PS3 in Car for long trip.

[Thomas]

Did you also walk to school in the snow uphill both ways?

Felt like it sometimes!

 

[acerinpa]

Well, I walked to school in Mn. - back when they got much more snow that they do now a days- according to friends that still live there anyway. So lets not talk about walking to school in the snow= bad memories. There is no doubt that we will survive without the gaming in the car- it is more for me than them - in the sense that I may shoot them the 32nd time they ask "how much longer". I don't think I have the patients my parents had.

 

[Thomas]

Well, I walked to school in Mn. - back when they got much more snow that they do now a days- according to friends that still live there anyway. So lets not talk about walking to school in the snow= bad memories. There is no doubt that we will survive without the gaming in the car- it is more for me than them - in the sense that I may shoot them the 32nd time they ask "how much longer". I don't think I have the patients my parents had.

I hear that! Don't think we get the snow we used to here either, sure don't seem like it.

 

[acerinpa]

Well found several instances with people running the PS3 in a vehicle- but I think they must have direct battery link - not using cigarette lighter power. So, we may be stuck with the X-box for games (must use less power than the PS3 because it seemed to work fine) then the portable DVD player for movies. I think I will still use the APC to try to insure the X-box does not get damaged. Any further insights-please let me know.

 

[Greg]

Cigarette lighter power is going to be the same as direct battery power, no? I figure if you haven't blown the fuse then you haven't drawn the max amount of current through the cigarette lighter circuit.

Edit: Noooooo, necropost! Haha, sorry. It happens to the best of us. In my defense a reply to any thread in this forum could be considered a necropost

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Here is the reason your cigarette lighter socket says 125W MAX, most use a 10 amp fuse. 10a*12v=120w

To get ~500W of AC power, your going to need ~600w of DC power or more depending on how EFFICIENT and good the inverter is.

 

[PP Mguire]

Inverters are meant to take a 10-15amp circuit and convert it to how many watts the thing says. That is the point of these inverters. They are built and made to plug into a car cig socket. I used a 19" LCD and a regular Xbox on a 300w so 500-1000w should be plenty enough for a PS3 because I DOUBT a PS3 takes more power than a regular gaming computer. (Watts are watts here). The inverter you linked says input is 10.5-15.5v so it should work fine in your van. As Thomas suggested, better make sure your battery and alternator are outputting what they are supposed to or you will have a dead van batt in no time. Also, heat should be no issue as I'm assuming this van has AC. I would be willing to say, you already took this trip but wanted to inform in case of future trips.

If there is insufficient power going to the devices with the draw than the internal fuse will trip before blowing out the vans fuse. Again, that is the whole point of these inverters.

Edit: Just read on the device info on Newegg. It has an automatic shut off so your batt doesn't die. How nifty.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

12v*10amp=120w DC, most cars when running put out ~14.4v so 14.4v*10amp = 144w, you will loose ~30% on lower end converters when going to AC from DC. Most cars use ONLY a 10 amp fuse for the cigar lighter in a car as it don't take much power to make something that small very hot quickly, and they don't run heavy wires. I have an inverter that claims 300w output, but, read the fine print, it's capable of 300w, 150w max per outlet, when both outlets are in use, and you max them, the fuse pops. This is why I say don't bother with the stuff unless you get a HEFTY *** unit, and run dedicated wire for it.

Also, just as a note, most modern cars use only a 60 to 120 amp alt, 80% of the power from an alt is required for the cars electrical system to be fully operational, there's a lot more to it then just plugging up a cheap inverter from walmart.

 

[PP Mguire]

Except, that isn't a cheap inverter from Walmart. These things are designed to do what they say they can do and that is a fact. Mine isn't cheap and I can get 300w to my outlet fine without it blowing my fuse.

If you know anything about amps and electricity then think of it this way. How is it I can power 2 1500w amps and a 2600w amp off a single outlet capable of 15a/110v sustaining 118v from the wall? It's the same technology. A good inverter can give him that 1000w (500w/c) off a 12v source in the vehicle. Also, I have a 20a fuse in my truck for such things.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

You *cannot* draw more than the rated amount from source without damaging it. If you've got a 15a fuse or circuit breaker on your board, then you can't draw more than 15a without tripping it (constant load should be less obviously ). If you plugged a load into a single circuit that *required* 5600W to run on a 110v circuit, you'd need to supply 50.9a! Definitely tripping the circuit breaker.

Most likely scenario is the amps you've plugged in have never been required to supply what they're capable of. They're rated @ 1500w sure, but that doesn't mean they constantly pull that much when they're connected.