Electrical Help

December 25, 2003 10:31 PM

I'm not well-versed in electrical terminology, but the layman's terms for what I'm looking for is the following: A power adapter that has a regular american 2-prong male wall plug on one end, and on the other end, a female plug of the auto-cigarette-lighter variety. Basically, I have a couple of devices designed to be plugged into my car's lighter, and I'd like to use them inside my home. Help with better terminology, and links to units I can buy are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I believe a car's cigarette lighter puts out 12-volt DC, and my wall puts out 110V AC, and that an AC-to-DC adapter is called an "inverter." Do I have that right? Are there better terms for the plugs themselves?

posted by scarabic to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Not to digress, but you can get a cigarette lighter 5 1/4 bay for your computer, custom made here.
posted by Keyser Soze at 10:36 PM on December 25, 2003

You want one of these.
posted by MiG at 12:07 AM on December 26, 2003

Found a bunch more by googling for cigarette lighter converter ac-dc.
posted by MiG at 12:09 AM on December 26, 2003

Response by poster: HFS! that lighter is a riot, Keyser Soze. Thanks for those links, MiG. I really had googled myself blue but I hadn't been using the term "converter." Many thanks, indeed.
posted by scarabic at 9:46 AM on December 26, 2003

I found such a convertor at Radio Shack once. A friend had lost her cell phone charging cradle, and had only the car cord left to recharge it. The 'Shack adaptor was much cheaper than a new home cradle.
posted by Tubes at 11:50 AM on December 31, 2003