Inverter question

[Jean Struweg]

Hi Gents

I bought a small 500W inverter to charge camera batteries in the car for my upcoming trip to the Kgalagadi.

I see the smaller (300W) inverters come with cigarette lighter plugs, but anything larger has crocodile clips.

Is there a reason not to plug a larger inverter into a vehicle's 12V outlet? Will it be safe to fit a cigarette lighter fitting/ hella plug to the inverter?

TIA

Cheers,

Jean

[Chris Ainslie]

Hi Jean,

Most of the time, a car's cigarette lighter socket is rated for and fused at 10A. On a 12V system, that's 120W.

I wouldn't be keen to try to draw 500W off of that.

Kind Regards,

Chris

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[Bertus Bekker]

Perhaps consider installing a 50A Anderson outlet.  Bet to have an inline fuse close to the battery.

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[Manfred Bollner]

If the inverter is rated at 300W output, it needs even more input, due to losses for the conversion. But even 300W with a lighter socket seems problematic, resulting in 25 Amps.

[Jean Struweg]

Thanks Gents!

Cheers

Jean

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[Darrin]

FYI: I charge up to 12 camera batteries at any one time in my Landy.
No need for an inverter at all - all common camera brands have USB chargers available for their batteries.
Then you can just use a 12 volt USB cigi lighter adapter to charge them from.
Most of them are dual, and most chargers are dual battery chargers.
So charge 4 batteries from one cigi lighter socket.
(Much smaller and lighter than carrying an inverter aorund)

What batteries are you looking to charge?
I'll see if I can find you the right things online...

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[Jean Struweg]

Thanks Darrin

My cameras are ancient, pre 2010 releases, Canon 40D and 350D. So I only have 220V AC chargers.

Cheers

Jean

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[Hannes Thirion]

Jean,

No need for a 500w inverter to charge your Canon 40D and 350D batteries.  

I use a 300w Meanwell inverter from Bushpower to charger 3 x Canon camera batteries simultaneously plus the 65w power supply of my laptop.

My old camera (Canon 5DII) charger has a 1Amp charger while the new camera (Canon R5) has a 1.2Amp charger. 

The 40D and 350D's charger will draw even less amps.  

Only difference between the 300w and 500w inverter is that the 500w will drain your vehicle batteries faster.

Regards,

Hannes Thirion

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[Jean Struweg]

Baie dankie Hannes

Inverter klaar gekoop 🤦‍♂️. En ons ry Vrydag, so gaan nie tyd hê vir omruil nie.

Groetnis 

Sent from my iPhone

On 17 Jun 2025, at 18:43, Hannes Thirion <hannes....@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Andreas Cierpka]

Hi,

I charge all our equipment via the cigarette lighter. Running charge of laptop, camera batteries and GPS in parallel is no problem. But do have rental cars. 

If I would have an own car I would fit an inverter maybe. Don‘t forget you convert DC into AC and then via power plug AC back into DC.

Long time ago I had to use a special car charger adapter for my laptop as the input Voltage has been 19V. 

Andreas Cierpka

Heinrich-Böll-Str 12

85386 Eching bei Freising

Tel.: +49 (0)89 32649555

Am 17.06.2025 um 11:58 schrieb Chris Ainslie <ch...@ainslie.co.za>:



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[Joao Felizardo]

So which inverter to use for the cigarette lighter ? Less than 120 w ? 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/overland-forum/A484E05E-FDEB-4ADE-9A69-7A70AF14EF8C%40andreas-cierpka.de.

[Hannes Thirion]

Andreas,

I understand requirement wrt not traveling in your own vehicle.  Make sense.  Do you keep the inverter/charger plugged in while driving on bumpy roads? Does it stay in or rattle loose?

Regards,

Hannes Thirion

On Mon, 23 Jun 2025, 09:05 Andreas Cierpka, <ma...@andreas-cierpka.de> wrote:

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[Manfred Bollner]

I think the issue is not the power rating of the inverter, even if it is a 300W type. If the device attached draws less Amps than the fuse, then no problem. And typically a charger for cameras does not draw many Amps.

[Darrin]

Sure, but have a search online and at your local camera shop, you might be surprised what is still available...

The first link that came up on google - I use those same designs to charge my batteries, they work well, sure its cheaper in SA etc

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DuraPro-LP-E5-Battery-Charger-Cameras/dp/B07RMD2XQG/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Gq5rF3jo7y6-9opwwhfcb721UTC5yR4aMlovepVkFL0OQUPWpx0jIHWmzzSpWBhOiV9M1fBYF6nTBKwZFqcPVEgpwftEBg7bSKusWkOSfeP-EotejtFoBmDPsk5qHkkju1cTkN6AW1_jFf_wkDVXmZPgCUCncJwiF25w5XpNAKwOqZwTCmty7FTteb1XJ6t6GYAIDOUJQVE494Z2cM5E-FhH0Ac-QG4mP3-7kCkP-Mc.SuYf-UZkRpGlvOcKprKtcYhw0kSLQqe0PO5_CHvn0Dg&dib_tag=se&keywords=canon+450d+battery+charger&qid=1750684915&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1 

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[grahambowring2]

Agree,  an invertor is an overkill for camera battery charging.  

Better to spend a few dollars / Rand to install one or two additional  cigarette lighter sockets. Or even better, a couple of dedicated USB charging outlets.  Now everyone can play nicely and charge their phone / camera batteries at the same time. Appropriate fuses for each of course.

You can purchase spare batteries plus an appropriate USB charger for around US$20.  This one is Amazon Aust but seems to be plenty of options.

https://amzn.asia/d/hTQ29S2

Graham B

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[Joao Felizardo]

Ok Graham thanks for the feedback ; I can only use 220v to charge my camera and video batteries ; I also have purchase extra batteries for both .

Rgds 

JF

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[grahambowring2]

If you need to run a high power invertor then a dedicated two core (ground & hot) cable direct from the battery with an appropriate fuse at the battery with Anderson connectors to the invertor will be a safer bet. 

A Bosch type relay ( Up to 50Amp) triggered by the ignition circuit will eliminate concern about flattening your battery. A relay with integral diode will dampen voltage spikes.

For "always on" 12v in a rental vehicle I have routed a cable out the back of the bonnet then through the door seal to the dash.  As long as the fuse is appropriately sized and right at the battery you should be OK.

If it's your own vehicle then you can likely route the cable through an existing fire wall grommet or add another grommet if need be. 

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[Mike Lauterbach]

Good morning

Our group still has camping spots left for 5 persons at the Honorary
Rangers' Camp in Tembe Elephant Park, from 24 to 28 September 2025. Only
small groups of 20 are allowed.

Tembe has a few fundraising weekends a year for various selected groups
for their Tembe Honorary Officer Group Ponweni, where camping is allowed
for these special weekends. Some sections of the park, closed to the
general public, are open to participants of these groups. The fenced
Ranger's Camp has ablutions, is off-grid, but has solar lighting and has
a kitchen with gas fridge and gas freezer. The camp is shaded. The cost
for this special 4 nighter is R1700.00 pp.

Please send me an email me if you are interested. Only 4x4 vehicles are
allowed.

Cheers
Mike