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Why do car makers not install a regular power outlet in cars and trucks to power things like cell phone chargers and various other things (Laptops, other devices)?
It seems pretty useless to stick with "cigarette lighter" style power outlets when the car maker could just as well install a regular power outlet and do away with the need for any "adapter".
Maybe they already have started doing this but why even mess with installing a cigarette lighter adapter?
Yes, DC can kill, but if I recall correctly (the medical courses were long ago), it takes about a minimum of 42 volts across your chest (say from hand-to-hand) to stop your heart. Depends on your skin conductivity and a few other things.
For higher voltages say 120VAC vs 120VDC... I would much rather (well would rather not do either) grab across a 120VAC line (and yes, it stings), than a 120VDC line, as with DC there is a tendency to not be able to let go.
Rule number 1 is always keep one hand in your pocket.
You are correct. This is totally silly. If I get 90% efficiency from the DC-AC conversion, and my AC-DC conversion is level IV, 85% (which it is) http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partner..._challenge.pdf
(it is over 50W)
Then the amount of power wasted is totally silly, No one cares. It is irrelevant. In the noise compared to most things. Look up the efficiency of your internal-combustion engine.
It IS convenient, however, (to be able run a lot of other household stuff in the car) and I will take that convenience for the solid $0.08 it costs me. Geez.
We're talking about laptops and phones. Surely, it's convenient to have an inverter for AC equipment. But for DC equipment, it's not anymore convenient to use an inverter than connect directly to the cigarette lighter.
Yes, an ICE is inefficient, but we're making strives to capture that inefficiency. For example, now we try to store wasted energy in batteries.
Are we going to count lightning strikes too? Might as well factor them in, along with any other higher voltage possibility that may occur. Or we could use some common sense and stick to battery and cigarette lighter voltage, which is really the only thing relevant to this thread.
If someone wants to plug their laptop into the output of the HEI, well, that's their stupidity. If someone wants to work on their electric car batteries and thinks they are safe because I posted that DC doesn't kill, too bad for them.
I mean that you can plug right into the battery of a hybrid and if you need more power you can plug right into the alternator. I have an inverter that plugs right in and pulls several kilawatts of power at 120v. It all depends on what your car is equipped with.
You are correct... amperes kill, (and duration), but without sufficient voltage, you will be unable to to deliver sufficient current, due to the resistance of the human body. People learn that in about 12th grade.
If I have a 1-volt power supply, with the ability to deliver 1 million amperes, it won't do a thing to me if I put my hands across the circuit.
Riddle me this.... why are defibrillators measured in Joules?
Converting DC power to AC power back to DC power is VERY inefficient. For devices that run on DC, skip the inverter. Especially for devices that have DC plugs readily available... like computers and phones.
Lighter plugs will allow our computers to run (some of them), but will not charge them. Cell phones charge in a fraction of the time on an inverter that it takes on the lighter plug. You certainly cannot run 5 computers and charge 4 cellphones at once on lighter plugs.
Efficiency is not an issue. The car makes power when it operates. The car makes plenty of electricity and I have never had it run out. Power loads do nto change the efficiency of the engine to any appreciable extent. You do not get worse mileage when you turn on your headlights. There is no efficiency issues here, it is one of practicality.
Riddle me this.... why are defibrillators measured in Joules?
Geez, this almost isn't worth explaining.
Joule
A unit of electrical energy equal to the work done when a current of one ampere is passed through a resistance of one ohm for one second.
Or a more in depth Def.
the SI unit of work or energy, equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of the force: equivalent to 10 7 ergs and one watt-second.
A cousin to Ohms law. it takes one amp to push one volt threw one Ohm of resistance.
12v more or less can kill but the chances of this happening is very low when working on a car.
12v more or less can kill but the chances of this happening is very low when working on a car.
I have never been killed by 12 volts. However I did once fuse a screwdriver to the side of the car when I dropped is and it landed so that it shorted out the battery. It was really stuck
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volts
