Power outlet question

[ampao]

Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the right forum. I want to run a couple devices with standard AC outlet plugs instead of car chargers. Like laptop and fone charger.

Any ideas?

[MikeW]

Inverters are your friend.

[bcjammerx]

run a wire to that from a power dist. thingy off the battery, mount the converter somewhere inside...use all the right fuses.

[AbsurdNY]

Make sure you get a power invert that is rated for the wattage appliance you will be running.
Actually If I was running something that required 800 watts, I would go for at least a 1000 watt inverter just to be on the safe side.

[MikeW]

Im curious about this myself...

Is it as simple as running the inverter to the battery and placing the inverter in the car?

[cloudasc]

Inverts may be your friend, but they are terribly inefficent at what they do. If you wanna power a laptop, i'd recommend actually getting the 12v adapter/charger. All computer equipment runs on 12 volts, so why would you convert 12v to 110v to convert back to 12v. Your cell phone only requires approx 4.5v, so why go from 12v to 110v back to 4.5v. Do you see where I am going with this? Yes the inverter is cheaper then the car adapter, but it puts x times the load on the charging system/alternator then it would using a car adapter.

[MikeW]

True. I didnt think about that.

[ampao]

Thanks for the input guys. I think getting the AC adapter would be the best bet. But that would restrict me to plugging only one device.

I had an idea what the device I needed. Didnt have the name Ive seen ones with like 3 outlets. Thats actually what I was interested in. So, a direct line to the battery? Tried to do a search, but came up with nothing. Any DIYs/guides out there?

[benji]

Thanks for the input guys. I think getting the AC adapter would be the best bet. But that would restrict me to plugging only one device.

I had an idea what the device I needed. Didnt have the name Ive seen ones with like 3 outlets. Thats actually what I was interested in. So, a direct line to the battery? Tried to do a search, but came up with nothing. Any DIYs/guides out there?

It would be like wiring an amp; look in the audio subforum, there are a lot of posts in there about that.

[cloudasc]

Now heres the fun question, how do you solve the problem of using your laptop as an audio source, being powered by the car, then plugging it directly back into your deck input without problems? Thats with using an inverter, say I wanted to watch a movie on my laptop in my car using the car stereo, when you plug the audio cable from the computer into your deck input you get alot of noise. I remember also I ran into problems with using using an fm transmitter connected to a portable cd player and trying to have them both be powered by the car at the same time, and the second the audio cable from the transmitter touched the connector of the cd player, one of the devices would become unpowered, or there was noise. Anyone else run into problems like described above?