After reading the horror stories of the 12v accessory plug, can anyone recommend a adapter for an extra 12v plug and/or usb plug.

The cap says 120 watt maximum, but I'm not exactly sure what that means and what I can and cannot plug in to exceed that.

I'm taking a 1000 mile trip in my new Sport and don't want to blow any fuses.

Looking to run my Garmin and charge a cell phone and possibly a Kindle. Wondered if the USB in glove box would possibly charge something as well.

Any advice or recommendations, preferrably from Amazon?

Thanks!

 

A GPS and a cell phone charger and a kindle all at once won't be any problem. In general, things should have listed on them how much power they consume (on the adapters if not on the devices); if it's listed in Amps rather than Watts, you can multiply the Amps by 12 volts to get the wattage. It's not exactly precise, as the voltage is only nominally 12 volts but actually somewhat higher, but it's sufficiently close for figuring out if you're at all likely to blow a fuse or not. You mainly have to start worrying when you're using higher powered devices, such as heaters, coolers, AC inverters, spotlights, or laptops.

There are all sorts of accessory outlet units available; I don't know that there's any particular reason to prefer one over another. Most of the cheap ones (and probably many of the less cheap ones) are, well, pretty cheaply made.

Ferinstance, here's a bunch of options: Amazon.com: lighter splitter: Electronics

 

For under $20 at Staples I got one with 2 lighter jacks and 2 usb jacks. It's round and shaped to fit into a cup-holder.

 

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. I found this one with a replaceable 5a fuse. Would this blow before the one in the fuse box? I don't want to be replacing fuses while on vacation.....

I did check and the usb in the glove box will charge the kindle, but not enough to use it and charge at the same time.

 

The 5A fuse in the unit (in its plug, to be precise) would blow before the fuse in the fusebox.

Also note that, if the fuse in the fusebox blows, you'd still be able to drive the car. You'd just lose the accessory socket and IIRC the radio, but no essential car functions.

 

What fuses are in the Fit? Regular blades or the mini-blades? I probably should get some for the trip in case I do blow something.

 

Have you had problems in the past I have never seen anybody this concerned? Bend down pop the cover and you can see them for yourself.

 

I didn't see anyone giving you a translation.

For a 12 volt accessory outlet, 120 watts means 10 amps. You mentioned one adapter with a 5-amp fuse which would use half the power available from the accessory outlet.

USB has evolved over the years. All versions provide 5V. Most will provide 0.5A (a half-amp or 2.5 watts) until the device you plug in requests more power. The "high-power data" versions will provide 0.9A (almost 1 amp or about 4.5 watts). There's a "battery charging" version that will provide up to 1.5A, or 7.5W. By tomorrow there will be 15 other versions and odd implementations.

I don't know which version of USB is in our glove boxes, but since it's a data application for the stereo, I would not expect more than an amp or 5W from it. You may be able to charge a phone, but if you try to continuously run a GPS application on a smart phone from it you may discharge the phone's battery. This last bit is just a guess and you are welcome to prove me wrong.

 

I would say you are correct on your assumption. When I plugged in the Kindle to it, it gave me a window telling me that it would slowly charge the kindle, but that it was not enough to allow use of the Kindle while doing so and it shut itself down.

Thanks for the very informative explanation, I understand it now....lol

And to loudbang...... No, I haven't had any problems, but if you search these forums for 12v accessory plug, you get nothing but people having problems....thus my concern to not be in their position. Especially on a 1000mi road trip.

 

not sure what the ask is, but would something like this work?

 

That's probably mostly because people don't tend to make forum posts to report that their accessory outlet is working just fine as it always has. I think you're being unnecessarily cautious to worry about stocking up on fuses before a 1000 mile trip, but if it makes you less nervous, it's perhaps money and effort well spent. (Then again, I've been known to take 1000 mile trips on the flimsiest of excuses and minimal pre-planning...such as, "Hey, I have a long weekend and don't know what to do with it.")

The owner's manual has pretty decent information on the location of the fuses and puller tool and such.

 

I didn't like the fact, that when I had something plugged into the 12v. acc. socket, I couldn't use the cup holder. Some pinheads great design!
I drilled a hole in the side of the upper glove box, and installed a second one there. Wired it to the fuse box, with it's own fuse.