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Question

high output inverters to run a laptop off of car

Sep 21, 2017 8:56AM PDT

Hello, I apologize if im in the wrong place but for work i essentially sit in a truck all day.

I have an MSI apache pro and as it stands any inverter i have found will only be able to run it when directly connected to the battery, this is less than ideal especially in wet conditions. So far all the inverters i've found max out at around 120 watts when plugged into a cigarette lighter regardless of their max wattage overall.
I've used someone elses inverter that ran my laptop off of a cigarette lighter perfectly fine, it was very old so im not sure if there are safety regulations now or something of that ilk.
I would very much appreciate it if anyone knew of any inverters that have a high wattage output off of a cigarette lighter preferably around the 300 range, google has failed me in this regard. thanks for your time.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Use the battery
Sep 21, 2017 9:15AM PDT

It's not that difficult to run a hotwire in direct from battery, or attach the wire on the starter relay. As for ground, any metal in the car is grounded, attach a second strong wire with a bolt, connect the wires to a plug end and then you can add a plug end onto the inverter, and connect when wanted. Also could try a wire direct with battery power to the cig lighter hole (now called power outlet) and that alone should be sufficient. Might want to add an inline fuse of about 30A, since 30A x 12V = 360w power.

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Answer
That many Watts and you won't use the lighter outlet.
Sep 21, 2017 9:21AM PDT

This will take a direct connection for reasons given. There's not much that can be added here as there are limits on the power available at the lighter plug.

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Answer
Car cigarette lighter itself only provides max output 150w
Nov 16, 2017 12:27AM PST

All the cars have a car cigarette lighter, but the cigarette lighter can offer not more than 150W for devices. So, it is easy to bring damages to your devices if you make it overloaded. If you want higher output wattage, you can get a power inverter. Bestek 300w power inverter can provide you 300 Watts continuous DC to AC power and 700 Watts instantaneous power. But you should also keep in mind that you must use the two battery clips to connect with the car battery when you want to charge devices over 150W, Good luck.