Electrical advice NEEDED by NJ resident

[bushmaster1313]

Hello from NJ.

Can I recharge my Black and Decker jumpstarter from my car cigarette lighter with an inverter with the engine running?

I am using the jumpstarter with a 150 watt inverter to charge the phones and computers and run the wireless and it is running down.

Can I start the car, plug the inverter into the lighter socket and plug the transformer into the inverter and charge the jumpstarter?

The transformer says 120v 60Hz 15 watt input , 12v DC 700 mAmps out put. The transformer is the one I use tO charge the jumpstarter from the wall socket.

Another question. Does it make more sense to charge the jumPstarter directly from the car battery with the engine running?

[SASABERANGER]

Inverter should be able to run 115v AC items, but not sure of the amp draw.
If you do this remember to open the garage door, don't need to add a Carbon Monoxide Casulty to the stom count.
I would check to see if a cooperative neighbor has a generator running before I went the car route.
Thom Braxton
SWCA #1474

[bushmaster1313]

Roger on the garage. Car is outside. I think the transformer is drawing 15 watts and outputting 12V x .7 amps =8.4 watts

[absolutevil]

What area in jersey are you at? I thought I would get hammered here but ended up not to bad. Hope your ok!

[venomballistics]

look at the ratings on the transformer to charge the jumpstarter.
if it does not state Watts outright, multiply the amps by 120 and use this result, If the wattage of the transformer is less than the inverter, go for it, if not, you need to get clever

[DWalt]

I don't know what a jumpstarter is, but an inverter puts out 115 VAC. The only difference is the waveform is not sinusoidal, but that should make no difference. I have operated a flat-screen TV, a DVD player/recorder, and laptop computers with an inverter, and they all did fine. Just make sure you have enough power rating. I would let the engine idle while using an inverter, if possible, if what you are doing takes a long period of time just to keep your car battery from running down. Inverters usually also have battery clamps if you want to hook directly onto your car battery terminals, and I would do it that way given a choice of that or the cigarette lighter socket.

[venomballistics]

@DWalt ... essentially the jumpstarter is an SLA