Electrical Guys - How many amps is save from the typical 12v system?

[MikeyLikesIt]

The family and I have a two week, 2500 mile vacation coming up. Being the techie guy that I am, I have stuff ready for the kids. I also have invertors and chargers and other things I want to run. The minivan comes with a 150amp alternator and I am not sure how much is used by the vehicle and how much safely available for devices. There are four cigarette lighter connections throughout the van. I am not an electrical guy, but I don't want to burn out the alternator while driving.

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[Chester Copperpot]

What kind of devices? Phone chargers, laptop charges, portable DVDs? You'll be fine. They don't suck much power.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

Look in owners manual.
But at a guess they are on one 20amp or probably two 10 amp feeds from the fuse box.
newer vehicles can have the bcm programmed to either constant or ignition switched operation for the accessory ports.

 

[Bruce Jibboo]

newer vehicles can have the bcm programmed to either constant or ignition switched operation for the accessory ports.

need to look into this, for people who want their phones to charge when the vehicle is off

 

[EmersonHart13]

Yup, look in the fuse box.

 

[MikeyLikesIt]

newer vehicles can have the bcm programmed to either constant or ignition switched operation for the accessory ports.

Actually, the two up front by the driver has one of each and they are clearly marked.

I will check the manual when I get home and see if they are all hooked up to one fuse or multiple fuses. It's an oddball minivan and I can't find much online about it.

 

[EmersonHart13]

If you need more power, just go faster.

 

[MikeyLikesIt]

1 amp vs 2.5 amps

 

[EmersonHart13]

Yup, I gave up using the small ones, the ipad charger is so much faster.

 

[Thirdgen89GTA]

USB 1-2 standard is 5v @ 500ma. Or just 2.5 watts.

Your laptop chargers probably want between 65-90 watts, thats the average for most of them. Some might be 100-110 watts though. Check the brick.

20A @ 12v = 240 watts
30A @ 12v = 360 watts

Amps * Volts = Watts.

 

[MikeyLikesIt]

I have a surface pro 3 with some movies I backed up and converted to files. I wanted to hook that up to a 24 monitor which is rated at only 1.2 amps. The minivan has the RCA cables inputs and I have a cable that goes from the 3.5mm headphone jack to the red/white RCA cables. This way, they could listen through the wireless headphones that come with the Van. I know it seems excessive, but happy quiet kids = happy dad.

 

[MikeyLikesIt]

 

[boostedguy05]

 

[serb82]

No worries at all, run them like you stole them. Phone chargers do no harm, little plug in inverters no harm either until you get into hard wire units.