I just picked up a 350watt power inverter and would like to hard wire it into the runner. Where have you guys mounted it in your 2nd gen runners? It measures about 8"x4.5"x2".

I'd like to mount is somewhere close to the battery and run 110V power cords to sockets in the passenger seat and to the cargo area.

How hot do they get? Hot enough to melt plastic?

thanks,
Steve

 

This is from Roger Brown's page.

Though not a 2nd gen, it should give you some good ideas.
The link to Chris's old 2nd gen in the link above is not working.
I had seen the installation a few times, and it looked nice.
Corey

 

This is where mine is located on my third gen.. Don't know if second gen has the deep area underneath the passenger seat where a rear mounted heater would go... I used 2 gauge welding cable (direct run to and fused at the battery) for the 80 amp max that my inverter can draw to minimize voltage drop.. I think you would be better off using the heavy cable and mounting the inverter in a cooler, cleaner area ie in the passenger compartment, as if like mine, it is not a sealed unit and has a fan to pull air through to cool it.

In addition, if your inverter is like my StatPower Portawattz, you will need to be able to access the control panel during normal usage.. It has an undervoltage sense, that is triggered (if inverter running) and you start the vehicle, as the starter pulls the battery voltage below the undervoltage trip point.. You have to turn the inverter off and back on the reset the undervoltage detect.. No way around this. I asked StatPower this question...

 

I have the same inverter as Dan. And same annoying shut off feature. I put mine under the drivers side seat. I have a heater under the passenger side.





www.toyotaoffroad.net/afertig/inverter.htm

 

Wow, I did not know you guy's had an inverter setup.
This may be something I might do one day, as I have thought of it in the past.
Corey

 

With the inverter onboard, it was a no brainer to add this...


troublelight and extension cord... keep this in the vehicle under the driver's seat at times...

 

Yeah, no kidding. I went into Fry's for a 3 foot length of co-ax and a camera case and came out with the inverter and some Ni-metal hydride batteries -- $110 bill.

I figure the inverter will save me money in the long run. I don't have to buy car chargers for the digicam and cell phones and I don't have to buy an extra battery for the digicam.

Anyway, Dandeman, your the electrical expert right? If the inverter is rated for 350 W continuous use and 800 peak use, how much current can I expect through the DC leads? Using P=IV I get 800W/12V=67A. Is that right? I'm trying to figure out how big of a wire , switch (or relay) and fuse I need.

Steve

 

Check the owners manual. Your inverter puts out 800 watts max @ 120VAC not 12vdc,

 

That's what I was thinking first, but then that calculation only gave me 8A. I'm not sure if I'm using the right equation or the right variation of it.

I didn't see anything about it in the manual, but I'll check it again. The fuse in the inverter is only 25A though.

Steve

 

V * A = W

W / V = A

 

Go with what's in the documentation.. your calculations would be in the ball park, but the other unknown are the conversion inefficiencies of the inverter.. (certain amount of the input power ends up as heat, running the fan and other losses...

On my Portawattz 600 (1000w surge) it would compute out to 83amps at 1000w and being 90% efficient, it might pull up to 92 amps at the limit.. they specify an 80 amp fuse, which would hold that amount of overcurrent and not blow for a short period of time..haven't seen anybody spec how long their inverters will put out the surge level of power, could be milli seconds...

I sure in the end the fuse size is set by what they feel is needed to protect the power transistors in the inverter.. so go with their recommendation.

And on the current calculations for a given wattage level.. if for example using 600w that would be on the 120VAC side pulling around 5 amps and the input at 12v would be drawing around 50amps (600w/12v = 50a) and throw in another 10% for losses say 55amps..

This is all "approximate" but close.. Going into further would involve a discussion of RMS power versus modified sinewave averages.. The Portawattz manual does a nice job explaining this... also mentions if you use an average RMS reading voltmeter (your inexpensive Radio Shank type), don't be surprised if it's reading only 96 to 104VAC..it's putting out the proper voltage, but you must use a "true reading RMS volt meter" (read as expensive).. to measure its modified sine wave output correctly...
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

 

I would say definitely go under the seat! It is out of the way and gets plenty of air to keep it cool! :beaver:

-Ryan

 

OMG! those years of elect. engineering classes paid off for me! I did the calcs right!

Thanks Dandeman, makes me feel better to ask those more experienced, first.

Sounds like I'm going with under the seat then.

thanks,
Steve

 

Cool, let us know how it all turns out! I would be very interested in doing something similar myself. :beaver:

-Ryan