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24 to 12 converter

Found 24 volt to 12 volt converters for $5 at my local Big Lots store. For five bucks I had to give it a try. So here is my take on it.
1. why is it supplied with a cigar lighter plug? Are any vehicles equipped with 24v lighter outlets?
2. the fuse is in the lighter plug.
3. it has a small cooling fan, it’s always on when the units powered up and it’s quite loud, did I mention it’s noisy?

So what to do?
1. install fuse adapter so unit can be hard wired to my truck
2. Investigate the use of a larger quieter cooling fan or possibly a larger heat sink
3. go back to Big Lots and buy a few more

What the hay for five dollars I can dedicate one for the GPS, one for my electric vest, one for well you gets the idea.

One of my biggest questions is what the heck is Big Lots stocking 24 to 12 converters for?

I have the same one! I bought it in the UK for $20CAN I believe, so you got a good deal. The one I had came with had the smaller DIN connector, with an adapter for the larger 12V accessory plug. I broke that original plug jumping into the truck, so I replaced it with a DIN connector sold by SAV. I just cut the ends off the old one, opened the new connector and attached the leads.

http://www.real4x4forums.com/PinzgauerB ... =converter

Connector:

If you are only going to use it for smaller loads (such as a radio) that draws only an amp or two at 12vdc, you can probably just disconnect the fan and it will work OK. You might try it with the case open first and feel the heatsink - if you can't keep your hand on it then its too hot.

A bigger heatsink would help but is a lot of work probably. Some of those little fans can be loud - but often its the way its mounting and the grill right in front of it - try pulling out the fan from the housing and seeing how loud it is.

I'm gonna check out the big lots here to see if they have any here in WA state.

A bit off topic but related,does anyone know if the US cig lighter plug-in for accessories is the same size in euro-cars? gonna be traveling about soon,renting lots of cars and hoping to charge my stuff on the run.
Mark

M Wehrman wrote:A bit off topic but related,does anyone know if the US cig lighter plug-in for accessories is the same size in euro-cars? gonna be traveling about soon,renting lots of cars and hoping to charge my stuff on the run.
Mark

Yes, they are the same. I just switch sd-cards for euro and US maps in my GPS when travelling, cig lighter adapter works equally well both sides of the big pond.

Thanks! one less thing to worry about!
Mark