cigarette lighter inverter question

[nola tools]

Can I plug an M18 charger into a 500W cigarette lighter inverter, and safely charge a M18 5.0 battery? If so, does anyone have any recomendations on brand? Is a 500W the biggest that can plug into a cigarette lighter? If not, what is the biggest? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[jeffmcmillan]

500W should be plenty, but to be sure you can read the charger label. It should say something like 120VAC (some number)A. If you multiply those two numbers and its less than 500 it will work. Edit: http://documents.milwaukeetool.com/58-14-1808d1.pdf'>manual says 2.75A max draw so it will work.

I dont know if milwaukee has car chargers but one of those would be much more efficient. Converting 12VDC to 18VDC with a switching converter is much better than having a 120VAC intermeduate.

[jbw55]

If your just doing occasional charging the 500 watter will get you by however if your doing daily charging and or need to run other things at the same time I would look for a higher wattage inverter.....something up around 750 -1000 watt min. and isn't a whole lot more money. I also would consider one hardwired directly to your battery, not difficult to do. The cig lighter adapters are crap, run hot and could melt.....been there done that. The worst thing for inverters are heavy loads, size it 3 times larger then you need and it should last a good many years.

[Wai H. Ho]

If your just doing occasional charging the 500 watter will get you by however if your doing daily charging and or need to run other things at the same time I would look for a higher wattage inverter.....something up around 750 -1000 watt min. and isn't a whole lot more money. I also would consider one hardwired directly to your battery, not difficult to do. The cig lighter adapters are crap, run hot and could melt.....been there done that. The worst thing for inverters are heavy loads, size it 3 times larger then you need and it should last a good many years.

i agree with jbw55, dont cheap out and get a decent one that plugs to the battery.

[8tenz]

One thing I've heard about in another forum is the Pure Sine Wave inverter, supposedly a cleaner wave.  I looked online and they are pricey, but may be worth it.  Google it and look for yourself.

[jeffmcmillan]

One thing I've heard about in another forum is the Pure Sine Wave inverter, supposedly a cleaner wave.  I looked online and they are pricey, but may be worth it.  Google it and look for yourself.

The charger is just converting whatever it gets back to DC then filtering it so the waveform doesn't make much difference.  A dirty signal could stress the components and cause the charger to fail faster but it's unlikely to fail before it becomes obsolete anyway.

[PeteW]

make sure your car is always running when your doing this. i have seen a guy charge his batteries from his truck only for it to not start at the end of the day..

[8tenz]

The charger is just converting whatever it gets back to DC then filtering it so the waveform doesn't make much difference.  A dirty signal could stress the components and cause the charger to fail faster but it's unlikely to fail before it becomes obsolete anyway.

One word, computer chips.  Wait, that's two words.  They're everywhere, including my Hitachi charger.