Upgrade 115V AC socket capacity?

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maillemaker

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Our 2015 Ram has a 110V AC socket, but it's only good for 150 watts, and this won't run a notebook computer.

Is there a way to upgrade the capabilities of this socket?
 

Brandon-w

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Honestly probly easier to buy a 1000w Inverter and wire it in. I'm sure messing with the factory one would cause a melt down.
 

turkeybird56

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What Brandon said, but get a PURE SINE inverter.
 

Brandon-w

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Yes modified sine will take things out very quickly makes things buzz and act weird.

sine is like a wave high and low points so you have your peak and and low and it's steady.

Modified sine wave is more square. It peaks and holds then instantly drops then instantly peaks and holds again.

All of these happen at the speed of light lol. The buzzing modified sine wave causes is from the electronics being held on longer than they're designed to. This can cause overheating and premature failure.

Just so you know. [emoji106]
 

duckman631

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Our 2015 Ram has a 110V AC socket, but it's only good for 150 watts, and this won't run a notebook computer.

Is there a way to upgrade the capabilities of this socket?

ive run a dremel and had no issues so I hope I just didn’t get lucky. I would think it would run a laptop? If you can’t even run a laptop, what’s the point of the socket?
 

turkeybird56

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Cosmetics??? Pone charger??? LOL
 

turkeybird56

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Instead of mounting, if he just needed power at odd times, he could buy a sine inverter with Alligator clips and a inline fuse and just POP hood and clip onto battery, just thinking out loud.
 
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maillemaker

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Yeah I don't want a temporary solution I'm looking for something that lets me use my computer as a passenger on long road trips. My notebook has a 300W power supply.
 

turkeybird56

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Well, U could a small 1000W inverter, pure sine, and mount somewhere under dash, run wires out foot board to battery and perm hook up with an inline fuse, or maybe find a high enough amp live wire inside console/under dash to hookup and wire into. That would be the other option. Even the newer 400W plugs on the new truck not really made to max out. That would be my thought on all that.

U might want to talk to some of the better PPL that do all sorts of add ons and they may be able to lead you to wires inside,. Some PPL even add on small fuse boxes under the hood for added power options, way beyond what I know how to do. I would just run a positive/negative out to battery with a "fuse block" attached to positive side of battery and hook up.
 
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Well, U could a small 1000W inverter, pure sine, and mount somewhere under dash, run wires out foot board to battery and perm hook up with an inline fuse, or maybe find a high enough amp live wire inside console/under dash to hookup and wire into. That would be the other option. Even the newer 400W plugs on the new truck not really made to max out. That would be my thought on all that.

U might want to talk to some of the better PPL that do all sorts of add ons and they may be able to lead you to wires inside,. Some PPL even add on small fuse boxes under the hood for added power options, way beyond what I know how to do. I would just run a positive/negative out to battery with a "fuse block" attached to positive side of battery and hook up.

Just a note on the wiring of a high amperage device like an inverter.
There is much more loss on the 12V lead to the inverter, than on the 115V line out of the inverter.
It is better to place the inverter as close to the cource (battery) as possible, and then route the output to the desired location. Space and Heat are consideratoins in doing this.
In doing this, turning the inverter on and off may be a problem, but you might be able to jumper the ON/OFF switch inside the inverter to an internal location.
Another option would be to use a High Amperage Relay on the input of the inverter.

Just a thought.

RodeoGeorge
 

NETim

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Since P=EI, even a 300W inverter would draw 25A at max rated load. (Assuming a 100% efficient inverter) That means 10 gauge wire at the very least. And inverters make heat!! Location would definitely be a consideration. A 1000W inverter would draw a minimum of 83.3A at full load.
 

bloup

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Get a smaller laptop?


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Brandon-w

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Why not get a smaller capacity charger for your laptop and put it in power saving mode so you don't use as much power? Probly alot cheaper

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bloup

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Why not get a smaller capacity charger for your laptop and put it in power saving mode so you don't use as much power? Probly alot cheaper

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That too would work


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Why not get a smaller capacity charger for your laptop and put it in power saving mode so you don't use as much power? Probly alot cheaper
Good advice. I have several power supplies for my work laptop. One is 150w and works fine when working from the passenger seat of my Ram.
 

PaleFlyer

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Yeah I don't want a temporary solution I'm looking for something that lets me use my computer as a passenger on long road trips. My notebook has a 300W power supply.
300W isn't really a "notebook"... That's a portable workstation/gaming machine... And it should only be hitting 300(+) watts if you are hitting the system with high load. IE actually doing a CAD render/video encode/running a newish game.

That being said, as others have said. The wires to the AC port are sized for the ~1.4A 110V the system is "designed" for. (Which I agree is low). You would need to upsize those as well as the internal connector, AND the inverter in the truck. Might be better to just use a better inverter, and run your own lines. I think there might be some kind of spec on this, as I had a Nissan NV2500 at a previous job, and the "driver" port was only ~150W, but the one in the back was 400W. So Dodge/FCA might not be allowed to put a "big" port in the driver area.
 
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