12v Battery Protection From Ciggie Lighter Anyone (1 Viewer)

May 8, 2011
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Since April 1846 but have always camped.
the cigarette lighter in my car is on all the time and I want to run a portable cool box from it. Trouble is that after an hour or so the battery will be flat. Many years ago I had an adapter that went between the socket and the cool box that would disconnect it if the battery was starting to go down a bit.

Does anyone know where I can get one of these gadgets from and what would they be called?
Thanks
 
Aug 27, 2014
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I've got one - it's rubbish!

We have a Ford S-Max people carrier that has a stupidly small battery, we always had to be careful about the courtesy lights flattening it whilst we were packing up after camping holidays, to the extent where I ended up always taking jump leads on holiday with us!

I bought one of these to plug into the coolbox as I was worried about that flattening the battery during stops on our journeys. However, I simply found that every time I turned the engine off it cut the power to the coolbox immediately, regardless of the state of battery charge.
 
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Aug 6, 2013
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I've got one - it's rubbish!

We have a Ford S-Max people carrier that has a stupidly small battery, we always had to be careful about the courtesy lights flattening it whilst we were packing up after camping holidays, to the extent where I ended up always taking jump leads on holiday with us!

I bought one of these to plug into the coolbox as I was worried about that flattening the battery during stops on our journeys. However, I simply found that every time I turned the engine off it cut the power to the coolbox immediately, regardless of the state of battery charge.
I'd rather hope that it would. There's a good chance that if it waited to see 11.6v before turning off the vehicle wouldn't start anyway. Ideally you only want the cool box to be connected when the engine's running.
 
Aug 27, 2014
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I'd had the coolbox left on (unintentionally) with the engine off for about 45 minutes before and the car showed no hesitation in starting. It just seemed that this bit of kit is a bit too quick to knock the power off.

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pappajohn

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Aug 26, 2007
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I'd rather hope that it would. There's a good chance that if it waited to see 11.6v before turning off the vehicle wouldn't start anyway. Ideally you only want the cool box to be connected when the engine's running.
That is 11.6v under load from the cooler.
a few seconds after disconnecting the cooler the battery voltage will have recovered sufficiantly to start the engine.
your engine battery can show as low as 9v while under cranking loads but soon recovers to 12.6v
 

DanielFord

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Jun 1, 2013
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the cigarette lighter in my car is on all the time and I want to run a portable cool box from it. Trouble is that after an hour or so the battery will be flat. Many years ago I had an adapter that went between the socket and the cool box that would disconnect it if the battery was starting to go down a bit.

Does anyone know where I can get one of these gadgets from and what would they be called?
Thanks
What is the make and model of your car? There may be a simpler solution.
 

DanielFord

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Jun 1, 2013
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@DanielFord it a 2010 skoda Fabia. The local dealer says it can't be changed (?)
Damn, not a make I am familiar with. It is worth noting that most manufacturers have the wiring for both set ups. If you dismantle the assembly, you may well find, behind the 12v socket, there is a redundant spade joint. This will be the switched live, so you unplug the permanent live from the socke and plug the other one in, hey presto, a switched 12v socket.
 

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