• Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    A car cigarette lighter, if it’s on a 20A fuse, can provide 240w. I’m amazed someone managed to burn pancakes with so little power.

    Assuming this happened.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Wiring everything straight to the battery is a classical move for amateur auto electricians, I’ve done similar myself.

        • r00ty@kbin.life
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          3 months ago

          For clarification, my radio has inline fuses right at the start of the positive and negative wires. If you’ve ever seen wires melted into people’s carpet because they didn’t have a fuse on their hardwired car electrics… Yeah.

    • Artyom@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I’ve heard of truckers cooking meatloaf with a lighter plug, but it took hours and was well insulated. I’m calling BS on this one.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        And a truck is likely 24v, so twice the power for the same current. It’s also not unheard of for trucks to have high power devices like inverters in the cab, so may have much more current and power available.

        • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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          3 months ago

          12v car battery and alternator is more than enough. The limiting factor is the fuse and/or melting wires. Thats why giant 1000w subwoofers use thick wire and larger fuses directly from the battery.

          • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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            3 months ago

            Vehicles like that will usually have an upgraded alternator, either that or be constantly dealing with a flat battery.

            1kw at 12v is 85 amps, that’s well over half the capacity of a typical car alternator.

            • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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              3 months ago

              Having installed a number of systems, I think you are overestimating the care owners have for their alternator.

              • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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                3 months ago

                I’ve met a few that are firmly in the second camp, and are unable to comprehend that they are using more power than their alternator can produce.

                There’s something about the doof doof audio crowd…

      • uis@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Well, it can go up to 15 volts and provide 300 watts. So there is that.

    • velvetThunder@lemmy.zip
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      3 months ago

      After googling i found numbers like 1200 to 2400 watts being produced by a car alternator. Just bridge the fuse and you can make pancakes in your car happy and without worries.

      • Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Your typical car is at the lower end, and don’t forget the vehicle itself uses power, quite a bit of it in fact.

        2kw would be commercial vehicles, four wheel drives etc that have a lot of accessories, dual battery systems etc.