12v car charger??

Fuzzyp

Member
Oct 14, 2011
8
0
Anyone come up with a Car charger for the tab?Cigar lighter plug in type.
Thanks...
 

gjhuff

Member
Oct 30, 2011
76
8
I haven't seen one yet. But there are a couple of option. First, a small inverter converting from 12V to 120AC should work. I've also seen lighter plug-ins with USB female ports.
 

Fuzzyp

Member
Oct 14, 2011
8
0
Thought about the use of small inverter but concerned if a modified/cheaper sine wave would work or if would need the True Sine wave.
Not sure where to look for the answer to that.
 

Wgaich

Member
Oct 30, 2011
8
0
Thought about the use of small inverter but concerned if a modified/cheaper sine wave would work or if would need the True Sine wave.
Not sure where to look for the answer to that.

I bought a cheap 200w inverter (I-tec brand) that looks like a coffee mug, but has a USB port. I've powered/charged a PC through this with no problems. I don't see why the Vizio tablet won't work with it, either.
 

gleas293

Member
Oct 20, 2011
10
0
I have a basic micro usb car charger for my blackberry phone from verizon that seems to work - haven't tested for longer than a minute, and but when I plug it in it seems to work. Should I not use this charger?

Sent from my VTAB1008 using Android Tablet Forum
 
Oct 10, 2011
89
23
Vizio's stock charger outputs 5V @ 2A (or 2000 mA). I'd be a little nervous about putting a higher voltage into the VTAB. A straight out car cable without a step down transformer will put out at least 12V.
 

marvin02

Senior Member
Aug 25, 2011
244
50
As stated the Vizio charger puts out 2 amps, any quality 12V to 2 Amp adapter with a USB plug should work. I have used a 1 amp charger (that's what my cell phone uses) in the car and it works, but of course it is slower.

Since the VTAB will charge from a computer USB port chargers as low as 500mA should work.

I have not tested these, but here is a Scosche charger and a Kensington charger, both rated at 2.1 amps.
 

skoster

Member
Apr 1, 2011
44
9
You don't convert 12v to 2A. What you want is 5V at 2A. Every car lighter to USB converter outputs 5V, so just find one which offers *at least* 2A. Going higher on amperage is fine, a device will draw the amperage it needs, but going lower will result in slower charging.
 

mosc

Member
Nov 3, 2011
4
1
http://www.amazon.com/Griffin-Technology-PowerJolt-Universal-Black/dp/B0021WWYE0

^
Thats what I use. The tablet came with a USB cable and a wall adapter for it, so I just use my car one too. works perfectly. :] I can charge my phone and my tablet at the same time.

Does that thing put out enough juice to charge the vtab? I have a bunch of chargers that can't get close to 2 amps and the charging lighting bolt doesn't even come on.

Sent from my VTAB1008 using Android Tablet Forum
 

Tuberocity

Member
Oct 31, 2011
5
0
Anyone come up with a Car charger for the tab?Cigar lighter plug in type.
Thanks...

I own a lighter outlet/12v/power inverter that does nothing but allow you to plug in just about any device you
might have that requires a 120v. It also has another female lighter insert to replace the one used by the unit.
It is rather large, at about half the size of a red brick, and was expensive at the time, $70, but, I've had it 10 years
with no problems, especially the problems I have had in the past with inexpensive power adaptors frying a few?
phones! You really do get what you pay for, there is no substitute for an electrical outlet of any kind on the cheap!
Spend the extra duckets, and a buy quality when Dealing with electrical devices or you may not own the devicee long!
Did a quick search on Amazon, and found this. The DURACELL DRINVP175 which should handle most needs, and has
A 3 year warranty at a decent price, and it actually protects you battery, and gear! Pay extra now, or pay more in
The end! Mine actually has a cooling fan in it, and the cig wire @ plug are of very high quality as the DURACELL looks
To be. Take care, better safe than sorry when fooling around with electricity as it can quickly cause you big problems. DO you really want to run 100's of dollars worth of gear off a $15 plastic adaptor after reading this? Think people, think!
Take care all.
 
Last edited:

skoster

Member
Apr 1, 2011
44
9
You're not actually paying for any more quality with that, you're paying for something which will convert 12V DC to 120V AC, then plugging in your Vizio converter which takes that 120V AC signal and converts it to 5V DC. The parts involved in stepping down 12V to 5V cost pennies, and nowadays the vast majority of semiconductors are made in SE Asia regardless of which manufacturers use them in their devices.

As long as you get a lighter adapter with a usb port which states that it offers AT LEAST 2A, you'll be fine.

The primary part which converts 12V to 5V in all of these circuits is a LM78S05 (LM7805K for 3A), and it has ALWAYS failed open in the incredibly few times it has failed for me (meaning that if it fails it just cuts power off).
 

chicobiker

Member
Nov 10, 2011
28
2
I think the Vtab has a 6,000mAh (6Ah) battery. In a perfect world a 2 amp charger would charge it to full in 2amp X 3hrs = 6 AMP hours. A 1 amp usb charger would take 1amp X 6hrs to get the battery to 6 AMP hours. So while you probably do not absolutely have to have a 2 amp charger, your tablet will charge twice as fast if you do.
 
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