Customer Reviews

Roadpro 12V Battery Clip-On and Cigarette Lighter Adapter

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In all four previous reviews and in the product description there is no mention on how long these cables are! In the picture they look pretty long, and you would think length would be a primary concern. So, from the back of the product packaging, once I received the product, here you are: 2 Feet long, 14-gauge wire.

I bought this to use with a Vivair air compressor that draws about 15A. It will work off some accessory sockets, my bimmer works for instance, but not for very long without the engine running. In my truck, the amp draw is high for the accessory socket and it is only active with the engine running. This is a bit of a pain when you want to check and air up your tires. So I clip this to the battery terminals and I am good to go. The clips are not huge but work fine for me and the construction overall is fine. It is nothing very fancy but it is well worth the modest price IMHO.

Works as advertised. The little clamps should be much bigger - the same size as what you have on light duty jumper cables. This way they would connect securely. Also, the short wire supplied should be a tad thicker. Main concern and 4 stars is b/c of the clamps being small and not very secure on battery terminals.

Very handy to toss in the trunk. Using this will protect your ciggy lighter socket that could get overloaded. Every car should have one. I use it for an air pump and a very powerful camp light.

Note, most lighter plugs are limited to around 10 amps by fuse or circuit breaker in addition they have long run of small (higher resistance) wire to the jack which 'may' cause a voltage drop to your equipment.

Short of 'hard wiring directly' this is the next best thing.
This has none of that and of course it's the same as hooking directly to the battery so know what you are doing (sparks, load, polarity, fingers)...

You might also want to pick up a heavy duty male to female ciggy plug extension cord...

Works fine for the occasional use. It is pretty well made, but the battery clips are pretty flimsy. They do the job for me on my cigarette lighter air pump VIAIR 85P Portable Air Compressor Both worked fine
The wire gauge was adequate and I noted no heating of the wires for the 15+ amps this pump draws.

I will say that plugging in a cigarette plug is quite hard.. you may think you're going to break something, but it does work.

The unit appears to be designed to be more or less permanently mounted as it has a "water cap" over the plug, but I'd certainly not use it for that purpose.

Some might desire longer wires. They are about 2 foot long, but I suppose no length is going to be "right" for everyone. It was adequate for me. A 12-foot extension set is available for those who might want LONG wiring RoadPro RP-203EC 12V 12' Extension Cord with Cigarette Lighter Plug

I would have given 5 star if they had heavier duty clamps

PS: I noted someone asked if you ran the engine or not.. it doesn't matter as the adapter has no idea if you are or not :) .. it carries the same amps either way unless you have a VERY LOW battery :D

This gizmo is just what I needed to run my tire inflator directly off the battery to avoid blowing fuses. This doesn't seem super heavy duty, but does the job just fine. btw, the compressor runs much faster directly off the battery than from the cigarette lighter.

Note, the length of the cord isn't too long so I recommend the cigarette lighter extesion cord.

Bought the item to create a backup DC power source for my CPAP machine. It was the ideal solution that I needed to complete the backup system.

Works like a charm for filling the tires on my boat trailer without having to pull the trailer up next at car that has a cigarette lighter. I just clip the adapter up to my boat's 12V trolling motor battery and plug in my 12V portable air compressor. It's as simple as that. And, you can't beat the price.

I have few spare batteries can be used for various car appliances. This tool helps to quickly tap into power of each battery. Also my car battery tester uses the DC adapter (cigarette lighter type), so the test can be done easily on each battery with this adapter.

Works fine but I downgraded because it looks longer in the photograph, however, it is only about 24" length. There is also a cap for the cigarette adapter end that is not shown in the photo.