Cig lighter for other uses

[commoner]

Hi ......I have a FIAT Grande Punto and want to use the cig. lighter to fast charge a model plane...The lighter only works when the ignition switch is at MAR or with the engine running.........is it OK to leave at MAR for 20/30 minutes to charge the battery? The charger instructions say not to use with the engine actually running.......

Thanks in advance....commoner.

[TWR]

There is every chance depending how good a battery you have in your car, I always have the engine running when I use a Tyre inflator, again on the engine running, if your Radiator thermos switch is good there will be no chance of the engine overheating as the fan will "come in"

[chas2008]

assuming its a good battery it should be fine to charge without the engine running, i would think the power required to fast charge a plane would be quite minimal. The reason for saying dont charge with it running could be although the battery is 12v the car charges if my memory is correct at 13.8v....this may or may not be relevant ...

[AlBags]

Running engine "may" result in socket seeing more than nominal 12v (could be up to about 14v)
That's ok with a motor .. like on an inflator ..but "could" in theory damage an electronic component on a board in plugged in electronic device not designed to accept 14v.

[commoner]

thanks a lot guys...all of you answered my question........commoner