What is the electrical output in amps of a regular car cigarette lighter?

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Jan 18, 2010. 8:28 AM

Karletto555 says:

check the fuse. usuall they fuse for cigarete lighter is the same for the autoradio. usually 15amps

Jan 18, 2010. 9:45 AM

frollard says:

I wouldn't recommend pulling more than 100 watts from one though (about 8 amps) for any reasonable amount of time.

Jan 19, 2010. 12:30 PM

lemonie says:

Another thought: 12V halogen lighting unit - people throw these out, and they're not that expensive anyway. Compare wattages on the compressor and what you find in the lighting-section (of wherever).

L

Jan 18, 2010. 10:51 AM

lemonie says:

It's all relative. Your regular car's manual should tell you (checking the fuse is fine if you know which one it is)
What did you want to run off it?

L

Jan 18, 2010. 12:09 PMAudio Alchemy (author) says:

I have an air compressor that is 12 volt and I want to make it run on a regular A/C outlet.

Jan 18, 2010. 1:30 PM

lemonie says:

Ah, that's a different question. You're asking "What power supply do I need for (this)?". What product is it (so we can know the spec')?

L

Jan 19, 2010. 11:30 AMAudio Alchemy (author) says:

I have a couple of 12 volt wall adapters but they are rated in the milliamp range. My compressor is a cheap one from the auto parts store and simply plugs in a regular 12 volt outlet. I keep killing my car battery when I host an all day pneumatic cannon escapade.

Jan 19, 2010. 12:29 PM

lemonie says:

I collect broken stereos and stuff, some of them have some good heavy power supplies. A car-battery charger might do itl for you (or a car-battery, but they're bloody-heavy). Looking for "cheap ones from the auto parts store", I get up to 10A.
The trouble with these is they're designed to run off your battery, which as you know can supply a lot and run-down as it does so...

L