I've been using an extended car lighter socket inside my tent for the last couple of years.
My previous car had 2 permanently live sockets in the boot which I could run the cable from and keep the car safely locked up at night. However, my new car doesn't so now I've got 2 mini crocodile clips on my car battery terminals instead of plugging into the cigar lighter.
If you cut the cable that the extension lead comes with you can join a piece of 12v cable (I've used B&Q garden lighting cable that I had left over from when I put lights in my garden) and then join it up. For added safety I cut the pieces so that one join is inside the car and the other is inside the tent, although both joins are wrapped in waterproof tape.
This arrangement means that provided I've got the tent within 15 metres of the car I can have 12v electricity. I've also got a 75w invertor that I can use for an Ikea IP44 rated lamp with an 11w low energy bulb meaning that I can also have some 240v electricity as well.
For this whole arrangement you need 1 car accessory socket adapter, some 12v garden light cable, 4 strip connectors to make the connections either side of the extension, black and red waterproof tape (to insulate the joins and mark the live and earth terminals if you use crocodile clips) and depending on you car's wiring 2 small crocodile clips (I got mine in Halfords), scissors and a small screwdriver. The 240v light and inverter are completely optional. The whole project should only take a few minutes.
Two final tips
1) Don't be tempted to make the cable too long as the voltage will start to drop off over 20 metres or so and be very noticeable on cable lengths of 30 metres;
2) Don't cross the cables over when your joining the pieces.
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Topic: Car lighter extension?
