12v three pin plugs

[Alanji]

I found this http://www.snellyvision.co.uk/store/power/12v-dc-accessories/adapt-it-2-12v-dc-three-pin-to-cigar-socket.html?gclid=CJ3X5tap67kCFVDItAodbUcAfg

 

Has anyone used one - or got any thoughts / safety issues? I've just bought a 12v/240v TV and it's got a cigarette socket which I can't plug into the 3 pin 12v socket nearby.

 

Jan

Why not just wire in a 3 pin plug, that is what I did. Available on Ebay. Unless you want to keep the cig lighter option.

[Woodstock]

Hi we have a 3 pin socket and have used the adaptor (available at Midland Chandlers) for our TV- we've had it 2 years and still works but for £6- i don't expect it will last forever. The TV is 12volt with a regulator box and a cigar type fitting- so we plug the tv into the adaptor and the adaptor into the 3 pin socket.

 

Is there a better option for me

[janetah]

thanks everyone

 

Jan

[George94]

I like the look of the Powerlet plugs, but they're yet another proprietary system. My boat has Hella sockets, AKA DIN sockets, which tend to be found on lorries. I have been cutting the cigar lighter plugs off chargers and things and fitting Hella plugs, but it's a pain. I think I will add some cigar lighter sockets together with some USB sockets, which will nowadays enable most phones to be charged.

[Bones]

So am I right in thinking that I can use the 5amp 3pin plugs on my boat such as the ones Alan Fincher posted from Tool Station or the ones David S used from days gone?

 

I currently use in car socket whatsits and i would prefer to use the plugs. I have got my head in a right pickle trying to work it all out.

[jonathanA]

So am I right in thinking that I can use the 5amp 3pin plugs on my boat such as the ones Alan Fincher posted from Tool Station or the ones David S used from days gone?

 

I currently use in car socket whatsits and i would prefer to use the plugs. I have got my head in a right pickle trying to work it all out.

 

Yes is the simple answer.

 

oh and you can get a white plug for 65p + vat and a white socket for 79p +Vat from CPC

[Keeping Up]

Yes you can use the 2 amp ones, or the 5 amp ones, or the 15 amp ones.

 

ETA, I wonder if you can still get the adaptors so that you can plug two things into one plug. And if one of those things is an adaptor itself you can plug in 2 more, until you have a whole Christmas tree of plugs

Edited January 22, 2014 by Keeping Up

[David Schweizer]

So am I right in thinking that I can use the 5amp 3pin plugs on my boat such as the ones Alan Fincher posted from Tool Station or the ones David S used from days gone?

 

I currently use in car socket whatsits and i would prefer to use the plugs. I have got my head in a right pickle trying to work it all out.

 

Yes, I have quite a few installed on Helvetia, never had any problem with them. You can get them from Screwfix or Toolstation.

[Alan Saunders]

For appliances that I want to use in the car and in the boat ('phone, laptop, pda) I have cigar-lighter sockets and adapters in the boat.

I replaced the cigar-lighter plug on my Dirt-Devil 12V, 10A vacuum cleaner with a round-pin 5A but I now want to use it in the car so I have to reverse that or fit a suitable socket in the car. There are (as mentioned above) plugs that can fit both cigar-lighter and DIN sockets.

 

I also have a three cigar-lighter (each 4A) + USB (1A) (Maplin) adapter hanging from the ceiling (deckhead) mounted radio enclosure. Not neat, but it powers/charges the TV and Laptop and recharges my 'phone, PDA, E-cig etc.

 

There is another 12v boat socket option that has not beeen mentioned. Use UK standard 13A square-pin sockets and appropriate (3A, 5A, 13A) fuses in the plugs.

Remove the earth pins from plugs that are to be used for 12V, cut the tops (terminals) off and insert them, permanently, into the '12V' sockets.

A 240V volt plug cannot be inserted into a 12V socket because the earth is occupied.

The socket's shutters resist insertion of the 12V plug into a 240V socket but brute force could overcome a worn plastic mechanism.

It may be possible, but unlikely, to insert the 12V plug upside-down, i.e. reverse polarity.

You can even have neat double sockets with both 240V AC and 12V DC available.

It is sensible to mark both plugs and sockets with their intended use.

 

The weak point of UK 13A plugs seems to be the fuse-holder. I have seen several with 'burnt' plastic around the live pin but no damage at the neutral pin.

 

Alan

[KJT]

I found this http://www.snellyvision.co.uk/store/power/12v-dc-accessories/adapt-it-2-12v-dc-three-pin-to-cigar-socket.html?gclid=CJ3X5tap67kCFVDItAodbUcAfg

 

Has anyone used one - or got any thoughts / safety issues? I've just bought a 12v/240v TV and it's got a cigarette socket which I can't plug into the 3 pin 12v socket nearby.

 

Jan

Yes, I got a couple from them.

Have been working for a couple of years without any issue.

 

After I got them from Snellyvision I found that Midland Chandlers sell exactly the same thing.

 

Ken

[Bones]

Brilliant! Thank you everyone,

 

Yes you can use the 2 amp ones, or the 5 amp ones, or the 15 amp ones.

 

ETA, I wonder if you can still get the adaptors so that you can plug two things into one plug. And if one of those things is an adaptor itself you can plug in 2 more, until you have a whole Christmas tree of plugs

How do I know whether I need 2, 5 or 15 amps Edited January 23, 2014 by Bones

[David Schweizer]

Brilliant! Thank you everyone,

 

How do I know whether I need 2, 5 or 15 amps

 

That is an interesting question, these plugs/sockets are designed to take 240v AC wheras you will be using 12v DC.

 

With mains you would calculate the ampere rating by dividing the appliance's wattage by the voltage, and you use exactly the same formula for 12 volt appliances. This would mean that the maximum wattage of any 12volt appliance using a 5amp plug would be 60watts, but I am not sure that it is as simple as that.

 

The connections and contacts on 5 amp plugs are pretty robust, and far more meaty than the 12v sockets and plugs sold for use in caravans. For what it is worth, we only have 5 amp sockets fitted, which are the ones most readliy available, and have experienced no problems with them. If you are only going to use low wattage items such as table lamps etc they will be fine. However, I would not recommend 5 amp sockets for high demand appliances like a fridge, which will be permanently connected, they should preferably be hard wired through a switched spur.

 

Edited to add:- It is worth noting that there appears to be no established convention for wiring 5amp plugs/sockets for 12v use. some people recommend using the top earth contact for positive and the neutral contact for negative. this arrangement will eliminate any risk if the appliance is mistakely plugged into a domestic 240v system. However, I prefer to use the live contact for positive and the neutral contact for negative, as long as the appliances do not migrate to someone else boat or house it will not matter.

 

I must admit that I have not seen any round pin sockets in a house for years, and had thought the suggestion that 12v appliances could be mistakenly be plugged into a 240 volt system was exagerated. However, I recently stayed in a cottage where they had both 5amp and 2amp round pin sockets, as well as 13 amp square pin sockets, so it is still a possiblity, not that I would even think of taking 12volt appliances with me if I was staying in a house, but it could explain why some charity shops cut the plug off second hand appliances before selling them.

Edited January 23, 2014 by David Schweizer

[Keith M]

Go back about 20 years and it was quite common to find 2 and 5 amp round pin plugs being used for DC circuits

 

Lighting designer still use round pin plugs and sockets but mainly in lager public buildings hotels etc.

 

keith

[smileypete]

As mentioned earlier some people who use the 5A plugs/sockets for 12V, use the neutral 'N' and earth 'E' and connections for + and - in case the item is accidentally plugged into a 240V socket.

 

Looking at this pic below the neutral and earth connections are on the right and at the top of the picture respectively, they will also be marked on the plug with 'N' and 'E':

 

 

cheers, Pete.

~smpt~

[alan_fincher]

Brilliant! Thank you everyone,

 

How do I know whether I need 2, 5 or 15 amps

 

I think you would find 15 amps relatively harder, (and probably more expensive), to source, but I'll admit I've not researched the point. They are also unappealing huge, if you don't need them.

 

5 amps is easy to find, and as it can certainly be argued that the maximum DC current you could use them for should be no higher than their rated AC current, will give you more scope than the 2 amp variety to run things that have more than minimal power requirements. (More brass in the pin, in good contact with that in the socket in the 5 amp ones will generally mean they are good for a higher current than the 2 amp ones).

 

I certainly have exceeded 5 amps DC through a 5 amp socket, with no hint of the plug getting warm. I think they were fairly conservatively rated in their original use.

 

The point about using Earth and Neutral pins in 12 volt use, (rather than Live and Neutral), is valid, but really only so if you think there is the slightest danger of someone removing one of your so equipped 12 volt appliances, and taking it, and trying to plug it into a lighting socket in a restaurant(!) Starting again, I'd probably use E & N, but I can't be arsed to go back and changed what is all currently wired as L & N - if you subsequently hear I have been incinerated in an eatery, you may be able to guess what has occurred!

[Timleech]

I use these for a 24Volt kettle, they're rated at 25Amps & no risk of confusion with mains stuff.

 

Tim

[Keeping Up]

That is an interesting question, these plugs/sockets are designed to take 240v AC wheras you will be using 12v DC.

 

With mains you would calculate the ampere rating by dividing the appliance's wattage by the voltage, and you use exactly the same formula for 12 volt appliances. This would mean that the maximum wattage of any 12volt appliance using a 5amp plug would be 60watts, but I am not sure that it is as simple as that.

 

The connections and contacts on 5 amp plugs are pretty robust, and far more meaty than the 12v sockets and plugs sold for use in caravans. For what it is worth, we only have 5 amp sockets fitted, which are the ones most readliy available, and have experienced no problems with them. If you are only going to use low wattage items such as table lamps etc they will be fine. However, I would not recommend 5 amp sockets for high demand appliances like a fridge, which will be permanently connected, they should preferably be hard wired through a switched spur.

Yes it is as simple as that.

 

Switches tend to have a lower rating for DC than for AC but plugs and sockets have no such complications.

[ditchcrawler]

Yes it is as simple as that.

 

Switches tend to have a lower rating for DC than for AC but plugs and sockets have no such complications.

So do you draw them out and plug them in under load?

[Keeping Up]

So do you draw them out and plug them in under load?

Wherever possible I like to plug things in with everything switched off, then turn on the socket switch, and then switch on the device by its own switch. In my own experience, any 12v device that takes enough current for it to be an issue has its own switch, but of course I am sure there are exceptions.

[David Schweizer]

So do you draw them out and plug them in under load?

 

The only sort of thing I normally plug in directly is a table lamp or torch, neither of which will be rated at more than 1amp. anything else is wired directly with a douple pole switch. Howevwer, 240v AC appliances plugged into an unswitched 5amp socket is quite normal so I don't see a realm problem.