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115V AC power outlet in bed

68K views 137 replies 51 participants last post by  SantaCrusin  
A 100W-equivalent LED light bulb (bright!) draws only 17W, and a 60W LED bulb draws only 9W. So you could light up a whole string of those.

In fact, campers can light up their whole campground and annoy the heck out of fellow campers. lol.
 
I love the "big truck" commercials where you see contractors running circular saws and other power tools on the jobsite from their trucks. And I was uninformed enough to believe them ... and think the SC's outlet might be more useful for more than a handful of LED light bulbs.

Oh well, I wanted the SC's power outlet, but it wasn't a dealbreaker.
 
So what happens when you plug a 500w inverter into the outlet? That's an inverter on top of an inverter. :eek:

I'm sure it depends on the amperage draw of that (second) inverter, but it would be nice to be able to squeeze a little more power out of the outlet!
 
So here's a question: Say you accidentally overload the outlet by plugging in something it can't handle. What happens? Does it blow a fuse you have to track down? Does it reset itself after a minute? What does it do?
 
I used it to run my 12v fridge using a110v adapter. It worked great for me. I'm going to install a 12v power point next to the 110v so I won't need an adapter next time.

I ran the fridge for roughly 7 hours but there was driving involved, so it wasn't off the battery most of the time.
What is the amperage draw of that fridge (and wattage, if applicable)?
 
Oh, well. I have a separate 500W inverter I could use if I had to. But I really don't know how long I could run something, even with the engine running.

And I wonder how long the SC's battery would hold up to something like a couple lights and maybe a radio while out in the wild? You sure want to have enough juice left over to start the engine the next morning!
 
That is confusing... using the outlet would drain the battery. I would at least run the engine once in a while so I could still drive away. :p
I'm with you. And it would be hard to know how often you need to do that.

I see commercials where guys are running circular saws, drills and all kinds of power tools off their trucks, and I don't know how much is practical and how much of that is hype. I'd want a battery isolator if I used the outlet much.
 
(Got caught up in the previous post)

What I wonder about is how big a draw does the AC outlet put on the battery?

If you figure 120v is 10 times the vehicle's 12v battery, would it drain it 10 times faster than a similar 12v light or appliance? Heck, my Kia starts screaming about battery depletion after 5 minutes of using the radio with the car off. lol

So, do you have to keep the vehicle running to use the outlet?
 
180 watts is the maximum rating for the 12 volt outlet.

I can't find any reference to the maximum wattage of the Santa Cruz's 120 volt outlet, but the AC inverter is fused at 30 amps. Even if the inverter was 100% efficient (which it's not), that would be a maximum of 360 watts (12 volts X 30 amps).

The Ridgeline's AC outlet is rated at 400 watts with the engine running and the transmission in park and 150 watts otherwise. Its AC inverter is fused at 70 amps, so I'd guess the Santa Cruz's AC outlet is likely rated at 150 watts.

I tried using my Ridgeline's AC outlet to power a heating pad during a power failure, but the modified sine wave output burned up the heating pad controller. I tried using it to power other devices, but it shuts off every 30 minutes if the engine isn't running and it's horribly inefficient to generate only 400 watts of power with the engine running. The only uses I've ever found for it were to power a slow cooker placed in the in-bed trunk to keep food warm on my way to a pot-luck dinner and plug in a string of LED holiday lights for a parade. :) (Oh, and the Ridgeline's Truck Bed Audio system comes in handy for tailgate parties.)

EDIT: Yep - it's 150 watts.

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What I wonder about is how big a draw does the AC outlet put on the battery?

If you figure 120v is 10 times the vehicle's 12v battery, would it drain it 10 times faster than a similar 12v light or appliance? Heck, my Kia starts screaming about battery depletion after 5 minutes of using the radio with the car off. lol

So, do you have to keep the vehicle running to use the outlet?