2000 w power station and "widdle ol' " cigarette lighter?

Linda_Sue · Nov 21, 2024

(I imagine it's been asked before but I couldn't tweak my search well enough to find a result)
The short question, can a vehicle's 12v cigarette lighter style outlet really help to maintain the charge on a larger power station
(say, 2000w ish for sake of argument)? I would be using one of the outlets that turns off when the vehicle is off.

Yes, I could "ask the manufacturer", but at the moment I'm interested in anyone with real-life experience.

I know the smaller ones can do it no problem and it's an obvious selling point for these power stations. I was wondering if the bigger size becomes an issue.

Poking around the internet most seem to say it's fine, and it's actually more of a drain on gas mileage than the battery (which I didn't realize).

Any value to adding an inverter between the 12 volt port and the power station? I'm less concerned about charging speed then safety and not overloading/melting components.

Thanks in advance!

maki2 · Nov 22, 2024

Your vehicle’s 12v accessory port It is only going to out-put the maximum watts that it was designed to do. That is not determined by what you plug into the outlet. If you want the answer to the question of how much that is call or visit the parts counter of the dealership for your vehicles manufacturer and ask them to look up that specification for you. You can also ask them your question of how safe that it and how wise is it to use it for the purpose you have in mind.

Why ask random strangers when it is so easy to get answers from the dealerships who have access to the specifications for your exact vehicle?

jonyjoe303 · Nov 22, 2024

Connecting directly DC to DC from cigarette plug to power station wont work too well. I always charge from solar but one time after 2 weeks of rain my 220ah lifepo4 was running low, I tried charging my lifepo4 battery from the cigarette plug all I was getting was about 3 amps of charge power even when driving on the highway. Thats insignificant for a large battery.
The cigarette plug maxes out at 15 amps, but I wouldnt try and use it at the max output, the cheap 12 volt plugs melt from the heat at those amperage's if used for hours, maybe 10 minutes at 15 amps. For constant use I wouldnt go over 10 amps.

Linda_Sue · Nov 22, 2024

jonyjoe303 said:
Connecting directly DC to DC from cigarette plug to power station wont work too well. I always charge from solar but one time after 2 weeks of rain my 220ah lifepo4 was running low, I tried charging my lifepo4 battery from the cigarette plug all I was getting was about 3 amps of charge power even when driving on the highway. Thats insignificant for a large battery.
The cigarette plug maxes out at 15 amps, but I wouldnt try and use it at the max output, the cheap 12 volt plugs melt from the heat at those amperage's if used for hours, maybe 10 minutes at 15 amps. For constant use I wouldnt go over 10 amps.

Thank you for your detailed reply! I wonder why such a big deal is made of being able to plug it into a "cigarette lighter".

Is there such a thing as ANY size of power station that can safely be operated this way?

INTJohn · Nov 22, 2024

Linda_Sue said:
Thank you for your detailed reply! I wonder why such a big deal is made of being able to plug it into a "cigarette lighter".
Is there such a thing as ANY size of power station that can safely be operated this way?

On my f250 I could charge my ecoflow delta 2 all day no problem but that truck is a beast with a huge engine and it came with the largest alternator Ford factory put on one.
I had 12 volt outlets all over the thing and whenever I was driving any distant I charged everything off that engine.
The delta 2 drew 100ish watts (8 amps) never had any issues.

However; now that I’m in the Ram Van I don’t bother with it isn’t worth the effort. If I’m driving any distance I’ll plug the fridge into the 12v outlet.
Charge the batts with solar when I’m parked at the beach.

ciao
bch bum jonny keepin it sunny

bullfrog ! · Nov 22, 2024

Most factory plugs are rated for no more than 10 amps I believe and I’ve always hard wired my own better style plugs or like above kept my house system separate from my vehicle systems. Power is never free and I feel my vehicle is the most expensive supplier. I also use a Delta ll from Eco Flow mainly because it has so many ways other than the vehicle to charge. Running a propane fueled generator every so often or solar over a day charges it right up.

maki2 · Nov 22, 2024

Linda_Sue said:
Thank you for your detailed reply! I wonder why such a big deal is made of being able to plug it into a "cigarette lighter".
Is there such a thing as ANY size of power station that can safely be operated this way?

His answer said it was cheap power cords that were the issue for a melted plug. That cause is not the car and not the power station. It is created by poor quality plastics and connectors in the plug and poor quality wires.

You can purchase heavy duty cords instead of using the ones that ship with products. Of course what the actual quality of the plug the unit you buy will ship with is totally unknown as you have made no purchase. It might be a very high quality power cord …or it might not. It however is something to always keep an eye on when you have a unit plugged in for a long time. Just put your hand on the plug ends and the cable and feel for excess heat. If you smell that too hot plastic odor be sure you check right away.

Linda_Sue · Nov 22, 2024

INTJohn said:
On my f250 I could charge my ecoflow delta 2 all day no problem but that truck is a beast with a huge engine and it came with the largest alternator Ford factory put on one.
I had 12 volt outlets all over the thing and whenever I was driving any distant I charged everything off that engine.
The delta 2 drew 100ish watts (8 amps) never had any issues.

However; now that I’m in the Ram Van I don’t bother with it isn’t worth the effort. If I’m driving any distance I’ll plug the fridge into the 12v outlet.
Charge the batts with solar when I’m parked at the beach.

ciao
bch bum jonny keepin it sunny

Thank you for sharing your experience. Thank you also, for mentioning plugging the fridge directly into the 12v.

Linda_Sue · Nov 22, 2024

maki2 said:
His answer said it was cheap power cords that were the issue for a melted plug. That cause is not the car and not the power station. It is created by poor quality plastics and connectors in the plug and poor quality wires.

You can purchase heavy duty cords instead of using the ones that ship with products. Of course what the actual quality of the plug the unit you buy will ship with is totally unknown as you have made no purchase. It might be a very high quality power cord …or it might not. It however is something to always keep an eye on when you have a unit plugged in for a long time. Just put your hand on the plug ends and the cable and feel for excess heat. If you smell that too hot plastic odor be sure you check right away.

Thank you so much for describing for me!

I guess part of me was thinking, "but I don't know how to do that stuff,"

so, wishing for something out of the box that would be perfect. Yeah lol

Thanks again!

rruff · Nov 22, 2024

Linda_Sue said:
I guess part of me was thinking, "but I don't know how to do that stuff," so, wishing for something out of the box that would be perfect. Yeah lol

It's really not complicated. As was mentioned, a 12v lighter socket in your rig should be good for at least 100W, and the DC charging circuit on your power station should take this into account. So you can charge your PS at a 100W rate using a socket if you don't have other loads. Check the specs on your PS to see exactly what this is. If you have say a refrigerator, then this will average ~25W, and the remaining 75W will charge your PS.

2000W has nothing to do with charging. It's probably 2000W max supply using 120V AC from the PS. Battery capacity of the PS will be in Wh... watt hours. If you know that, then you can determine how long it will take to charge it via the 12v socket.

afblangley · Nov 22, 2024

A vehicle's auxiliary power outlet is a fine way to charge small power stations, it only becomes inadequate with larger power stations. As these units become increasingly more accessible, it's only recently become a problem for the masses. Bluetti and Ecoflow have created an easy to implement solution, with the release of their alternator charging units. They are essentially smart DC to DC charger. One wire runs from the starter battery to the unit, another wire runs from the unit to the power station. Installation is simple, and the operation is idiot proof (eg. won't drain the starter battery). The Bluetti unit cost ~$250, can charge up to 560W per hour and uses nonproprietary parts that will work with any power station. The Ecoflow unit is faster, more expensive, more elegant, and only works with their power stations.

2000 w power station and "widdle ol' " cigarette lighter?

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