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Voltage reducer for Model Y 12v socket to use with finicky accessories?

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I am trying to use an Outdoormaster Shark 2 board inflator which has a 12v plug. It works fine in my wife's ICE car's socket (and a similar unit even used to work in my old MS), but in both of my 2022 MY's 12 lighter sockets, after a few seconds it displays an error code indicating voltage too high.

From reading other threads, I understand the "12v" socket is a newer Li ion device and actually around 14-16 volts, which apparently is too high for this accessory. Can someone recommend an adapter/converter (male to female) that will reduce and stabilize the voltage closer to 12v? I've searched it a few ways and am having trouble locating one that does this exact thing.

Thanks,
Rob
 
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I am trying to use an Outdoormaster Shark 2 board inflator which has a 12v plug. It works fine in my wife's ICE car's socket (and a similar unit even used to work in my old MS), but in both of my 2022 MY's 12 lighter sockets, after a few seconds it displays an error code indicating voltage too high.

From reading other threads, I understand the "12v" socket is a newer Li ion device and actually around 14-16 volts, which apparently is too high for this accessory. Can someone recommend an adapter/converter (male to female) that will reduce and stabilize the voltage closer to 12v? I've searched it a few ways and am having trouble locating one that does this exact thing.

Thanks,
Rob
DIY is possible for $11.99 but you need to buy additional 12V plug and outlet connecting each end of the device and use a flat tip screw driver to adjust to your desired 12V output voltage. I haven't bought one so I have no experience.

61DENZ8pEZL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
 
Does this attach to the existing socket? I'm not necessarily looking to DIY (DIM?), I'm not very handy electrically and willing to pay for something that works.
No, it doesn’t. Someone needs to assemble it with 2 ends.

You might want to ask a High School science/physic teacher to give the students this assignment in exchange for your donation.
 
Does this attach to the existing socket? I'm not necessarily looking to DIY (DIM?), I'm not very handy electrically and willing to pay for something that works.
I'm not aware of a ready-made product that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, regulates the voltage and provides that to another cigarette lighter socket. It wouldn't be terribly hard to construct something like that, but does require some handiness with electrical construction.

If you know someone who could help , and without starting from scratch, this might be a good starting point product:
https://a.co/d/bzXv4KO

It has a digital voltage monitor for the existing lighter socket, and then provides regulated USB 5 volt plus unregulated extension sockets. What I would think of doing with this would be to buy it, open up the main box and remove at least one of the three extension sockets and/or the collection of USB paraphernalia in order to make some room inside the box. At that point, insert a regulator like the one shown by @Tam above, or something functionally similar to get the reduced voltage output.

Here, it's important to note that the normal voltage of an automotive "12 volt" system, while running and charging the battery, is more like 14.2 volts nominal. It can range from around 13.5 to over 15 volts. A robustly designed automotive accessories should handle up to about 18 or more but this is a very uncommon situation and many accessories aren't so robustly designed.

(I'm not really sure why Tesla's new lithium-ion battery system operates at such a relatively high voltage; I think it could have been set up lower but there's an issue of the internal cells having a relatively high individual voltage. Perhaps 4x series sells was too low and 5x was somewhat too high but deemed acceptable - I haven't looked into it further. I think they could have put in a regulator downstream but they didn't want the cost.)​

Potentially a very simple solution to insert into the box, short of a real regulator, would be a couple of series-connected silicon diodes. Together these would drop roughly 1.4 volts from the existing (15.6V?) Ccgarette lighter output. Each diode would dissipate approximately 0.7 watts per ampere of load-draw current, so there's a minor consideration for adequate heatsinking. I'd also throw in at least 100 microfarads of capacitance at the second diode output. Again, this is not assuming that you will be doing the build yourself, but simply some working suggestions for a friend who has some electronics knowledge and experience.

I'll search a little more, but so far I haven't seen exactly the product you're werelooking for, a purpose built lighter socket regulator/stabilizer to deliver a nice clean ~14 volts to the output socket.

Final comment here - it will be interesting to see what Tesla does in the next generation vehicles, were they're rumored to finally adopt a 48 volt bus for the so-called low-voltage side. Almost certainly this will include a regulated 12 to 14 Volt secondary bus for compatibility with certain legacy and aftermarket accessories. So I think this weird 15.6 volt situation will go away in the foreseeable future.
 
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How about using the USB-C port instead...?


or

Not a bad thought, but those products are both rated to put out 3A max. The air pump mentioned by the OP draws 10 amps, i.e. 120W in operation. Even if a more powerful version of the usb-c to cigarette lighter product exists, I'm quite sure the Tesla usb-c ports can't put out anything like 120W. The Tesla lighter socket is rated for 12A continuous / 16A max.

By the way, this also means that the regulator linked above isn't hefty enough for this application; the link says 3A Max for that one also. My diode idea might still work, but each of the two diodes will need to to be conservatively rated for more than 10 amps and would need some heatsinking to shed >7 watts each.

@lightningrob I'm starting to think it might be better to pack a 12 volt battery charged up at home. I'm not sure about using one of the new style lithium-ion jump starters for this purpose; they can put out hundreds of amps in short bursts but might not be designed for a few minutes of continuous 10 amp output. I would go to a place like Batteries Plus to find out what kind of batteries or self-contained 12 volt backup appliances they could sell for this kind of application. Might be smarter and easier than trying to get the Tesla to do this job. You could also ask the company who makes the inflator and see if they have a device or a recommendation.
 
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This should be easily doable with the right DC-DC converter. Finding a suitable one took some research. I've ordered some parts which should arrive this Thursday, and will then will make up a prototype adapter. If we start selling them, it will probably go for about $75 for a converter that would output 10A at 13.8V, which matches the expected voltage of a standard 12V lead-acid car battery and therefore should be good for nearly anything. For higher-powered items, we could use a 20A converter, but that adds another $30 to the cost. I understand the Model 3/Y socket is rated for 12A continuous or 15A max. Will post the results when it's finished :)
 
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All finished! Here's a picture of the device. I used a 8-40V buck/boost converter and simply connected the cables to it. Tested and works very well, maintaining a precise 13.8V output while running accessories regardless of the input voltage. This is a fairly easy project if you wish to DIY and have some basic electrical know-how. For those who would like one fully assembled, we're offering them for sale now on the EVSE Adapters site.
 

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All finished! Here's a picture of the device. I used a 8-40V buck/boost converter and simply connected the cables to it. Tested and works very well, maintaining a precise 13.8V output while running accessories regardless of the input voltage. This is a fairly easy project if you wish to DIY and have some basic electrical know-how. For those who would like one fully assembled, we're offering them for sale now on the EVSE Adapters site.
Very nice. This might be useful for powering my portable fridge via USB-C. The compressors most of these coolers use don't operate at 20V (only in ranges around 12V or 24V), but 20V/5A is the only USB-C PD output that I think can get the compressor started.