Question about charger and charging from DC power

[Mongoose]

I’m going camping this weekend and would like to know how to charge using DC power because I’ve never done it.

Can I hook this up directly to my car battery and use it to power this charger?

Thanks for your help in advance fellas!

 

[jondilly1974]

That says it has an integrated AC PSU, which means NO DC input.

 

[Erstadw]

Then why does it say AC/DC input?

 

[jondilly1974]

Then why does it say AC/DC input?

I would pull the manual to be sure if I were you. Might have both ??‍
Amain says that unit is discontinued so beware.

 

[PowerDubs]

Then why does it say AC/DC input?

Because that guy has no idea what he is talking about.

Says dc input not just in the writing, but on the charger itself- and the picture shows the alligator clips to do it with! So you are fine.

 

[slick2500]

Because that guy has no idea what he is talking about.

Says dc input not just in the writing, but on the charger itself- and the picture shows the alligator clips to do it with! So you are fine.

This^

But yeah just hook the alligator clips right to the battery. As a heads up if you charge for more than an hour it might be a good idea to run your car for like 10-15 minutes so you don't kill your car battery.

 

[nino]

I made a 12V lighter plug to xt60 cable for charging in the car. Nice for when you go on an unscheduled bash, you can charge on the way, or refill on the spot.

 

[Mongoose]

Awesome! Thanks guys...I just wasn’t sure if I could just hook it up to the battery without having some kind of intermediate resistor or something.

Kinda weird but I haven’t received ANY notifications saying there were replies to this thread. I happened to check the lastest threads and saw it at the top....

 

[slick2500]

I made a 12V lighter plug to xt60 cable for charging in the car. Nice for when you go on an unscheduled bash, you can charge on the way, or refill on the spot.

I was literally thinking of doing the same thing, except I wanted my plug to be in the back of my Tahoe.

 

[olds97_lss]

You have to be careful when pulling the power through your car wiring. RC chargers pull a lot of amps. My field charger will put out 2x12A. Pulling 24A through a cigarette lighter plug and the car wiring is likely a bad idea. I'm not sure what those outlets/circuits are rated for on constant power. Looks like yours is 10A.

Luckily, my battery is in my trunk, so I ran 10AWG wire directly to it and it's always connected using good connectors. The charger I had didn't have a power switch though, so I wired in a 40A toggle so I didn't have to unplug it repeatedly and remember to unplug it.

After charging 4-5 pairs of packs, my battery was dead... didn't even think about it. Don't know why. Then I got a jump and it just so happened that I blew an actuator in my HVAC (stupid chrysler) that eventually cost me $800 to replace.

The lessons we learn...

 

[PowerDubs]

Glad I have a liquid cooled 300amp alternator with 2 AGM batteries in my car.

 

[jondilly1974]

Glad I have a liquid cooled 300amp alternator with 2 AGM batteries in my car.

What’s your burps like?

 

[PowerDubs]

Huh?

 

[jondilly1974]

Huh?

So you don’t do SPL shootouts with that system?

 

[nino]

Yeah I forgot to mention that, @olds97_lss. This charger pictured in the first post is 80W so should be fine, but it's a good idea to check the 12V outlet current (A) rating for a bigger charger.

 

[BashingBrian]

You have to be careful when pulling the power through your car wiring. RC chargers pull a lot of amps. My field charger will put out 2x12A. Pulling 24A through a cigarette lighter plug and the car wiring is likely a bad idea. I'm not sure what those outlets/circuits are rated for on constant power. Looks like yours is 10A.

That's probably the reason why DC chargers come with crocodile clips for direct connection to the battery, therefore bypassing the cars internal wiring..!! ???

 

[PowerDubs]

So you don’t do SPL shootouts with that system?

What system? That is the stock electrical system from the factory.

Although if you are talking about music, the stock stereo was once called "the best-sounding factory audio system on the planet” by LA Car magazine.

 

[slick2500]

You have to be careful when pulling the power through your car wiring. RC chargers pull a lot of amps. My field charger will put out 2x12A. Pulling 24A through a cigarette lighter plug and the car wiring is likely a bad idea. I'm not sure what those outlets/circuits are rated for on constant power. Looks like yours is 10A.

Luckily, my battery is in my trunk, so I ran 10AWG wire directly to it and it's always connected using good connectors. The charger I had didn't have a power switch though, so I wired in a 40A toggle so I didn't have to unplug it repeatedly and remember to unplug it.

After charging 4-5 pairs of packs, my battery was dead... didn't even think about it. Don't know why. Then I got a jump and it just so happened that I blew an actuator in my HVAC (stupid chrysler) that eventually cost me $800 to replace.

The lessons we learn...

I would never power my charger off the cigarette lighter.

 

[jondilly1974]

What system? That is the stock electrical system from the factory.

Although if you are talking about music, the stock stereo was once called "the best-sounding factory audio system on the planet” by LA Car magazine.

You have a factory water cooled 300A alt? ?

Respect ?

 

[Forker45]

I would never power my charger off the cigarette lighter.

Direct to battery is the best connection. 12V Cigarette lighter circuits are usually fused at 10 or 15 amps. An 80W charger would theoretically pull 6.7A which wouldn’t burn the fuse but a 200W charger will pull 16.7A and most definitely blow a fuse.