MartinN Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 I need to wire in a cigarette lighter to my Bedford MW. Taking it to Normandy so I need a charging point for my mobile phone. I was going to wire it in to the battery directly with an inline fuse. What rating should the fuse be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Depends on what you intend to plug in. Normal fuse is a 25 amp. P.S. Invest in an inverter very useful, produces 240 ac from 12 volt DC. Ideal for charging and laptops note pads etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoseman Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Depends on what you intend to plug in. Normal fuse is a 25 amp. P.S. Invest in an inverter very useful, produces 240 ac from 12 volt DC. Ideal for charging and laptops note pads etc. Inverters are the way to go, we run 2000 Watt one's on the vans as mobile workshops. If you get up to 700 Watts you can get a camping kettle and brew up too!!! A cheap one is by a company called Northern Tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 Inverters are the way to go, we run 2000 Watt one's on the vans as mobile workshops. If you get up to 700 Watts you can get a camping kettle and brew up too!!! A cheap one is by a company called Northern Tools. Prices have gone down like a stone. A 300 watt, perfectly usable for laptops etc are about £40. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Essex5 Posted March 11, 2014 Share Posted March 11, 2014 The fuse rating should be appropriate to the size of cable you wire to the socket - I'd be reluctant to go larger than 10 Amps, most readily available cigarette-lighter sockets are rubbish and need protecting from internal short-circuits! A large (1000 Watts or so) inverter needs to be treated with respect - at full load it will pull at least 85 amps from a 12 volt battery. It needs to be connected via heavy-duty cables and connectors, such as Anderson plugs rated at 150 Amps. Connecting direct to elderly vehicle wiring-looms is asking for a fire.:shocked: John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiomike7 Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Guys, the OP needs to charge his mobile phone not run a searchlight, he needs a max of 2A. The biggest concern if going down the cig lighter route is the vehicle polarity, the outer case needs to be negative which probably conflicts with the vehicle being positive earth. The cig lighter could be fitted in an insulated panel but it is not good electrical practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Thing about an inveter. It feeds off the battery by croc clips, on it's own leads, so no problem there, dosent touch the vehicle as it's insulated. It will use the mains charger to charge the phone, and can run other kit! You can buy a jump pack with a built in inverter if you want. That's what I have for the 6 volt Dodge. Keeps the sat nav going for about 48 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 Strikes me that one of these would be the easiest approach? It also sorts out the negative/positive earth problem as it's almost entirely insulated. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 :blush: So obvious . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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