. If my solar charger is adequate, would my only need for a CONverter be to run 120V items?

[gordon2]

Perhaps this explanation will answer your first two questions.

And this one should address question # 3.

[sokhapkin]

You have reversed understanding of inverter and converter. Converter converts 120V to 12V, Inverter converts 12V to 120V.

You need power INVERTER to run 120V items from battery. You don't need anything to run 12V items from battery. You need a converter to charge the battery from 120V.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by sokhapkin

You have reversed understanding of inverter and converter. ....

Or perhaps just have the terms confused.. the links I referenced give very good explanations and uses the proper terminology.

[RogerDat]

I would go with the 12 volt cigarette style plugs on a wall plate. Why is really simple I can run whatever I need or want to from that. All the devices have 12 volt auto charging solutions OR a small inverter will plug in and allow me to use the 110 volt charging solutions I use in the house.


No need to worry about if this installed set of USB power center does what I need with this or that device, or next years device. Lot of 12 volt devices assume cigarette style plug it is the standard for 12 volt hookup. Built in specific hookups to me makes more sense when installing something that does not change and/or require replacement. $20 USB charging panel does not strike me as a device intended to last for years.

[EllPea in CA]

Originally Posted by sokhapkin

You have reversed understanding of inverter and converter. Converter converts 120V to 12V, Inverter converts 12V to 120V.

You need power INVERTER to run 120V items from battery. You don't need anything to run 12V items from battery. You need a converter to charge the battery from 120V.

While trying to be succinct, I think I've left out information that would explain the questions.

1. Do I need an inverter to charge phone and computer from battery? ...in other words, if I install a 12v charging center, is it drawing directly from the battery, or does it need an inverter to convert power to AC. I ask this because my phone and computer normally plug into a AC power source in the house so does the charging center need an inverter to make it compatible with what the computer expects. I realize that plugging into the cigarette lighter, for instance gives USB items access to 12v power source. What I don't know (and if I did know I wouldn't need to ask this question) is whether there is an inverter behind the cigarette lighter.

2. Do I need an inverter to power 12 volt items? Again, not sure if these 12v items, like a fan which could plug into the cigarette lighter, are finding a power source with an inverter behind it.

If the answer to this question is that I don't need an inverter to run 12v, then it must also mean I don't need an inverter for question #1.

3. If my solar charger is adequate, would my only need for a CONverter be to run 120V items?

Right, I do see this is backwards, which was unintentional. I should have asked, "would my only need for a converter be to charge the battery from shore power." Which is why you see the reference to the solar panel, if it's adequate, maybe I don't need a converter either, at least not now.

[sokhapkin]

1. You need power inverter to power 120V items like the computer.
2. No, you don't need anything extra to power 12V items.
3. You'll need a power INVERTER (not converter) to run 120v items from battery/solar charger.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by sokhapkin

1. You need power inverter to power 120V items like the computer.

And just to complicate things.. you can get a power supply for laptop computers that runs off 12 VDC and has a cigarette plug. Its more efficient than using an inverter to go from 12 volts DC to 120 AC, then back down to 18 volts or whatever your laptop uses.