Charging your drill in the truck...

**VoodooDaddy** · 01-30-2014, 06:55 PM

Do any of you guys have a charger for your cordless drill that runs off your cig lighter? If so, did you buy it or make it? Maybe I should buy some new batteries, but I have an old 12v dewalt drill that I would like to keep with me for the just in case factor...

**gamedayron** · 01-30-2014, 07:03 PM

They sell the small converters the plug into your lighter then they give you normal household outlets , works well and they're only 20 bucks

**VoodooDaddy** · 01-30-2014, 07:26 PM

Thanks, I guess I would have known that if I looked at things to SPEND money on lol... Has anyone tried to make their own?

**Mick** · 01-30-2014, 07:51 PM

In addition to the two plugin chargers, I got one of these:Milwaukee 2510-20 M12 12V Lithium-Ion Vehicle Charger

**Patriot76** · 01-30-2014, 08:04 PM

I use a converter to charge my 20 v Dewalt batteries. Not only does it keep the batteries charged, it also keeps them warm so in cold weather they still work. Big advantage in the deep freeze we are experiencing.

**Copperli** · 01-30-2014, 08:15 PM

What I don't get is they tell you to put batteries in the freezer to keep them fresh , but when there in the freezer(outside) they just die constantly. Here's a batt tip I learned (Dewalt 18v). Trying blowing on the battery terminals where they plug into charge. If you do this a few times it does go into cold pack delay to charge up. Saves a lot of time charging

**sawmilleng** · 01-31-2014, 12:02 AM

Voodoo,

It seems to me there is an instructional thread on SMF where a kind soul gave us a bit of a run-down on repowering a small UPS with bigger batteries.

But you could do the same thing by finding a small UPS that worked off 12V batteries. Toss the old batteries (they are probably toast anyway) and hook the UPS into your vehicle battery. Bingo! Free 120V to plug your tool charger into.

The only thing you need to be careful of is that the UPS works on 12V. If its a small one, you probably can arrange it to plug into your ciggy lighter, although I don't know how many amps a ciggy lighter is rated for. But the tool chargers are a pretty small load.

Jon.

**eesakiwi** · 01-31-2014, 09:51 PM

I found a old battery drill with a dud battery & I got a plug for the cars cigerette lighter & a length of old speaker cable.

I then joined it all together & got a 12v drill that runs off the cars 12volt lighter socket.

**thortek** · 02-01-2014, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by sawmilleng

Voodoo,

It seems to me there is an instructional thread on SMF where a kind soul gave us a bit of a run-down on repowering a small UPS with bigger batteries.

But you could do the same thing by finding a small UPS that worked off 12V batteries. Toss the old batteries (they are probably toast anyway) and hook the UPS into your vehicle battery. Bingo! Free 120V to plug your tool charger into.

The only thing you need to be careful of is that the UPS works on 12V. If its a small one, you probably can arrange it to plug into your ciggy lighter, although I don't know how many amps a ciggy lighter is rated for. But the tool chargers are a pretty small load.

Jon.

Most Cigarette lighters are run on a 30amp fuse. Not sure what kind of amperage a UPS converted into a convertor would pull. But I'd probably hook mine up like this.....

Go to the battery of your truck and run a 2 or 4 gage wire from the positive battery terminal (With a large fuse found at any car audio shop) THROUGH the firewall into the cab. Run it under the carpet (or rubber matting) to the back of the back seat.
Run the wire to a 50 amp relay.
And hook the Convertor up to the other side of the relay
Run a switch with power, in/under your dash to the relay.
PRESTO!! You can safely run your convertor, and have remote control over the power of the unit.

**armygreywolf** · 02-01-2014, 09:10 PM

FYI Most 12V cigarette lighter outlets are 20 amp, not 30. I have two in my dodge, each is wired to it's own fuse and both are 20, one shares power with the radio too.

The relay is the best bet, anything to take load off the truck's wiring harness. Run your power from the battery and have the ability to turn it off with the key or a switch...I may rewire my inverter like this.

**BurlyGuys** · 02-02-2014, 07:29 AM

Well my answer is a little bit different. I had a big job to do that was going to run a cordless most of the day. Decided to pick up extra batteries for my cheapie HF drill, but when I got to HF I saw that the batteries alone were 14 bucks, but to buy a drill *with* a battery was only two dollars more.

I now have six HF drills (yes,the job i was doing justified the cost) with chargers set up at all times in the shop, so I can head out with up to six charged batts at any time. More than enough for most jobs.

**VoodooDaddy** · 02-02-2014, 09:37 AM

Its probably not worth the trouble for me, as most of my drill use gets done at home. I just posted an clist ad informing people that I can leave the hard drive with them if they would like, as I cant give proof of destruction for DoD or HIPAA... So far, im not getting any responses though. I am only using ryobi 18v drill and sawzall, and when cutting, those batts die quick.

**Mechanic688** · 02-02-2014, 04:52 PM

Just a 400-500 inverter plugged will run 2 chargers with ease.

**happyisthealero** · 02-15-2014, 12:52 PM

just to clarify 400-500watt?

**sawmilleng** · 02-15-2014, 02:06 PM

Just looked at my 18V Dewalt charger: 2 amps at 120V which is 240watts.

Gotta be careful, though--a 500watt inverter powered at 12V is about 45 amps out of the battery.

Jon.

Charging your drill in the truck...

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