What power cable do i need?

[Patsy]

Someone gave me this mini fridge, but they didn't have the power cable to go with. I've tried searching for a suitable cable, but cant find one for the life of me. I believe the model is "dse 12v mini fridge". Here is a picture of the input

[Oshino Shinobu]

Looks like a CB Power cord. It's a power connector for CB Radios, most of them seem to be 12V (the type you'd find in a car's cigarette lighter) to the three pin connector. Spacing on the pins seems right too. 

 

 

EDIT: Whether or not something like that would work, I don't know. I'd expect something like a mini fridge to have a power brick. 

 

 

[Patsy]

4 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Looks like a CB Power cord. It's a power connector for CB Radios, most of them seem to be 12V (the type you'd find in a car's cigarette lighter) to the three pin connector. Spacing on the pins seems right too. 

 

 

EDIT: Whether or not something like that would work, I don't know. I'd expect something like a mini fridge to have a power brick. 

 

 

yes this model does come with a power brick, and was looking to plug it into a wall socket and not into a car, how would that work? 

[kb5zue]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Looks like a CB Power cord. It's a power connector for CB Radios, most of them seem to be 12V (the type you'd find in a car's cigarette lighter) to the three pin connector. Spacing on the pins seems right too. 

 

 

 

There are 3 pins but only two of the pins are electrically connected to the cord.  The pin that is separate from the other two (at the top in this pic) is the positive side, connected to the red wire lead.  The pin at the bottom is the negative lead, connected to the black wire lead.  The odd pin, or the pin in the middle, is a "key" pin.  Although this pin is not connected electrically to anything its purpose is to ensure the cord does not get plugged in to the device the wrong way avoiding connecting the positive lead to the negative contact in cooler.  It isn't much, but if you look close at the pic, you will see the middle pin is not really in the center, but is located off-center.  Just there to help avoid plugging the cord in upside-down.

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, Patsy said:

yes this model does come with a power brick, and was looking to plug it into a wall socket and not into a car, how would that work? 

You'd need to find a suitable power brick (unless you already have the brick and not the cable) and a CB radio cable that terminates in a connector that can go in a power brick. 

 

I've looked around for information on the fridge but can't find much. 

[Patsy]

2 minutes ago, kb5zue said:

There are 3 pins but only two of the pins are electrically connected to the cord.  The pin that is separate from the other two (at the top in this pic) is the positive side, connected to the red wire lead.  The pin at the bottom is the negative lead, connected to the black wire lead.  The odd pin, or the pin in the middle, is a "key" pin.  Although this pin is not connected electrically to anything its purpose is to ensure the cord does not get plugged in to the device the wrong way avoiding connecting the positive lead to the negative contact in cooler.  It isn't much, but if you look close at the pic, you will see the middle pin is not really in the center, but is located off-center.  Just there to help avoid plugging the cord in upside-down.

 

the more you know, thanks for the information. 

[kb5zue]

Just now, Patsy said:

the more you know, thanks for the information. 

glad to help.

 

[Patsy]

Just now, Oshino Shinobu said:

You'd need to find a suitable power brick (unless you already have the brick and not the cable) and a CB radio cable that terminates in a connector that can go in a power brick. 

 

I've looked around for information on the fridge but can't find much. 

yeah i was looking all last night, found someone selling the same fridge and in the photo there was a blurry pic of a power brick, guess the fridge is a dud better of in the bin

[Oshino Shinobu]

Just now, Patsy said:

yeah i was looking all last night, found someone selling the same fridge and in the photo there was a blurry pic of a power brick, guess the fridge is a dud better of in the bin

Might be worth messaging the person selling it to see if you can get them to send you pictures on the brick to see if you can get the specs and find another one with the same specs somewhere else. Or just see if they'll sell you the power cable and brick (they may have more than one power cable/brick)

[Patsy]

1 minute ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

Might be worth messaging the person selling it to see if you can get them to send you pictures on the brick to see if you can get the specs and find another one with the same specs somewhere else. Or just see if they'll sell you the power cable and brick (they may have more than one power cable/brick)

yeah, ill give that a shot, otherwise it works as a foot rest pretty good. 

[kb5zue]

From what I remember, the "brick" was a step-down voltage converter.  It changed the input voltage 110vac/120vac to 12vdc.  Hence, the step down (110 to 12) and the inverter (ac to dc).  So, if you can find a cable like the one in the pic, then you're doing fine.  Just plug it into the cigarette lighter (if you vehicle has one), and you're good to go.  All set.

 

[Patsy]

3 hours ago, kb5zue said:

From what I remember, the "brick" was a step-down voltage converter.  It changed the input voltage 110vac/120vac to 12vdc.  Hence, the step down (110 to 12) and the inverter (ac to dc).  So, if you can find a cable like the one in the pic, then you're doing fine.  Just plug it into the cigarette lighter (if you vehicle has one), and you're good to go.  All set.

 

what if i want to plug it into the wall?