240/110V -> 12V converter

[andyvdg]

Hi,

Does anyone know where I can get one of these ?

I have a 12V cool box I can plug into the cigar lighter but I'm not sure if I'll be able to start the car on Monday if it's plugged in all weekend. I'm camping in Houx so I think I'll have access to some French mains electricity.

Cheers,

Andy.

[rviant]

Try Halfords they do one for their fridge/cooler i think its £16.99

[andyvdg]

Ah this :

www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=17055&type=0&cat=113

Looks like it only converts from 240V. Any ideas ?

Cheers,

Andy.

[gt5s_1985]

andyvdg said:

Ah this : www.halfords.com/opd_product_details.asp?id=17055&type=0&cat=113 Looks like it only converts from 240V. Any ideas ? Cheers, Andy.

Why is that a problem? Isn't that what France uses?

[rviant]

I thought so France uses 220 volts so i think that might be ok

[andyvdg]

Doh

I'm thinking American power supplies! Europe is supposed to use 230 but most devices should work from 220-240V.

Thanks for the advice!

Mmmm, cool beers.

Cheers,

Andy.

[Piglet]

I've got a couple of coolers that run off of a mains converter. You can buy the converters in Carrefoure and they are cheaper than the UK, I think they are around £15-£20 but don't quote me on that.

Mine both work fine and one was a halfords one, they keep food and drink cold and have been known to freeze items that are too close to the cooler unit!

They are a bit noisy at night if you run them in a hotel room (which I often do) - I'm guessing you won't notice the noise on a le mans camp site though!!

I've been trying to find a cheap and easy way of powering them from solar power so that I can leave it in the car at a circuit all day and still be able to start the car when I come back - any thoughts anyone?

[redstu]

I know that its normally sunny in Le mans, but you would need a quite large array to power the box, those ones that you see advertised for topping up your car battery are apparently pretty useless.

[ehasler]

Piglet said:

I've been trying to find a cheap and easy way of powering them from solar power so that I can leave it in the car at a circuit all day and still be able to start the car when I come back - any thoughts anyone?

I looked into this last year, and soon found out that you'd need to spend a lot (hundreds of £) to get enough power to run a mini-
fridge.

Most 12V mini fridges draw about 3-4 amps, while a typical 12v solar panel which you can buy for ~ £100 will only produce about 0.7 amps in sunlight.

It would be cheaper to buy a couple of large leisure batteries to power it (a 100 amp/hour battery will run the fridge for about 24 hours), or a 3-way fridge which you can run on gas.

[Piglet]

Cheers ehasler, I'll stick with the cooler for this year (on Houx so have leccy) and prob upgrade to a 3way fridge when funds allow.

[j14nsx]

Err...you want to convert from 240v to 12v DC? Isn't that what battery chargers do?

[andyvdg]

Correct, and I also want a cigar socket at the 12V end. Just picked up the one from Halfords £17, 220-240V down to 13V. 5A max output (65W).

Cheers,

Andy.