12V cigarette lighter style output 5A rated going cheap at Halfords

[Greg]

Billy,

As a stand alone unit, in your opinion is it safe to run the mount??

I won't hold it against you if I end up frazzled, although you may have to buy me a pint!

Greg

[Psychobilly]

Everything I have seen adds up...

If you think what the unti was desinged for its essentially to run 12V car accessories which are normally plastic cased so you wouldn't have come across the tingle....its only when you use it to power "metal" cased products thta you do...

At 93uA the leakage is well within safety limits .. I used to have lot more than this to play with in the past...

The safety certification on the product appears genuine and the unit looks fairly well designed from a safety point of view FOR INDOOR USE - so keep it dry but well ventilated...dont have it sitting on the ground outdoors on a dewy night...

i might give me self a tingle later and do some more measurements...

Billy...

ps. "Official" opinions will cost ya

[Mark at Beaufort]

Thanks Billy

I really appreciate the advice and I will make sure that the unit is off the ground and lightly covered away from the dew.

Mark

[steppenwolf]

Thank you for taking the time to give such an in depth appraisal of the unit. 93 uA is a tiny amount of current so not hazardous although with a 93 volt AC component I can see why there would be a 'tingle' if your body was acting as a convenient ground!

Your advice about having it off the ground and under a cover (an ice cream container base would be good) to avoid damp ingress is very sensible - not a problem in my dome with it's de-humidifier but then I am the lucky one. I am still curious as to why I haven't been 'tingled' although it only runs the mount and the alarm and it could be that the alarm is grounding the system for me.

In any event thanks again for your valuable input!

[Reggie]

Thanks PB, glad you took the time to clear it up for everyone

[Greg]

Billy,

Thanks for the time and effort...I think we may be picking your brains again...

[michaelmorris]

I assume that all this testing has been done with a view to finding out if it is safe to use for people. Is it safe for my equipment? Could this cause voltage spikes that could damage the electronics in a camera or GOTO mount?

I have one of these units for running my dew heaters and all seems to work well. However, I also wanted to run my 12v hair dryer/dew zapper from this, but it just doesn't work properly. The fan on the hair dryer starts, then immediately stops, then restarts, then stops, the restarts etc. etc. etc. I've tried replacing the power supply but still the saem. The hair dryer works fine with my 12v battery pack. Has anyone got any ideas why this happens?

[NickH]

Well I had one like this (Maplin) which blew up...so in the market for another PSU..

Ho hum..

[Psychobilly]

I assume that all this testing has been done with a view to finding out if it is safe to use for people. Is it safe for my equipment? Could this cause voltage spikes that could damage the electronics in a camera or GOTO mount?

I have one of these units for running my dew heaters and all seems to work well. However, I also wanted to run my 12v hair dryer/dew zapper from this, but it just doesn't work properly. The fan on the hair dryer starts, then immediately stops, then restarts, then stops, the restarts etc. etc. etc. I've tried replacing the power supply but still the saem. The hair dryer works fine with my 12v battery pack. Has anyone got any ideas why this happens?

Probably trying to pll toomuch current so the ower supply is going into foldback mode to protect itself - probably employs a hick restart mechanism which tries to restart incase the overcurrent condition has been removed - quite normal for SMPS designs...

Billy...