Exterior 12 volt outlet

My solution for 12v on outside of 5er.
Have one on both sides of the 5er,
Also have one in the rear of the truck bed.

12 V hatch

Housted

Interesting... Just a few weeks ago a thread regarding connecting an inverter using the cigarette lighter outlet, many were quick to endorse the connection, bragging of running high current loads without issue. Some of who are in this thread now disparaging the connection.

Disregard, misread the post.

GordonThree,

Nope, not common at all. But finding a 15 amp cigarette lighter female (so the thing will last) is not common either.

pianotuna wrote:
Ummm why not use an Anderson Power Pole connector?

The inflator already has a ciggy plug and I’d rather not replace it. Thanks!

GordonThree wrote:
The Atwood looks decent enough for intermittent use. I'd be concerned about the pressure fit cap holding against road debris or driven water while driving, time will tell.

And that’s what this will be, intermittent use. It’s cheap enough, so I’ll try it, watch it, and see how it goes. If need be I guess I’ll refer back to this thread for a better solution. Thanks!

Another way to protect it from the elements is to mount one inside near the door. I guess that may be a bit less convenient, particularly if you're given to inflating tires in the rain or freezing temperatures.

I hate DC mouse-holes....
They are notable mostly for the lack of reliability. The marine version (I was paid to install several and provided only a 30 day limited warranty) are stainless so as to not corrode. Well stainless is a P-Poor conductor and near rated load, the terminals overheat.

Anderson power poles is one answer, but they are still subject to corrosion if not protected from the weather.

A cheap and simple answer for this application is to hunt up or make and DC mousehole on a pair of battery clips. When you need it, get the thing out of the box, open up what you have to so the battery is accessible and clip it on. When done, put it back inside. When it gets messed up, get a replacement.

Matt

15 and 30 amp powerpoles do not require their special crimping tool, and with a regular dimple crimper and skills, one can get away without the special crimper tool for the 45 amp powerpole contacts, but it is easy to screw it up.

The racheting crimper with the anderson Dies is about 35$, and does a very good job on the 45's whose contacts have arms which must be bent over and folded into the wire anbd compressed.

I recently bought the tool, as I use these connectors everywhere, and many of my pre special tool 45 amp contacts basically required soldering too, as my Klein dimple crimpers could not really crimp 10AWG within them properly and cleanly.

The soldering can also screw up the terminals if it is allowed to get near the 'hook', and can also prevent inserting into the housing.

I did buy some other sets of Dies, and they fit within the anderson TC-1 crimper jaws, which helped justify the cost of the tool, but honestly it takes a bit of time to change and align the new set of dies that it would be easier to have another set of crimpers for when time is money.

The powerpoles are a much much better electrical connection than the regular 12v powerports, but they are not cheap, come in sets of no less than 5, and the 45 amp contacts, which accept 10AWG and no thicker, pretty much require the special tool.

The 30 amp contacts can accept 12 and 14 AWG.

There are Anderson powerpole Knocks offs available now. I tried some 45 ADEN Windcanp versions saving 5$ over the Andersons, but they come with a rubber boot. The contacts could be stamped from slightly thinner copper. I have no originals that i can easily get my digital calipers on.

I do not think I will bother trying to save that 5$ again. The knockoffs do mate properly with the andersons, both the dovetails and the business ends of the contacts.

Also it should be noted that the anderson powerpoles are not sealed from the elements, unless one covers the back of them where the wires enter the plastic housing with Some 'Amazing goop' or similar.

Before Anderson powerpoles, I made widespread use of the 12v SAE connectors, but found they would wear out quickly and were good for only 20 amps continuous with the 10AWG, before they wore out. Once they wore out 20 amps continuous would melt the connector housing until it shorted and blew a fuse or something else.

Looks like the OP has sorted out what they wanted. The anderson info provided is for others thinking about going this route. They are a much better connection but are not cheap and work best if crimped with their special crimper dies.

Also if one uses Andersons in plkace of a Ciggy plug, well the ciggy plug has a fuse inside of it, the Andersons eliminate the fuse, so if the Anderson output is 10AWG is fused at 30 amps, and one plugs some 18AWG powerpoles into it, then the 18AWg is not protected by its own fuse.

One of the crimper Dies I bought was for insulated flag terminals, to make my own ATC fuse holder that is of a lower profile than if one used regular 1/4 inch quick connects.

pianotuna wrote:
Ummm why not use an Anderson Power Pole connector?

Is that connector common on 12v accessories in your location?