RoadPro Stove (anyone use it)?

[sublimaze1]

When I was in heaven a few years ago (Week in Grapefruit league watching near 100 innings of baseball with my brother in law) we used the Road Pro 12 portable stove in his Camry.

Amazon.com: RoadPro 12-Volt Portable Stove, Black: Automotive

Anyone use this in the Model S? I am assuming it works, and am planning to try it on a road trip next week.

Thanks.
WJ

 

[berkeley_ecar]

When I was in heaven a few years ago (Week in Grapefruit league watching near 100 innings of baseball with my brother in law) we used the Road Pro 12 portable stove in his Camry.

Amazon.com: RoadPro 12-Volt Portable Stove, Black: Automotive

Anyone use this in the Model S? I am assuming it works, and am planning to try it on a road trip next week.

Thanks.
WJ

Appears to draw quite a bit of power (one of the blurbs warns you to have a fuse on hand). Please let us know how it works out for you, and how you actually use it (time, what you cook, etc.). Good luck!

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

I wouldn't recommend it. It'll kill the 12v battery very quickly, and Tesla doesn't have a great 12v battery system to begin with. Plus yes you'll blow a fuse (in the car).

 

[sublimaze1]

I wouldn't recommend it. It'll kill the 12v battery very quickly, and Tesla doesn't have a great 12v battery system to begin with. Plus yes you'll blow a fuse (in the car).

Good thoughts. Thanks.

Which brings me to this: Has anyone used a power inverter during trips? I am sure the answer is "yes" and I have as well. Mine draws 40A and 150 Watts continuous. This item is 15 Amps (12 with its own 15 fuse) and 144 watts. I understand you are using resistance heating which draws (certainly) but the numbers match. So I throw that out there for input please.

 

[EVCarGUy]

I wouldn't recommend it. It'll kill the 12v battery very quickly, and Tesla doesn't have a great 12v battery system to begin with. Plus yes you'll blow a fuse (in the car).

Oh jesus. No, it won't kill the 12v battery because the car will turn in the DCDC inverter and power the 12 V system from the giant battery.

No, it won't blow a fuse because it's rated at 12A, and the fuse is 15A.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Oh jesus. No, it won't kill the 12v battery because the car will turn in the DCDC inverter and power the 12 V system from the giant battery.

No, it won't blow a fuse because it's rated at 12A, and the fuse is 15A.

That is just not true. The inverter only kicks in when the 12v battery is depleted. This happens regularly 5-6 times in 24 hours in a parked car. The cycling of the 12v battery so often is what kills it.

As far as fuse, that is a matter of probability like a light bulb. But the closer you get to it, the higher the chance it'll blow. It isn't digital - soon as you exceed 15A it blows .. not really! They try to get them close, but its heat that makes the fuse melt, and its impossible to make it 100% accurate at 15.0000 Amps.

Anyway, don't believe me, try it. I wouldn't do it on my car.

 

[green1]

12v heating devices tend to be approximately useless, keep in mind the most you can get out of your car is 12v at 15a, that's 180w
Now think about your average hair dryer, it's usually 10 times that (1800w) your stove at home, even higher.

It may "cook" things over a long period of time, but it will not be quick, and the 12v outlet in the Tesla is fused lower than on most cars, so you're pretty much guaranteed to blow it.

 

[sublimaze1]

12v heating devices tend to be approximately useless, keep in mind the most you can get out of your car is 12v at 15a, that's 180w
Now think about your average hair dryer, it's usually 10 times that (1800w) your stove at home, even higher.

It may "cook" things over a long period of time, but it will not be quick, and the 12v outlet in the Tesla is fused lower than on most cars, so you're pretty much guaranteed to blow it.

Understood. Anyone who has used one of these (I have) knows that it is a food reheater moreso than a food cooker (e.g. sear your chicken at home, put it in foil along with your green beans with garlic cloves) and drive for three hours. About ten minutes before you eat, open the lid, put the minute rice bag in it and close the lid. When you are ready you have a meal.

This post provides the first tangible information (IMHO) in this thread, and that is ... the "fused lower than on most cars" comment, which I would be interested in knowing what this number is.

 

[green1]

Understood. Anyone who has used one of these (I have) knows that it is a food reheater moreso than a food cooker (e.g. sear your chicken at home, put it in foil along with your green beans with garlic cloves) and drive for three hours. About ten minutes before you eat, open the lid, put the minute rice bag in it and close the lid. When you are ready you have a meal.

This post provides the first tangible information (IMHO) in this thread, and that is ... the "fused lower than on most cars" comment, which I would be interested in knowing what this number is.

My understanding is that it has changed, possibly a few times, but 15A will be the upper limit on any Tesla, whereas 20A is very common in many other vehicles.

 

[EVCarGUy]

That is just not true. The inverter only kicks in when the 12v battery is depleted. This happens regularly 5-6 times in 24 hours in a parked car. The cycling of the 12v battery so often is what kills it.

But, "this is just not true." The inverter is on any time the vehicle is on. If you're sitting in it with the screens lit up, it's on and powering the 12v bus.

Sure cycling the battery "kills" it (can you be any more dramatic) eventually. Plugging something into the 12V accessory socket every now and then isn't going to make a significant difference.

Thanks for the explanation of how a fuse works. But how is that relevant? The device in question draws 12A. Explain why the 12V socket in the Telsa is not able to (or will fail if) asked to supply 12V at 12A.

I have one of these. It's not great - it's just a giant heater. The outside of the box gets darn hot, so be careful where you put it and where you grab onto it. But, the "OMG, YOU'LL KILL YOUR TESLA" stuff is just not true.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

@EVCarGUy - the inverter does not stay on all the time, unless they plan on sitting in the car seat while cooking. Even then I doubt it stays on all the time. You should read this article Syonyk's Project Blog: Tesla Model S 12V Battery Analysis

As far as fuse, I did explain above why the fuse is an issue and you have a higher chance of a blowout.

I didn't say this would kill your tesla, I said it would tax your 12v battery more than it would in an ICE, and you have a higher chance of blowing a fuse (your car I mean).

 

[green1]

The DC-DC converter (not an inverter) stays on if the car is "on". If the car is off, the DC-DC converter cycles as needed.

By plugging in to the 12v outlet though, you guarantee that you'll only use the device while the DC-DC converter is running because the outlet turns itself off with the car (unless you do as I have done and replace the relay that controls it with a chunk of wire to keep it on all the time)

The car itself draws quite a bit of current, so the DC-DC converter tends to cycle on fairly frequently anyway, and increasing that frequency by drawing more, while it may hurt things if done long term, will have approximately zero effect for any device used for an hour on the occasional road trip.

As for the fuse, in my car (can't guarantee for other cars) it's rated at 15A peak, but probably only about 11-12A continuous, which means this load is pretty marginal if it's really rated at 12A continuous. There's a good chance of blowing the fuse.
Additionally, the "cigarette lighter" style outlets are actually a pretty poor design, often leading to poor connections, this results in extra heat being generated when large loads are drawn. There have been reports of people burning out the outlets themselves on these cars on occasion (which would indicate poor parts quality), so there is some risk there.

Personally I wouldn't hesitate to connect a device like this to the car's electrical system, but I would probably wire it straight to the battery instead of to the existing 12v outlet.

 

[sublimaze1]

Okay so ...

I did this a couple years ago (posted information from a Tesla rep/employee) and got some backlash from it ... and therefore, it seems I have not learned my lesson. However, I feel this is appropriate to the thread, so here is what I got from a tech

(note, I am not trying to reverse engineer a Tesla ... see warning below)

"It seems the unit will run at 15 amps, that the same fuse the vehicle has for the 12v accessory outlet.

Worst case scenario the fuse might pop and the customer will need to replace it with another 15 amp fuse.

See diagram for location, you can share it it’s on the owner’s manual."



Thanks

So - I am giving it a whirl next week ... I will let you know.

 

[sublimaze1]

So I am considering menu items for my trip Monday. Any suggestions, post them here, or just PM me.

LOL

(actually, not LOL ... give it up, folks !!!)

 

[sublimaze1]

Okay, so I decided to marinade two chicken breasts in Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ sauce and Mi Madre Pique hotsauce I got from Puerto Rico. For sides, I added french cut green beans sprinkled with pine nuts and bacon bits and the second was red bliss potatoes lightly sprinkled with olive oil and wrapped in foil with garlic cloves. The beans were in foil as well, same with the chicken.

I lined the bottom of the oven with foil for easy cooking and I double foiled the morsels. (Next time I will crinkle foil under the bottom layer as the bottom touching the pan tends to burn.

I waited until I had a bit over two hours until lunch and plugged it in. Cord got warm. Warm, not hot.

At the Texarkana Supercharger, I pulled out a chair and a table (wooden TV tray table) and paired it with a Santa Margharita (I can't do red in the daytime) and voila. The chicken was a bit dry, but tender but otherwise, the 12 V Pro Stove works flawlessly with a Model S.

Regards
WJ

 

[Xenoilphobe]

another option