Power for tablet

[1morebike]

Hello, I'm thinking of building a tablet into my dash to run maps and music. My question is charging I'm reading that most USB charging won't keep up with the draw. Should I be using an inverter. Any advice would be great as I'm pretty lost on the subject.

Thanks

 

[Ducky's Dad]

A USB charger that is designed for phones will charge a tablet, but more slowly. A USB charger that is designed for your tablet should work, but make sure your wiring is adequate for whatever the amp load is.

 

[Airmapper]

You probably need a step down voltage converter DC/DC for 12v to 5v. Your tablet uses DC so converting 12v DC to 110AC to 5V DC is kind of a waste and very inefficient. The charging issue is not from the power source, it's the amount of amps that device will allow to flow. Phone chargers are typically only rated to 1A draw.

Photo below is of a device that does this I just pulled off Amazon. I need a few of them but have yet to locate one without quality issues and complains of them either giving dirty power or not meeting the rated amp output. Perhaps your luck will be better, honestly I don't need it at the moment so I didn't keep my head in it long enough to find what I need.

Any USB plug that can output 5V/2.1A should keep a tablet happy. I don't know if higher amp USB power sources are available, the one shown claims 3A.

 

[ZMagic97]

Depends on the charger amperage output. I have never had issues with a Samsung tablet and a 2A charger that came with it letting me down. Amperage rating of your charger and amperage supplying the charger will be your big game changers. Make sure not to overdo it of course.

 

[rayra]

depends on the size and draw of the tablet, of course, but I've been using a simple 12v 'power port' (cigarette lighter) USB converter with a 1A and 2.1A 5V outputs and an iPad2 most certainly will run fine on a 2.1A port on very long road trips. Regular mixed use, reading, watching movies. 14hr trip, in use almost the whole way by more than one person, 100% at the end of the trip.

Looking around, most of the wall-wart USB charger devices are putting out 2.1A or 2.4A

You don't need to complicate things. That cig lighter adapter I'm using cost all of $12.

 

[rayra]

addendum - most all chargers / adapters put out two power levels to their USB ports. They usually have a port that only gives 1 Amp and another USB port that gives 2.1 Amps. They are labeled and it matters which one you use. The 1A won't keep up with heavy use.

also, it won't matter what sort of 'inverter' non-solution you use, you still have to channel that power thru a compatible USB piece at it isn't going to give more than 2.1 or 2.4A and then all you've done is spent a bunch more money and lost power to the inverter process as well.

If you are doing a built-in you just need a fresh 12V line and step it down to 5V and feed the correct pin on a USB cable. No need to have a bunch of extra hardware kludged together and shoved in the dash.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

You don't need to complicate things. That cig lighter adapter I'm using cost all of $12.

Yes. One of the guys who often travels with me on long trips (because he'd rather ride in my truck than drive his Jeep) will have his iPad on for the entire trip (5-14 hrs at a time) and he has never run out of power with a simple USB cable plugged into a cigarette lighter adapter. Don't overthink this. A tablet does not need the electronic equivalent of a titanium spork.

 

[1Louder]

Yes. One of the guys who often travels with me on long trips (because he'd rather ride in my truck than drive his Jeep) will have his iPad on for the entire trip (5-14 hrs at a time) and he has never run out of power with a simple USB cable plugged into a cigarette lighter adapter. Don't overthink this. A tablet does not need the electronic equivalent of a titanium spork.

Ducky for the win!

Either of these will work fine.
Scosche I2C12A 12-Watt (Fast) Car Charger with Lightning Cable for iPad 4th Gen/iPhone5/iPad Mini/iPod Nano 7th Gen /iPod Touch 5th Gen
by SCOSCHE
Link: http://amzn.com/B00E1UWA4O

AUKEY Dual Port Car Charger
by Aukey
Link: http://amzn.com/B00M6QODH2

Of course there are plenty of others. If you need to add a port for more power just get a Bluesea 12v plug (not the dual USB one) and plug any of these high output car chargers into it.

I run my iPad Air 2 all day long with no issues.

 

[1morebike]

Thanks guys. I'll just buy an adapter. I'm just now starting to play with wiring in my truck so I'm sure I'll have ton more questions.

 

[Gunner207]

There is a simple solution. I do electronics installations on boats. Google blue seas dual USB charger socket and you will find your solution. Mounts in a small hole, available in white or black. Connects to 12vdc and provides two 2.1 amp USB ports.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Gunner207]

At 5 volts of course.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[1morebike]

Perfect I have been looking at that for awhile. I'll buy two , one for this project and one for cargo area

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Or you could just pop a Blues Seas or Marinco USB adapter into an existing cigarette lighter socket.

 

[Airmapper]

Or you could just pop a Blues Seas or Marinco USB adapter into an existing cigarette lighter socket.

He wants an in dash install if I gather the OP right. I doubt he would want to run a cord out from behind the dash and tie up a externally accessible 12v port. It's just not clean.

That is why I suggested the DC/DC converter, it hooks up to hot and ground, and for the same cost as a 12V pigtail and a plug in adapter that could rattle loose back there, and wiring he already has to do, it's a cleanly installed, small USB power source that could be installed in the space behind the dash.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

He wants an in dash install if I gather the OP right. I doubt he would want to run a cord out from behind the dash and tie up a externally accessible 12v port. It's just not clean.

I was offering a cheaper, simpler alternative to Gunner207's suggestion. Most tablet installations seem to make the tablet removable for other uses.