I recently got a power inverter rated at 300 watts. It came with jumper wires for connecting to a battery and a cigarette lighter adapter. I understand why it came with both (adapter for small loads, jumper wires for large loads), but I have seen other power inverters that have similar or higher wattage ratings that only have cigarette lighter adapters. Why are they like this if the sockets can only take 120 to 150 watts before their fuses blow and they can't easily be connected directly to a battery?
Why do high wattage power inverters have cigarette lighter adapters?
- Thread starter uraniumhexoflorite
- Start date
Possibly because they are overrated and can't actually reliably deliver a full 300 watts to a load.
Thus they only have a lighter adapter so the user won't be able to operate them at that level.
theodoravain
- Joined Mar 21, 2018
- 34
History. They're now standard high I 12V outlets like USB cons for low I loads.
BR-549 what's funny is some 3A 13.8V bench PSUs have real lighter socket with proper high temp ceramic insulators and construction! So I totally feel sry for ppl who try using them with ciggy lighters cuz only smoke they'll be having is magic smoke from regulator circuit
Last edited:
True cigarette lighters are rare these days. Whether the accessory ports are direct-to-battery or not depends on the car. It was user-selectable in my last vehicle, I even had one of each. I have no clue about my current (new) one. Maybe I'll read my manual if I get bored someday.
Glenn Holland
- Joined Dec 26, 2014
- 703
As a point of info, E-Cigarettes can be charged from a USB port so you don't need to use the car lighter anymore.
