I am looking for a specific adaptor which will plug into the mains
230v/240v and have a socket which will take a cigarette lighter plug.I have looked on Amazon , but to be honest those I have looked at have not got many good reviews , to the point of some saying 'avoid'.
I have also looked at one at Maplins, which is priced at £9.99, and the same one is £6.93 on Amazon, but it hasn't got a decent review.
If someone could point me in the right direction for one of these.
Try eBay. Search for "mains 12V cigarette lighter adapter".
Lots to choose from. Whether they are suitable for your purposes I don't know. What are you planning to power with it? They might not be up to your power requirements.
Tim
They're very handy for charging phones and such, and have a 1 amp maximum output, but I find that they last about six to nine months of regular (ab)use before failing in a non-repairable manner. I've had a number of them over the last few years....
Mine have all been different makes, from suppliers both here and in France, and they all last about the same time.
What do you want to run off of it is the question, by definition, the standard socket is quite high current. Now most cars are supposed to be
13.8v DC not exactly 12 either of course. I also know to my cost that some car pluggable devices hate switch mode supplies and go weird when you try to run them off of one. BrianErm, so why not just get a phone charger for indoors?
Brian
I use them because I have a number of phones with car charger units, and I only need to buy and carry one of these to charge the phone, the mp3 player and a couple of other items in the hotel at night, instead of having four or five mains charger units.
They are also handy for checking whether low powered items that would normally work on a 12 volt socket in the car are in fact working.
Oops, ok, yes I should have said what I wanted one for.
I want it to charge my satnav in the house, that's all, nothing else.
Just done that and got a result back of 3 matches for them.
It was worth a try tho'
Any of them will be fine for that. Just don't expect one to last more than a few months.
Some satnavs use a mini-USB socket to connect the charger as well as update the maps, so all you need to do is plug it in to your computer.
Otherwise, buy the larger, 5 amp version of the 12 volt adaptor from Maplins and put up with the noise of the fan running all the time.
You need to give us a clue about what you want to connect to it, so we can advise on something that will deliver the current (Amps) required and whether or not it needs to be regulated.
There is a big difference in PSU required to say power a radio and one to power a big 12v motor.
I have a 12v PSU here that is just a redundant PC PSU very slightly modified, it will deliver nearly 20A @ 12V, but that might be overkill.
My TomTom certainly just plugs into my PC. USB-to-micro-USB cable (IIRC
- could be mini? CBA to go out and check!) The TomTom 12V adaptor itself works by having a USB socket so the lead that came with it works fine.
So are none of those no good? Not exactly an expensive experiment.
Tim
Well blow me down with a feather, I never realised that.
Actually I bought my tom tom cheap, and it didn't have a usb lead with it, but I found one I already had and am now charging the TomTom up from my PC
My satnav has a USB cable it uses for charging in the car, and for downloading map updates. If I want to charge it in the house I just stuff it into the PC. It takes longer that it would on a proper charger, but WTH. If I cared I'd buy a mains-USB charger - you can get them for phones.
Andy
Be happy with the 3 matches - cheaper than the cigar lighter and does the same job.
Snag is some items that plug into the lighter socket can take up to 10 amps. Now you might be sensible about this - but others won't be.
Did it still have bits of broken glass on it?
The ones I've used have overcurrent protection built in and shut down in the case of an overload. I think it's designed in to the chipset that all the makers use.
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