Home News Models Alternatives
 
Smart Car of America - America's Largest Smart Fortwo Enthusiast Community   Smart Fortwo, smart car, smartcar
HOME FORUMS GALLERY

Go Back   Smart Car of America Forums > Smart Car Technical > Smart Car Operation and Maintenance

Notices

» Supporting Partner
» Recent Threads
Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-26-2009, 10:41 AM   #1 (permalink)
?*?*?
SCOA Club
 
NCC1701's Avatar
 
Location: Panama City, Florida
Drive: 2008 smart cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
12V Port dead. A fuse?

All I've used the port for was powering a notebook, an air compressor, a power inverter. Oh, and a cigarette lighter.

The port is dead. I'm guessing a blown fuse. Haven't noticed anything else unpowered. Does the port have its own dedicated fuse? If so, which one is it?

I checked the online manual. It only goes through fuse #20.

Last edited by NCC1701; 01-26-2009 at 10:45 AM..

NCC1701 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2009, 10:55 AM   #2 (permalink)
Moderator
SCOA Club
 
jwight's Avatar
 
Location: Kettering, OH
Drive: 09 smart; 03 Z06; 76 Mini
My SCOA Gallery
#21 for the 12v outlet: Evilution - Smart Car Encyclopaedia

jwight is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2009, 11:03 AM   #3 (permalink)
?*?*?
SCOA Club
 
NCC1701's Avatar
 
Location: Panama City, Florida
Drive: 2008 smart cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
Thanks jwight! I'm embarrassed that I didn't think of that resource.

NCC1701 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2009, 12:04 PM   #4 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
mvaldes's Avatar
 
Location: maplewood, nj
The OM does says a max draw of 5 amps is permitted from the 12 volt outlet. Might want to check the power draw of stuff like your inverter.

mvaldes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2009, 12:09 PM   #5 (permalink)
Don't feed the Panda
SCOA Club
 
chieftmc's Avatar
 
Location: Terre Haute, IN
Drive: 09 Red/Blk/Blk Passion
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Originally Posted by mvaldes View Post
The OM does says a max draw of 5 amps is permitted from the 12 volt outlet. Might want to check the power draw of stuff like your inverter.
My guess would be the cigarette lighter

BIG power draw

chieftmc is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2009, 09:00 PM   #6 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
Location: Mobile, AL
Drive: 2008 Passon fortwo Black++
My SCOA Gallery
5 amps at 12 volts is only 60 watts... not even enough to power a laptop (60-150W typical) with an inverter (70-90% efficiency typical). Very likely a fuse issue... can't imagine why they made it such a weak circuit. If we're going to power something it may as well do more than light up a book.

SuperGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2009, 09:04 PM   #7 (permalink)
?*?*?
SCOA Club
 
NCC1701's Avatar
 
Location: Panama City, Florida
Drive: 2008 smart cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperGeek View Post
5 amps at 12 volts is only 60 watts... not even enough to power a laptop (60-150W typical) with an inverter (70-90% efficiency typical). Very likely a fuse issue... can't imagine why they made it such a weak circuit. If we're going to power something it may as well do more than light up a book.
If what you say is true, that could explain how I blew the fuse. But, I'd used the car to power my notebook quite a lot before the problem surfaced. For what it's worth, the fuse is 15 Amp.

NCC1701 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2009, 09:21 PM   #8 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
mvaldes's Avatar
 
Location: maplewood, nj
The 5 amp "limit" came from page 165. Seemed low to me too, but there it is.

mvaldes is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2009, 09:33 PM   #9 (permalink)
?*?*?
SCOA Club
 
NCC1701's Avatar
 
Location: Panama City, Florida
Drive: 2008 smart cabriolet
My SCOA Gallery
Quote:
Originally Posted by mvaldes View Post
The 5 amp "limit" came from page 165. Seemed low to me too, but there it is.
Is it possible that is a typo? I'm in the printing industry and see typos every day I work. Ok, probably not a typo ... I'm not too swift when it comes to electronics. Why the 15 Amp fuse for a circuit rated for 5 Amps?

NCC1701 is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-27-2009, 09:40 PM   #10 (permalink)
SCOA Club
 
Location: Mobile, AL
Drive: 2008 Passon fortwo Black++
My SCOA Gallery
Laptops vary widely in their power requirements... my wife's comes with an 80W power supply, which at 70% inverter efficiency (a cheap one) would consume about 115W or 10 amps @ 12V. More advanced hardware will take more power, obviously. You may consider buying a Kill-A-Watt device - plug it into a 120V AC socket, plug whatever you want to measure into the KAW, and it'll show you how much power it's consuming - instant and over time.

The 5 amp limit is also shown on my "power port cover" which looks an awful lot like a plastic cigarette lighter. I'm guessing the written 5 amps was to allow for someone that plugs in 10 amps thinking it's close enough.

SuperGeek is offline   Reply With Quote
Today
 


This ad will not be shown if you are logged in.

Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Additional fuse locations jwight Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 2 01-06-2009 05:29 PM
Fuse box adapter jwight Audio & Video 8 09-16-2008 07:53 PM
Fuse box on 451 dbatch1715 Interior & Exterior 3 06-10-2008 05:45 AM
Brake Lights & Fuse Old SGM Smart Car General Discussion 5 05-22-2008 06:01 PM
Horn Fuse (amps)? brian r Smart Car Operation and Maintenance 3 03-10-2008 10:40 AM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.0.1

All times are GMT -7. The time now is 06:16 AM.


Smart Cars of America, LLC is not affiliated with, authorized by, associated with or have any connection with G&K, Zap, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Mercedes-Benz McLaren Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, smart Canada Division, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler LLC, DaimlerChrysler AG, Maybach, smart gmbh, a division of Mercedes Benz LLC, the manufacturer of SMART automobiles, smart USA Distributor, LLC, a division of Penske Automotive Group, Inc, the exclusive authorized U.S. importer and distributor of the smart vehicle or any of their official dealerships


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2009, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.3.0
Ad Management by RedTyger