12v hair dryers any use?

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James_Calvert

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Old thread re 12v hair dryers any use?

This is an old thread resuscitated by some ill directed marketing. Read no more!




SHWMBO has a 240v one she can use ashore, but would like something she can use on our mooring.

Are the 12v hair dryers you see advertised any good at all?

I suspect that if it takes say 10 minutes to dry your hair with a 240v one, it would take an hour or more with a 12v equivalent, not to mention the drain on your batteries. But maybe it's not as bad as that?

We have an Eberspacher - is there some attachment one can use from that?

Any recommendations?
 
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Someone told the other week that they found a length of ducting on their boat and eventually asked the previous owner what it was for. It fitted over the eber outlet in the cabin and his wife used it for a hair dryer.
 
Research tells me that conventional ones are usually just shy of 2kw which'd be over 150 amps at 12v..

It'd be a bitching cable.
 
Have you tried this?


Hairdryer.jpg



Heh, heh, heh... /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Anything 12V that creates a lot of heat (hairdryers, toasters, kettles, microwaves) a) needs a huge cable and b) are generally ineffecient c) in my experience of dubious quality.

You are best to fit an inverter (a standard 1500 watt model would do) and buy ordinary 230V appliances.

Interestingly, my Engel fridge runs from both 12V and 230V. From 12V it pulls 8A. From the inverter (running from the 230V) it pulls 4A.

James
 
We have a mains dryer that, on low setting, draws only 500W and it runs nicely from our 600W inverter. We only use it when there is loads of time for the batteries to recharge from solar, the generator or we are about to make a passage under power....but it is useful. Otherwise we start the genny and run from that.
 
So it seems no-one's found a 12v hair dryer any use for drying hair. Rather begs the question why there are any on the market though.

The wandering tube off the Eber looks possible, and might be worth a go - and alternatively to use a mains one with an inverter. But if the hair dryer were rated at 600W say, I'd be drawing 50A from a 12v system, assuming no power losses in the inverter - and I don't have a 12 outlet rated that high.

Thanks for all your replies.
 
James,

But the hairdryer (or anything else except a waterheater/fan heater) will only be on for a short period of time. Lets say, 5 minutes:

500/12= 41.66A.

41.66A/60 = 0.694 Ah per minute

5 mins x 0.694 = 3.47Ah

Thats not a huge draw and your wife may indulge you a bit more often!!

Other thing is you can use an electric kettle instead of gas etc etc etc.

Cheers - James
 
Very prescient as it happens (except she pays her own way at the hairdressers) but today's cut wasn't that severe. I'm told that normal drying time is now down to a couple of minutes or so.

So perhaps I ought to look at setting up a 500 or 600W inverter for her when she needs it.

If I crocodile clipped it onto the domestic battery - it's only 75AHr - it would stand the current draw for a couple of minutes, wouldn't it?
 
Croc clips aren't the way forward (too much resistance) - use decent sized cabling onto two lugs and bolt them down. Keep the DC cabling to the inverter as short as possible, the AC cables can be as long as you like.

Regards - James
 
Best hair dryer girls should buy no doubt is the karmin g3 salon pro b/c it has ionic technology that will leave the hair smooth and shiny
 
MelanieST said:
Best hair dryer girls should buy no doubt is the ****** ** ***** *** ** it has ionic technology that will leave the hair smooth and shiny
Click to expand...

Any reason to resurrect a 4½ year thread apart from a bit of blatant advertising.
 
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