EvilUser007
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- #1
Many Lighting owners have noticed that Pro Power shuts off even when you click the "Keep Pro Power on when Vehicle Off" toggle. It is frustrating when you want to run a cooler or anything that turns on and off. If it stays off for more than 6 minutes, Pro Power will shut down.
The "trick" is to make sure you suck some power to let the truck know you're still using it.
How much power? 90-100 watts minimum.
So you can run a fan or a 100-watt light bulb, etc., but then you're using 100 watts ALL the time you don't need to. It turns out you can put an intermittent load on the Pro Power, and it will stay awake.
How intermittent? Very! Others have had success with various regimens, but my successful experiment was 144 watts for 3 seconds and then a 5-minute rest. Kept the Pro Power on all night and used very little juice.
I was worried about the heat generated from a light bulb or a heat lamp, so I did some math (Ok, I had AI do it, but I confirmed) and discovered a 100-ohm resistor will consume 144 watts if fed 120 volts. Note you have to get a resistor that is rated for MORE than the watts you want to run to it. This is a 200-watt-rated resistor getting 144 watts. I put the whole thing together, measured it with a clamp meter, and it was spot on.
To measure the heat, I used a FLIR camera. It was 94 deg F out, and the truck was sitting in the hot sun. The heat sink on the resistor was warm, but I could touch it at 111 deg F.
I wanted to see how low I could go on the duration, so I used an old Sears timer to tell me when the Pro Power went off. Indeed, if no draw, it turned off in 6 min. I tried 5 sec on, 4 min off, and that worked. I did 4 sec on, 3 min off, and that worked. I landed on 3 sec on, 5 min off, and that is good enough for me. I believe there is some magic time/watts that must be used every 5-6 min, but I'm posting mine as "good enough" at 3 sec on, 5 min off, 144 watts.
The whole thing cost me less than $40 using some scrap TREX, a few screws/washers/tape/shrink fit tubing I had lying around, and took about an hour to build.
YMMV, but happy coolering!
I need to give credit to the other Lightning owner who had the original idea. He used a light bulb socket and a heatlamp type device that drew 100 watts. But it was his link to the intermittent timer that sealed the deal. If you're out there take credit: great idea.
I think they call it a "reptile " heater.
https://www.amazon.com/LUCKY-HERP-Reptile-Heat-Lamp/dp/B0CQX962JG/ref=sr_1_3_sspa
I do feel more comfortable with my resistor and it's built in heat-sink.
Here's an IMGUR link with same pics but a parts list.
The "trick" is to make sure you suck some power to let the truck know you're still using it.
How much power? 90-100 watts minimum.
So you can run a fan or a 100-watt light bulb, etc., but then you're using 100 watts ALL the time you don't need to. It turns out you can put an intermittent load on the Pro Power, and it will stay awake.
How intermittent? Very! Others have had success with various regimens, but my successful experiment was 144 watts for 3 seconds and then a 5-minute rest. Kept the Pro Power on all night and used very little juice.
I was worried about the heat generated from a light bulb or a heat lamp, so I did some math (Ok, I had AI do it, but I confirmed) and discovered a 100-ohm resistor will consume 144 watts if fed 120 volts. Note you have to get a resistor that is rated for MORE than the watts you want to run to it. This is a 200-watt-rated resistor getting 144 watts. I put the whole thing together, measured it with a clamp meter, and it was spot on.
To measure the heat, I used a FLIR camera. It was 94 deg F out, and the truck was sitting in the hot sun. The heat sink on the resistor was warm, but I could touch it at 111 deg F.
I wanted to see how low I could go on the duration, so I used an old Sears timer to tell me when the Pro Power went off. Indeed, if no draw, it turned off in 6 min. I tried 5 sec on, 4 min off, and that worked. I did 4 sec on, 3 min off, and that worked. I landed on 3 sec on, 5 min off, and that is good enough for me. I believe there is some magic time/watts that must be used every 5-6 min, but I'm posting mine as "good enough" at 3 sec on, 5 min off, 144 watts.
The whole thing cost me less than $40 using some scrap TREX, a few screws/washers/tape/shrink fit tubing I had lying around, and took about an hour to build.
YMMV, but happy coolering!
I need to give credit to the other Lightning owner who had the original idea. He used a light bulb socket and a heatlamp type device that drew 100 watts. But it was his link to the intermittent timer that sealed the deal. If you're out there take credit: great idea.
I think they call it a "reptile " heater.
https://www.amazon.com/LUCKY-HERP-Reptile-Heat-Lamp/dp/B0CQX962JG/ref=sr_1_3_sspa
I do feel more comfortable with my resistor and it's built in heat-sink.
Here's an IMGUR link with same pics but a parts list.
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