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Recommendations for a cigarette plug AC inverter?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ualdriver, Jun 28, 2009.

  1. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2008
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    Location:
    Midwest US
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Does anyone use one of those AC inverters that plug into our cigarette lighters so that you can plug in standard, 2 or 3 prong AC electrical plugs? We're thinking about taking a road trip, and I'd like to get one for light use (i.e. kid's DVD player, GameBoy charging, maybe a laptop) but not using all of these items at once. Any recommendations for a particular brand?

    I've read some reviews online on Amazon, and I'm concerned that I might blow the fuse for my cigarette lighter socket if I overload it or if the inverter develops some sort of fault (i.e. a short). In case I do blow that fuse, where is that fuse located and is there a separate fuse for the 2 cigarette lighters in the car? What kind of load can one safely put on an inverter such as this when plugged into our cigarette lighters?

    Thanks!
     
    #1 ualdriver, Jun 28, 2009
  2. eaglesight333

    eaglesight333 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
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    Location:
    Northern, IL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    I have one of the AC inverters. Made by Belkin. I really like it. Makes my life so much easier without having 5 or 7 car adaptors.

    On the adaptor I have, it comes with its own 10W fuse. So, if I accidently overload it, the adaptor fuse will pop, not the car fuse. And it takes a car size fuse, so I just carry around a small pack of extra fuses.

    In terms of the load the adaptor can take, would depend on the adaptor itself?
    What it's ratings are, wattage, and so forth
     
    #2 eaglesight333, Jun 28, 2009
  3. JSH

    JSH Senior Member

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    Location:
    PDX
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    I have a 400w inverter made by Husky. I comes with the cigarette plug and clamps to attach directly to the battery. I bought it at Lowes for our move from Tennessee to Alabama. I used it to power an air pump for our fish. (I moved our fish (13" Oscar and two 15" plecostomus) in a large cooler)

    My 400w inverter worked fine but now I wish I would have purchases a larger one to power from the Prius in emergencies.
     
    #3 JSH, Jun 28, 2009
  4. ualdriver

    ualdriver Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2008
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    Location:
    Midwest US
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Advanced
    Thanks....if anyone has any other suggestions, post away. I'm not looking for one that attaches to the battery, though. Just one that we can use with the cigarette lighter.
     
    #4 ualdriver, Jun 29, 2009
  5. Spartane

    Spartane Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2009
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    Location:
    Mississauga, Canada
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    We ended up blowing a fuse in our Dodge Caravan when we tried to power an XBox and a monitor during a vacation. It worked for about 15 minutes or so before it shut down.

    The cigarette lighter socket was HOT; I'd guess that it could have been a fire hazard. As I recall, the radio also shut down, but the car continued on without issue. I googled the fuse about a week later when we got home, and found out where it was located. Once I found it I swapped it with the fuse for the liftgate (a spare, since I don't have that feature in the van). Then the cigarette lighter, along with the radio, came back to life. I forget the exact rating on the fuse, I think it was somewhere between 30 - 40 amps (I remember that it was lower than I expected). Our AC inverter is rated at 300 watts and it was only luke warm while all this was going on; it's amazing how efficient these things are.

    We'd done the same trick in previous years, but with a PS2 instead of an XBox and all was well. That, and two pairs of headphones certainly helped keep the two kids quiet.

    But that XBox sure pulls a lot of power...
     
    #5 Spartane, Jun 29, 2009
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