12 Volt Question

[mistermac]

Hi

Mister Newbie here....

Please tell me. Car electrical system - 12v. Yes?

Caravan non-AC system - 12v. Yes?

Why then, when I plugged my dvd player into the cigar-lighter type socket in the wall in my Abbey Vogue, did smoke eminate from said player?

Luckily nothing was damaged - but something's up.

Upon closer inspection, the socket did say 120 watts.

Not being a sparky - can anyone shed light on this and tell me what I can and can't plug in where?

Confused of Leicester

 

[gary]

Basically both are 12v systems but run at roughly 13.8v when engine running or van hooked up to the mains. 120W rated socket at 12v = 10amps so this should be fine.

My best guess then would be the plug or the socket is wired the wrong way round. All 12v electronics are protected by a diode, often this is placed across positive and negative. When connected the correct way all is well as the diode will only pass current one way. However when connected the wrong way the 12v+ has a direct path to earth through the diode. If, (as it should have), a suitable fuse is used on the 12v+ side then this will instantly blow and the protection works as designed, but, without one it instantly overheats the wiring or worse the tracking on the PCB and smokes as you describe!!

 

[Willy_5041515]

This should not have happened, Marc Mac! The 12 V DC system in a car and caravan should deliver exactly the same voltage. The only thing I can think of is that your battery was disconnected in your caravan. This could result in the battery charger output being unsmoothed and producing more than 13.6 volts along with some spikes. Was this the case? Does your DVD still work plugged into your car?