12V cigarette lighter adapter - AC to DC Converter?

[TheAList]

I installed a car play unit in the Cybertruck. The only issue is, that it has a cigarette lighter adapter. I can’t seem to find a solution to have it work. I’ve purchased a 12V to a USB C adapter, but that doesn’t seem to with either. Does anyone have any ideas as to what i could?

Sponsored

 

[SeattleTom]

I can’t find the one I bought for using a cooler in my Cybertruck (keep drinks and food cold), but it’s something like this. Should work for your use case to plug into the 120v outlet.

https://www.amazon.com/Converter-So...-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

 

[scaots]

I bought this one that is 15A. It has enough power to run a DC air compressor. It should be able to run anything with a 12V plug.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DDXKMMP4

 

[Cyberham]

I bought a similar one as the others posted to run an old cigarette lighter compressor and it has worked wonderfully.

 

[furbyland]

Make sure it has 15A at least. I had a 5A and it would not work...

 

[BrockN]

I have a need for 20 amps or more (radio equipment), so I ordered a 360 Watt switching supply from Amazon. That's 30 amps at 12 Volts.

It'll plug into an AC outlet. It's not pretty - looks like a thin server supply. Bare metal. Screw connections will probably need a bit more protection for safety. I'll put a couple of Anderson Powerpole connectors on pigtails on it. That will allow me to plug in a lighter socket or longer cable, whatever is needed.

Overkill for OP's purposes I think, but someone might need this sort of capacity.

 

[rlhamil]

Here's the two I got. The DC is 1000W, more than strong enough to run a 100% duty cycle air compressor (at 318W, double that for startup surge) that normally connects directly to a 12V battery. The converter's draw seems to relate more to what's being pulled from it than to it's maximum capacity, so it's not a power pig.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C64V9PMF/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BGL458WD/

The power strip connects onto screws on the the converter, not via a socket, so one less thing to come loose. it also has 3 USB-A and 1 USB-C charging port as well as 3 12V sockets, and a power switch with a voltage display.

With the converter plugged in in the inside center console AC outlet, the AC cord will go out the space in the tray and on the lid, and the converter can sit on the floor in the center, along with the power strip. Double-sided tape if you like, but not really necessary. Given that the converter could get hot (and has its own fan), I did NOT want to put it inside the center console.

It's running my standalone GPS and my radar detector. The latter shuts down on low voltage (arguably the converter's output voltage is a tad low, ideally should be 12.8V) as a battery saving measure, but that behavior could be turned off (which I did), and then it was all fine.

With the AC outlet set to turn on and off when the car is unlocked/locked after leaving, the behavior is much like you might want, that the gadgetry only draws power when you're there to use it.

 

[rlhamil]

I installed a car play unit in the Cybertruck. The only issue is, that it has a cigarette lighter adapter. I can’t seem to find a solution to have it work. I’ve purchased a 12V to a USB C adapter, but that doesn’t seem to with either. Does anyone have any ideas as to what i could?

Once you get it working, please post a review of how the CarPlay unit works for you on the Cybertruck. Some of 'em seem better than others from what I've seen, and probably none totally quirk-free.

 

[BrockN]

I'd say that 83 amps (1000 Watts ) is overkill for anything that runs from a cigarette lighter socket. And the socket box would blow the inline fuse...or melt the thin gauge wiring, if you tried to pull more than 12 or maybe 15 amps.

 

[rlhamil]

I'd say that 83 amps (1000 Watts ) is overkill for anything that runs from a cigarette lighter socket. And the socket box would blow the inline fuse...or melt the thin gauge wiring, if you tried to pull more than 12 or maybe 15 amps.

Of course it would. But if you read what I said, my air pump is meant to clip onto battery terminals, preferably with engine running (it would also blow lighter socket fuse); and the power strip connects with screws. One set of the screws supplied with the converter is more like big knobs, which the air pump's battery clips could clip onto. Or anything else that would similarly be powered off of a 12V battery...if one had one. I was looking for a 12V solution for everything I had, not just for items that plug into lighter sockets.

I don't know as I'd want to use it to jump start an ICE vehicle, but short of that, it should be able to handle anything. And it could probably charge one for awhile, just not deal with it being cranked while connected.

Even if one only wanted a lower wattage and only lighter sockets, there's no great penalty for using a more powerful converter. You never know what you might need later.

 

[BrockN]

Of course it would. But if you read what I said, my air pump is meant to clip onto battery terminals, preferably with engine running (it would also blow lighter socket fuse); and the power strip connects with screws. One set of the screws supplied with the converter is more like big knobs, which the air pump's battery clips could clip onto. Or anything else that would similarly be powered off of a 12V battery...if one had one. I was looking for a 12V solution for everything I had, not just for items that plug into lighter sockets.

Fair enough. I don't think a switching supply would get too stressed about inrush current, so I still think it's overkill and in a bigger package than I'd want to find space for. But to each their own - it might come in handy at some point.

I admit I'm guilty of inferring my own experience. I haven't had access to a 12 Volt battery in a decade, so I see a lighter socket as the only available power source. My little Tesla compressor from years back does the job...slowly... ?

Now that I have plenty of power available at 120 Volts, I'll look around for a small 120 Volt compressor to carry around instead. I was with a friend down a snowy off-road track a few weeks ago. He aired down his tires (I didn't bother and was fine) and used a decent clip to the battery compressor with his four tire inflation harness to reinflate. It was a long process... ?‍

Sponsored