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Changing a cigarette port for a three pin plug


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Hi all,

 

Just a quickie if I may.

 

I have a Huawei home broadband router which came with a 230v power cable (with an inbuilt transformer to reduce the voltage to 12v). So when i'm off cruising, I power it with a makeshift 12v cigarette type charger (see pic). I'd like to snip off the cigarette port and replace this with a three pin socket.

 

Does anyone know whether the cigarette port contains a voltage stabaliser? I fear ~14 volts when the alternator is running may fry it? I might be being paranoid, but I rely on internet for work so would not like to cock this up!

 

Many thanks!

IMG_20200312_182403841.jpg

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Many 12v 'electronics' don't like 12v that suddenly becomes 14.4 volts when you start the engine.

I'd suggest that you get a 12v to 12v stabilised supply (adapter) or you may fry it.

 

For example - You'll find that all / many / most 12v TV's come with a 'little black brick' that is the voltage stabiliser.

 

 

It is not a good idea to run 12v thru a 3-pin socket, what is wrong with carrying on with what you already have ?

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24 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Many 12v 'electronics' don't like 12v that suddenly becomes 14.4 volts when you start the engine.

I'd suggest that you get a 12v to 12v stabilised supply (adapter) or you may fry it.

 

For example - You'll find that all / many / most 12v TV's come with a 'little black brick' that is the voltage stabiliser.

 

 

It is not a good idea to run 12v thru a 3-pin socket, what is wrong with carrying on with what you already have ?

Thanks for this. Apologies if this is basic, but if I were to install a 12v stabaliser, would it be installed between the battery bank and the fuse board? and thus keeping a stable 12volts across the entire circuit?

Edited by grockell
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50 minutes ago, grockell said:

Hi all,

 

Just a quickie if I may.

 

I have a Huawei home broadband router which came with a 230v power cable (with an inbuilt transformer to reduce the voltage to 12v). So when i'm off cruising, I power it with a makeshift 12v cigarette type charger (see pic). I'd like to snip off the cigarette port and replace this with a three pin socket.

 

Does anyone know whether the cigarette port contains a voltage stabaliser? I fear ~14 volts when the alternator is running may fry it? I might be being paranoid, but I rely on internet for work so would not like to cock this up!

 

Many thanks!

IMG_20200312_182403841.jpg

What is the bit with the red blob in it, it looks like a voltage regulator and do you plan to keep that

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6 minutes ago, grockell said:

if I were to install a 12v stabaliser, would it be installed between the battery bank and the fuse board? and thus keeping a stable 12volts across the entire circuit?

I have never considered doing that - I have the 'brick' between the socket and the appliance (in the supply cable).

 

Just thinking about it, it may not be a good idea if the stabiliser has a limited current capacity and you were running several 'appliances'.

Also having the stabiliser near the battery putting out exactly 12 volt could lead to a low-voltage (volt drop) by the time it got to the 'other end'.

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I would put the voltage stabiliser near the sensitive bit of electronics, not at the fuse board end. In addition to the problem of 12V suddenly becoming 14+V when the engine starts there are also even higher voltage spikes being induced in to the cables when things like water pumps are switched off. Also the problem of 12V becoming a lot less than 12V at the end of a long cable.

I am not aware of a fag lighter port having any stabilisation circuits built in. Get a 12V to 12V stabilised converter, put a 3 pin 12V plug on that to go in to a 3 pin socket to replace the fag lighter socket, then on to your router.

Jen

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1 minute ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I would put the voltage stabiliser near the sensitive bit of electronics, not at the fuse board end. In addition to the problem of 12V suddenly becoming 14+V when the engine starts there are also even higher voltage spikes being induced in to the cables when things like water pumps are switched off. Also the problem of 12V becoming a lot less than 12V at the end of a long cable.

I am not aware of a fag lighter port having any stabilisation circuits built in. Get a 12V to 12V stabilised converter, put a 3 pin 12V plug on that to go in to a 3 pin socket to replace the fag lighter socket, then on to your router.

Jen

But what about the Lego Brick half way down the lead with the red blob on it

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11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

But what about the Lego Brick half way down the lead with the red blob on it

No idea. Could be a stabiliser, could be an on/off switch, could be a lego brick!

 

Edited to add. OK, zooming right in on the picture suggests it is a voltage converter that can select between a number of output voltages, including 12V. Hopefully this also provides a stable output, but who knows. If happy to go with that, then just cut the lead between the fag lighter plug and the lego brick, strip the cable and wire it in to the new 12V 3 pin plug. Hopefully the cables inside are marked with the right colours that can let you identify + and - successfully, because getting this wrong will likely wreck the converter and possibly the router too.

Continuity checking the centre pin to one of the wires coming out of the lighter plug after cutting the lead should let you identify what colour they have used for +ve. The other wire will be the -ve. This will let you get the input to the converter the correct way round.

Jen

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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16 minutes ago, grockell said:

Thanks for all your help. The lego brick half way down the cable allows me to change the voltage between 3 - 12 volts, but I was unsure whether this would regulate voltage spikes.

Hard to say. It probably does, but can't be sure. The way these sorts of circuits are made these days should provide a stable output, but they are designed down to a price and there might be surprises.

Jen

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Can you split the plug - if it contains any components other than a fuse or led indicator then replacing it with just a three pin plug is not an option, and that plug appears to have a more complex shape than just a simple cigarette plug. might just be the moulding they had handy but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something more inside it.

 

springy

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