What is the safest way to install a 700 watt inverter under the front seat of the truck?
I had a friend hook one up and it grenaded under the seat (thought the truck was gonna torch) He hooked it straight to battery with pretty thick wire..
It was working great in the garage but when I tried it the first time while doing 50 it blew..Any thoughts

Thanks
Robert

 

what brand was the one that blew, quality makes a big difference on these, as they get cheaper, their perfomance on paper becomes unrealistic, and they are less able to deal with higher than 12 v (14.4 or so on our trucks ) lucky he did not lose his truck. check for the brands and if poss, check for a good rating. Not sure if UL lists these at all ???

 

700W isn't all that big... You can run a wire to the battery and install an inline fuse (about 30amps) and ground it to the seat mount bolt. One thing to keep in mind... the Inverter has a fan that runs in it and it will draw in a lot of dust and lint.. Make sure to clean it out a couple of times a year... You will be surprised at how much junk is collects and if it starts to over heat it is going to pop the over load every time you use it.
I run a 400W and I mounted it right under the glove box beside the console... The only thing you see is the outlets and the power switch... It still picks up a lot of dust there too... but it is easier to get to when you need to clean it.

Oilguy

 

Not to turn the thread too much but what are you guys using that needs all that wattage?

 

id like to have a 1,000 or 1,500 mounted outside somewhere and have a set of outlets inside, and a set of waterproof outlets outside.

 

I have 2 headrest monitors and a sony playstation to hook up..

 

Ooooohhh. Forgot about neat toys like that. I was thinking a toaster or something

 

700W at 12V is 58 amps.

For this you need at least #4 wire (I'm using the 60 degree C NEC column for wire ampacity). You can fuse it at a higher level if you use the NEC rules but I wouldn't go higher than 60 amps.

You should also run a dedicated ground that goes back into the engine bay and to the battery ground or a clean tapped hole in the frame using a lug on the wire. Don't use the seat bolt. Thats a lot of current for that piece of sheet metal. It may work but I wouldn't chance it for that much current. Besides if a dedicated ground reduces voltage drop then you'll see better performance from your system.

If you're feeling up to it you could fab up a fan to evacuate the under seat area using a computer fan. That would certainly help dissipate any heat that gathered under the seat.

If you want to make this run only when the ignition is on then you will need a relay that is good for at least 60A. Come from the battery and go through the fuse then to the relay. Then from the relay go directly to the + terminal on the inverter. Then you just have to run the pilot wire for the relay to a key on hot terminal.

If you did this you could also run the fan directly from the inverter terminals.

As far as inverters go, get the best you can afford. The cheaper units have very choppy, nearly square wave AC waveforms. Higher $ units have better switching electronics and can produce a near perfect sine wave. These probably are better able to deal with the heat and are most likely more robust than cheaper square wave units.

Hope this helps!

 

How many watts does the play station and the two little screens draw?

I'm thinking you might be able to use quite a bit smaller inverter, which could use a smaller fused wire...

 

100watts equals 1.1amps get a 700watt inverter and try to start a 7amp saw or grinder!!

 

um skin, 100 watts from a household line is 1.1 amps, but making that from 14 volts from our trucks is a little over 7 amps, that is the load the alternator/ batteries/ wires would get. 700 watts needs 50 amps @ 14 volts. Dave, I didn't realize why the cheap ones were so bad, square waves? dang thats choppy !