GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Just wondering what you guys plug into your outlet! I love having a 12v and a normal wall outlet in the Vibe.

Post what you use it for!

I used it once to plug in a computer. It made funny noises so I unplugged it after a while. I've never had any other uses for it. I would have better use from another cig lighter outlet.

Wife plugs her 110Vac-to-5Vdc "charger" for her NOOK into it when driving.

The only thing I've ever plugged into it is my cell phone charger. Android phones are horrible for battery life, especially when running the Torque app...

Most often, I've used my MacBook charger when using it for GPS on long drives. Once in a while, an iPad 2.
Less often, a string of Christmas lights, neon and a blacklight (proof of concept for my then-15-year-old son), an inkjet printer-doing prints at a car show, and a small TV. My cell charger and my iPod-to-FM device are both 'cigarette-lighter' compatible so I don't need the 110-V for them.

my center console storage is so crowded with stuff, i don't even use that 'extra' lighter plug anymore.

so i usually plug in a phone charger. i'll charger the ipad every once in a while.

my girlfriend at the time used it for her hairdryer once.

MrHatchWagon wrote:The only thing I've ever plugged into it is my cell phone charger. Android phones are horrible for battery life, especially when running the Torque app...

Ditto. My phone is so bad when I run a couple of apps like Torque and I heart radio, the 12v charger will not even keep the battery from dying on a longer trip. I have to use the 110v charger to keep my phone from dying as it charges faster.

I've tried to use a couple of small power tools, like a drill and scroll saw, but it tripped the circuit breaker on my son's car.

Someone on here posted a pic of Christmas lights (minatures or LEDs) wrapped around the roof rack and plugged into it. I think they might have even had a small lighted tree on it.

These things don't put out a lot of power, they are great for battery chargers for cameras, phones, etc, when you don't have a 12v adapter for the device. Please don't overload it with hair dryers and drills, you will either blow the CB, burn up the converter or the wiring. Use it for what its made for.

Charles

Never used it. In fact, until reading this post I basically forgot it was there.
I use the lighter to charge my phone on occasion, that's about it.

We've only ever used the 115v outlets to charge our cell phones. The cigarette lighter outlets have never been used in either of our Vibes. It's so nice to not have to worry about buying seperate car chargers for our cell phones anymore !

I used it to run a small fridge once.

I have used it with an extension cord to run the blower on my woodstove during several winter power failures.

I have used it to power a TV, a laptop, wifi, etc (not at the same time) during summer (hurricane) power failures.

It's rural where I live, 100% reliable power is not something that can be assumed)

Cell phone charger usually... but it has powered a hair staightener before...

ramenboy... wrote:
my girlfriend at the time used it for her hairdryer once.

And I thought that was why they invented the SUNROOF The faster you drive, the quicker your hair dries

I haven't found too much use for it (I think mine is 115?), since there are only two prongs (my laptop chargers have 3 prongs) and the space for chargers is limited. I managed to use it for my new phone charger, though, and my friend was quite impressed that this outlet existed on the car.

"Why doesn't every car have this?" he asked.
"Because not every car is a Pontiac Vibe" was my reply.

I really do wonder why more cars don't have this feature, though.

Bastranz wrote: I managed to use it for my new phone charger, though, and my friend was quite impressed that this outlet existed on the car.

"Why doesn't every car have this?" he asked.
"Because not every car is a Pontiac Vibe" was my reply.

I really do wonder why more cars don't have this feature, though.

Some Subarus have them and I know the GMC Acadia does also. I'm sure that more of the SUV type vehicles have them. Me, I just keep a 400w plug in power inverter in our Explorer under the seat. It powers the laptop and a couple of other things too while we are on the road. I've even powered a big screen TV, sattelite dish, and DSL modem/router when our power was off after a hurricane with it! But our Vibe ones don't have that much capacity.

tpollauf wrote:

ramenboy... wrote:
my girlfriend at the time used it for her hairdryer once.

And I thought that was why they invented the SUNROOF The faster you drive, the quicker your hair dries

Haha that's just it. I don't have a sunroof!

Computer, phone charger, Kindle charger, E-Cig charger...not all at once.

Went camping and plugged the air pump into it, had to make sure I kept the car running while pumping up the air mattress though. During the same trip I also plugged in and charged my battery jumper. On a few other trips when my daughter was younger, I used it for a portable dvd player.

Cell phone charger. My netbook charger, my girlfriend used it to plug her hair straigtener into when we went camping. I also plugged in an extension cord into it when i wire up outdoor christmas lights to my car... so festive

I have my dash cam plugged into my 12v outlet (in all honesty, I could just hardwire it), but I can put a splitter on it to run a GPS system. In my center console I have a Cig-lighter USB plug for my new Iphone (which could, and has twice so far, replaced a GPS) and my power 110v outlet I use for my two-prong netbook charger. So I can have a whole setup going if I wanted.

A Canon camera battery charger. I occasionally do home inspections and have to take a lot of pictures. If I don't have a good battery, I'm screwed. I always keep a charged battery in the charger and switch them out as needed. I was running a inkjet printer/scanner and laptop for a while and basically had a mobile office. But I decided I didn't use if enough to justify keeping it in there.

This past Thanksgiving, the power went out in the house we were all gathered in. There were ~50 of us, dinner was cooked and there was plenty of daylight to eat by. There was however a margarita mixer that was without power. It drew way more power than the Vibe was meant to handle, and it did trip a few times but still got the job done.

I have a 1 cup Black and Decker coffee brewer, think that would work OK? Would be fantastic for car camping

My portable printer. Goodbye big converter box and extra cord!

Mostly my I pod charger but I once plugged a coffee maker in while camping.

daninboulder wrote:I have a 1 cup Black and Decker coffee brewer, think that would work OK? Would be fantastic for car camping

LOL! Posted about his 1 min before I saw this. Yes it does work!

When i lived further away from Tampa, i used to plug in my PlayStation One, that had an attached LCD screen. But now i have a USB port plugged into it now for charging misc electronics.

I keep a USB adapter plugged in mine for misc electronics. Have used it in power outages which has been a life saver! I keep a radar detector plugged in to 12v so having the 110 is awesome for cellphones and such, plus the faster charging is nice!

Just phone/ipod chargers, and one time my girlfriend used it to keep her netbook charged. A few of my friends have also said its awesome that it has an outlet like that.

My friend plugged in a CROCK POT to keep her dish hot on a long winter drive to a potluck dinner. I just use it to charge my phone and camera.

Blueridge9 wrote:My friend plugged in a CROCK POT to keep her dish hot on a long winter drive to a potluck dinner. I just use it to charge my phone and camera.

LOL!! That's awesome!

I've used my home printer, leaving it on the folded front seat so that I could make copies of documents. The next time I'm forced to file things in court again, and told to make 3 or 4 sets of every page with no cash or coins on me, I will gladly haul it around again.

I plug in my laptop with the elm scanner 5 cpu diagnostic data reader and graphs.

http://www.scantool.net/

It only reads the CPU, the more expensive ones read EBCM (electronic brake control module) + other networked linked computers in your Vibe.

Happy Trails,

NT

phone chargers, camera charger, portable dvd player, laptop, tablet, vaccum cleaner, used to connect a TV to it for shits and giggles when working on the car but I installed a 400w power inverter in the rear for that with USB connections for charging phones and what not. Now I have 3 outlets in my car. lol.

Bump

Back when the Vibes first came out my brother bought his daughter a new Vibe for high school graduation. After having it for awhile my niece told my brother she loves her Vibe because she can plug her curling iron into the dash and curl her hair on the way to work.
As far as myself I once tried to run an extension cord up from my basement to run my sump pump to keep my basement from flooding, but the sump pump wouldn't come on plugged into it.
But yeah, pretty much like everybody else my wife and I plug our 110 V phone charger into it, and my wife who's a Realtor keeps her lap top plugged into it.
On the cover it says 115 Volt/100 Watts, and if my memory serves me right from 9th grade electronics volts divided by watts equals amps, so I think that means the 115 V outlet on the dash puts out 1.15 Amps. Not a lot of amps.