[Mauronic]

I have a ridiculous amount of gear that needs charging. I have been looking into DC solutions to so I don’t have to run my inverter.

Here’s what I found so far, I am thinking that the car lighter option would future proof the setup.

Any thoughts?

• 65W panel mount
• 100W car lighter
• 60W Cabinet Mount
• 12 V 120W - no mount
• Bare Board
• Panel Mount Extension Cable

 

[Whoknows]

Not sure what you are trying to power with the 100w. I’ve been struggling to get a good reliable DC source charger for my MacBook. I’ve tried 3 versions that either claim to support or folks said they’ve had luck with and none of them have worked very well or if they did not for very long. It’s with mentioning MacBooks (and I think the standard that they use for sending 100w seems to be restricted to 6ft or so. I leaned this the hard way by getting one with a 6 foot cord I tried to extend. You have the right idea in my opinion. DC outlets that you can plug an outlet into. Then as standards change its just a 20$ outlet change.

 

[RancorPDX]

I tend to lean towards the lighter socket options as well, since as you said you can upgrade any time you need. The power output always seems to be higher than any of the built-in options

This was one I came across just the other day:
Baseus 160w 2x USB C + 1x USB A cig lighter

For basic phone or iPad charging, this one seems promising and is made by a reputable brand:
Anker 50w 2x USB C cig lighter

Our current, basic adapter:
Spigen 65w 2x USB cig lighter

We’ve been using the last one for almost a year with no issues for dual phone charging, plus the light isn’t bright at all which is nice. When we get our van I’m guessing I’ll buy the Baseus adapter because of the high power outputs, plus I’ve used other stuff from their brand and it’s fairly well made.

I have a ridiculous amount of gear that needs charging. I have been looking into DC solutions to so I don’t have to run my inverter.

Here’s what I found so far, I am thinking that the car lighter option would future proof the setup.

Any thoughts?

• 65W panel mount
• 100W car lighter
• 60W Cabinet Mount
• 12 V 120W - no mount
• Bare Board
• Panel Mount Extension Cable

 

[dorkmatt]

See USB-C Sockets that don't illuminate thread for additional examples

 

[kenryan]

I have a ridiculous amount of gear that needs charging. I have been looking into DC solutions to so I don’t have to run my inverter.

Here’s what I found so far, I am thinking that the car lighter option would future proof the setup.

Any thoughts?

• 65W panel mount
• 100W car lighter
• 60W Cabinet Mount
• 12 V 120W - no mount
• Bare Board
• Panel Mount Extension Cable

I bought some of the first item on your list. They look good to me. I really like being able to turn the pretty led on and off. I will mount 3 or 4 of those, and alongside each one I will put a 12 volt receptacle.

FYI if you didn't already know, you cannot get the full rated charging capabilities of USB3 at 12 volts. So, if you have a 24 volt system you would want to connect the charging device directly to a 24 volt source, not your 12 volt converted source.

 

[jrice128]

After perusing the options a little while ago we bought a couple of the "cabinet mount" version you listed, though we haven't installed yet. I'd be a little wary of the no-name options on Amazon for charging circuitry, especially anything touting higher PD wattages. They may end up being fine, but 🤷‍♂️. I also like that their panel mount adapter has no lights.

True that it won't be quite as easy as a cigarette lighter style to change out, but switching the coolgear out for a newer version (which they seem to be producing, as they now have a dual 100W PD unit that didn't exist when we bought ours), would just be popping the terminal block connector and snapping it into a new unit (and un-mounting 1-2 screws/bolts).

I also like that they support programmable power supply (PPS), so with some additional circuitry they can be used to directly power some devices that would've otherwise needed an AC wall wort; i.e., lower-moderate power devices that take a DC barrel plug and require a voltage other than ~5,~12, or ~24 volts.

Note that it looks like their higher output options are going to require a 24V source.

Always interested in other options though if anyone has suggestions- they just seemed like one of the more reputable brands that supported USB-PD charging and PPS.

 

[6ixgun]

I use a GoalZero Yeti 500X - got it on a Black Friday deal for $400, best $ I have ever spent. AND it fits in a drawer / does not require any wiring into the van system. It has USB, cigarette charging and AC. Completely eliminated the need for an on board inverter in my rig too - I can power small AC items (shavers, lights, etc) and charge any USB item FAST. I also run my Apple iMac from it on days I need a computer. 100% charged by my on board solar system. Never run out once and I've been off grid for 10 days at a time. And its portable so I can use it anywhere. I have even powered portable photography flash units from it.

 

[Mauronic]

FYI if you didn't already know, you cannot get the full rated charging capabilities of USB3 at 12 volts.

Ahhh I didn’t consider that 👍🏼

 

[gregoryx]

We have a couple of units that are like #2 on your list. Did ones like #1 in the Sprinter and ended up swapping them out as tech changed. The ones that just plug into a 12VDC outlet seemed to serve our needs better. I have a USB-PD meter (I have a couple of them, actually - and they behave differently) that help display what voltage / wattage any PD device negotiates and... wow... everything behaves differently. And the metering devices unfortunately affect some things as they negotiate. We have a number of OnePlus phones, so we have specific chargers for their proprietary protocol; and everything else is a USB-PD of one brand or another - those charge the tablets / computers as well as phones, but never as fast as the OEM chargers. These devices are either in the various plugs for use while driving or at night in case we shut off the inverter to save power.

If you're talking about while IN the van, I don't see the benefit to running DC-based. Even if we turn off the inverter at night, it's not a big background draw - we do it just to shut off everything easily. Ours is ~20W background and that's just not that much. 🤷‍♀️

 

[Van Gogh]

I have a ridiculous amount of gear that needs charging. I have been looking into DC solutions to so I don’t have to run my inverter.

Here’s what I found so far, I am thinking that the car lighter option would future proof the setup.

Any thoughts?

• 65W panel mount
• 100W car lighter
• 60W Cabinet Mount
• 12 V 120W - no mount
• Bare Board
• Panel Mount Extension Cable

I wish I had bought a spare of the one I'm using, since it appears to no longer be on Amazon (update: just found it on Alieexpress but can't ship to US for some reason, tariffs maybe; wrote to them asking how to order more)

It's been rock solid. Two USB-A QC 3.0 ports for misc small devices up to 36W total between the two, and a PD 3.0 65W USB-C port for super fast PD charging my android phone or surface laptop. I'm not sure what protocol apple uses for fast charging though. Here's what it supports:

Caveat: Some Amazon reviewers had complained theirs failed early. I suspect it's because a) they were using the cig-lighter end plugged into a van cig outlet (I personally think that's a bad idea when drawing lots of power over long periods of time) or b) the device only works well with a stable input voltage. All I know is I've never once had an issue, but mine mine is hard-wired into my 48V house DC power system and fed by the always-stable 13.8V output from my DC to DC converter.

In any event, I would try to find something you can hard wire. When pulling that much power, if you bump a cig style device, or it's turned awkwardly and the contact patch is small, they can arc/melt. My brother in law had that happen in his Jeep. I guess you can hard wire a socket, then shove one of those into it, but that seems just as bad. But if others have had good luck for long periods with the cig styles pulling high watts, then maybe they're fine.

A goal zero just for PD/USB charging is probably nice and all, but it's a bit overkill if you already have a full blown house power system. I paid $40 for my device, so even $400 (now $549) is a huge extra cost. And the one I'm using weighs a few ounces and fits in the palm of my hand.

Cheers.

 

[dinocarsfast]

Ahhh I didn’t consider that 👍🏼

That’s not always true.

I bought this one and it provides 20v to a usb-c when plugged into my 12v socket and can charge a laptop
Baseus 160w 2x USB C + 1x USB A cig lighter

I haven’t done much testing with it but 100 watts through a cigarette lighter is a bit excessive for me and I think it will eventually burn the contacts. So I broke it open and plan to solder wires directly to the board, and the LEDs are easy to disable when it’s open

 

[RancorPDX]

The hard-wired options being posted do look really nice, it’s just a shame there aren’t that many 12v-native usb charging solutions like Van Gogh posted. I’m hoping to have a “charging drawer” for all our devices so they have a place to live, with some sort of USB A and USB C charging hub at the back for all the wires to plug into. I guess I can live with it being powered by 110/120v since there are so many better options at that voltage.

We’ll be using a Goal Zero 3000X with around 600w of solar so even with the inverter on most of the time we should be fine.

“GaN” chargers, though more expensive, tend to be smaller and generate less heat if that’s important to you.

110/120v USB C PD Hub Options:

Amazon Basics 100w 2x USB C (1x PD) + 2x USB A
Satechi 165w 4x USB C PD GaN Charging Station
UPmark 185w GaN 8 port USB C and USB A hub


Satechi is a good brand I’ve had luck with, as is UGreen, Mophie and of course Anker. The other randomly named brands might be a crap-shoot but might also work just fine.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

The timing of this is interesting b/c I’ve been looking into mini-PC’s that run off USB-C and the difficulty has been identifying the proper voltage/Amps required to power them. I was leery of using step-up devices like posted here, but that might be the best choice.

 

[Van Gogh]

I wish I had bought a spare of the one I'm using, since it appears to no longer be on Amazon (update: just found it on Alieexpress but can't ship to US for some reason, tariffs maybe; wrote to them asking how to order more)

It's been rock solid. Two USB-A QC 3.0 ports for misc small devices up to 36W total between the two, and a PD 3.0 65W USB-C port for super fast PD charging my android phone or surface laptop. I'm not sure what protocol apple uses for fast charging though. Here's what it supports:
View attachment 187848
Caveat: Some Amazon reviewers had complained theirs failed early. I suspect it's because a) they were using the cig-lighter end plugged into a van cig outlet (I personally think that's a bad idea when drawing lots of power over long periods of time) or b) the device only works well with a stable input voltage. All I know is I've never once had an issue, but mine mine is hard-wired into my 48V house DC power system and fed by the always-stable 13.8V output from my DC to DC converter.

In any event, I would try to find something you can hard wire. When pulling that much power, if you bump a cig style device, or it's turned awkwardly and the contact patch is small, they can arc/melt. My brother in law had that happen in his Jeep. I guess you can hard wire a socket, then shove one of those into it, but that seems just as bad. But if others have had good luck for long periods with the cig styles pulling high watts, then maybe they're fine.

A goal zero just for PD/USB charging is probably nice and all, but it's a bit overkill if you already have a full blown house power system. I paid $40 for my device, so even $400 (now $549) is a huge extra cost. And the one I'm using weighs a few ounces and fits in the palm of my hand.

Cheers.

Just FYI, I wrote to Edeco's Allieexpress store and the seller said they discontinued it, but he made one available for me to buy out of the limited stock they still have. Nice! Only $33 total with ship after $5+ discount due to an Allieexpress site-wide sale.

I think they discontinued it because it was never marketed to the right people, or the few who bought it weren't hardwiring it, and instead were using the cig-lighter in an average car, which is a bad idea in my view. It's possible my DC to DC converter is helping though. It delivers a stable 13.8V, so maybe these units really do struggle with the wide voltage range from an alternator/battery setup.

All I know is I just cut the cig lighter off of mine and wired the ends directly into a very nearby power point, and I've had no issues. I did also add a switch on the power input though, so I can easily turn it off and stop parasitic drain, which is really low, like 1W I think, but mostly I don't like to leave devices on for months at a time when I'm not using them, like traveling overseas. Although I apparently forgot and did that recently. No issues after 3.5 months of sitting there on without use, but still, better to turn it off in those situations.

If extending it further away from a power point, I'd cut off the cig lighter it comes with very close to the device, then make a nice clean connection into better/thicker wiring, probably 12 AWG silicon jacketed tinned copper fine stranded wire for a medium length run. Might be overkill, but I buy that stuff in bulk and it's super flexible and easy to work with.

Stoked to have scored another one for $33. I plan to mount it somewhere behind passenger swivel so I have more outlets and don't have to run the long USB-C cable from behind the driver's seat power panel across to passenger swivel where I sit. With the surface laptop, sometimes I'm on it so many hours that it's better to just have it plugged in than to cycle the battery over and over. So having more power by the passenger swivel is looking like the way to go. I still like having the one behind the driver's seat for misc device charging though: earbuds, packraft pump, gopro batteries, etc.

Cheers.

 

[gregoryx]

The timing of this is interesting b/c I’ve been looking into mini-PC’s that run off USB-C and the difficulty has been identifying the proper voltage/Amps required to power them. I was leery of using step-up devices like posted here, but that might be the best choice.

Most everything running off USB-C currently is using the USB-C-PD specs. That doesn't mean they'll work the way they're expected to work; but it usually means that they'll negotiate /something/ that works.

I power two Surface tablets on my desk (one Pro, one Go) off this USB-PD / USB thing and they both report "weak charging state" even though the power is more than enough to charge them while in use. Between the tablets and the chargers, I haven't found any USB-PD that these things "like" - they mostly only like their native chargers. But I have been running them this way for over a year now. - just less power supplies to deal with. And I've used DC boost to run Intel NUCs in the past - so I can confirm that works well - no "USB PD" spec worries in there.

In the van, I have added this battery thing in between the standard power (12V or 24V) just to assure that the two RPIs and router/firewall in the van are isolated from any other stuff going on. Off the back of those, I buck or boost to whatever power required. So USB-C with 5V/4A capacity for a Raspberry Pi 4 with an SSD, or boost up to 20V with any of the above options for getting higher output.

FWIW... next step is adding this device in between all the above to offer a remote reboot and power-monitoring for each of these devices. Haven't wired it in yet, so... we'll see. 🤔

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Most everything running off USB-C currently is using the USB-C-PD specs. That doesn't mean they'll work the way they're expected to work; but it usually means that they'll negotiate /something/ that works.

I power two Surface tablets on my desk (one Pro, one Go) off this USB-PD / USB thing and they both report "weak charging state" even though the power is more than enough to charge them while in use. Between the tablets and the chargers, I haven't found any USB-PD that these things "like" - they mostly only like their native chargers. But I have been running them this way for over a year now. - just less power supplies to deal with. And I've used DC boost to run Intel NUCs in the past - so I can confirm that works well - no "USB PD" spec worries in there.

In the van, I have added this battery thing in between the standard power (12V or 24V) just to assure that the two RPIs and router/firewall in the van are isolated from any other stuff going on. Off the back of those, I buck or boost to whatever power required. So USB-C with 5V/4A capacity for a Raspberry Pi 4 with an SSD, or boost up to 20V with any of the above options for getting higher output.

FWIW... next step is adding this device in between all the above to offer a remote reboot and power-monitoring for each of these devices. Haven't wired it in yet, so... we'll see. 🤔

So an RPi or similar is what I was thinking b/c we use an Nvidia shield with a portable drive on a 12v tv. Trying to eliminate the need for the inverter on the shield. I just can’t seem to find concrete info on if those 12v cigaretter lighter that support C-PD will fry the Rpi

 

[gregoryx]

So an RPi or similar is what I was thinking b/c we use an Nvidia shield with a portable drive on a 12v tv. Trying to eliminate the need for the inverter on the shield. I just can’t seem to find concrete info on if those 12v cigaretter lighter that support C-PD will fry the Rpi

Doesn't fry it - at least not the ones I've used. I've plugged into them with an RPI4 and it's worked. But it seems wiser and simpler to just do a power-only setup - without the USB-PD functions. In the van, I'm running this unit to get from the 12V battery thing into an RPI4 with a 4TB SSD in it. Seems great for months now.

Doesn't the Nvidia Shield have a DC input?

 

[eranrund]

In the van, I have added this battery thing in between the standard power (12V or 24V) just to assure that the two RPIs and router/firewall in the van are isolated from any other stuff going on. Off the back of those, I buck or boost to whatever power required. So USB-C with 5V/4A capacity for a Raspberry Pi 4 with an SSD, or boost up to 20V with any of the above options for getting higher output.

It looks like it supports up to 1A per 12V output. But sounds like that was sufficient for your RPi. I wonder if it sufficient for the Instyconnect that I have arriving tomorrow...
Separately, any concerns about the battery getting charged below freezing? I doubt the internal BMS protects against that. Kind of an edge case since I am guessing once the battery is full it just passes power through and doesn't go through the battery, so you'll need to have your power go off and restored below freezing for charging to take place, but in theory that could still happen.

 

[TarpitCarnivore]

Doesn't fry it - at least not the ones I've used. I've plugged into them with an RPI4 and it's worked. But it seems wiser and simpler to just do a power-only setup - without the USB-PD functions. In the van, I'm running this unit to get from the 12V battery thing into an RPI4 with a 4TB SSD in it. Seems great for months now.

Doesn't the Nvidia Shield have a DC input?

yeah but it has a proprietary connector, its the TV and not the tablet one.

 

[Mauronic]

In the van, I have added this battery thing in between the standard power (12V or 24V) just to assure that the two RPIs and router/firewall in the van are isolated from any other stuff going on.

Very cool! I have an old-ish APC UPS backing up my networking stuff, I could have bought that thing instead of spending $51 on a 7Ah pB battery when the original one died!🤦‍♂️