Power inverter installation?

[IceDragon]

I want to install a dc to ac converter in my car, and have the plug run to the glove box, while also keeping the actual inverter hidden, the inverter is actually pretty small, itsabout as big as a hotdog roll... unsmashed... anyone have any ideas on how to go about this or on how to actually hide this thing???

 

[devlish]

that small should fit in the dead area behind/underneath the radio. or even up in the dash above the glove box. at least from the size i'm picturing in my head of how you desribed it. i'd use 8ga wire from the battery to a relay to the AC/DC convertor. a good 8ga ground as well. then use a small accessory wire to trigger the relay so it's only on when the key is on so you don't run your battery down by mistake.

shouldn't be a hard install at all

 

[IceDragon]

since the actual dc to ac converter is a plug into the cig lighter type, i was thinking about just splicing it into the lighters lines... use the same relay... and plull out the on off switch to the converter and remounting that also in the glove box... hiding the inverter behind the box... and running a tiny extension cord so that there is a nice plug inside the box too... i thought that would be a nice setup... any comments on that?

 

[devlish]

i would run a pwr wire & relay straight from the battery. i would NOT trust just the small insufficient wires that go to your cig lighter. get a GOOD source of pwer with an 8, 10, or at least 12ga wire straight from the battery. not the small 22ga wire on the lighter plug harness. a relay can be had for $2-3 at Autozone, and comes with instructions. or PM me and i will get you a diagram and better info on this if you can't find at Autozone or wherever you shop.

 

[IceDragon]

well, what about the power wire for the radio??? Isn't that big enough??? i mean, and the radio is only one when the keys on right... wouldn't that work??? I am not trying to save 2-3 dollars, just wondering where i can hook up at.

 

[devlish]

like mentioned, straight to the battery is best with a larger guage power & ground wire. the radio wire is still only 16ga at best. it may work, but is not sufficient enough in my opinion.

 

[frigginlazer]

I have done that in a past car. Thought as you are since it was made to plug into the lighter, just tap into the liter power wire. Luckly I also had one of those small rice boy fireextinguishers in the car. Wires melted and caused a fire.

Take Develish's advice, run a seperate 8ga power wire straight off the batt and a 8ga ground straight to the chassie. this will do a number of things for you... you wont have to pull your console apart to find the small inadequate wires, and you will not overpower any fuses or factory wiring. jst make sure that the grounding point is nice a CLEAN!


Mike

 

[IceDragon]

what about if i use the factory ground for the radio??? I mean grounds don't get hot do they? This is only going in to basically power my laptop and also you know... misc stuff whenever it calls to.

 

[devlish]

do not use the radio ground either. make your own chassis ground with the same size wire you use for the power, preferably 8ga - 10ga. the metal support that holds up your radio/ecu is a good grounding point. there are a few bolts on there that are perfect. but use a nice ring connector, and dont just crush some stripped wire down with a bolt. do it right and you won't have to worry about it. if your unsure, a car audio shop should be able to do it for you for about $25 -$40 and you'll know its done proper.

otherwise:
using 8guage wire....
battery>>> fuse>>> relay>>>invertor

you can tap off the radio acc lead (red) to energize the relay, but not to power it. ground the relay and invertor both with 8ga wire to the same spot.

don't go the cheezy way, like mentioned above.. your just asking for trouble. do it this way and you will not have to worry about insufficent power or hot wires. period.

believe it or not, your laptop will use a good share of power, as will your misc things you want to plug in (camcorders, tvs, fridges & microwaves for long trips , etc etc)

enuff said on this topic

 

[IceDragon]

Yeah, I know the stuff like my laptop will, but I just need to have the laptop on in there like maybe every other weekend.... So it will be fine.

 

[devlish]

Yeah, I know the stuff like my laptop will, but I just need to have the laptop on in there like maybe every other weekend.... So it will be fine.

it only takes a few seconds to pull too much current through a small wire and fry something or start an electrical fire. so "every other weekend" still isn't safe.

however... at this point, you do what you want. you've gotten the same strong advice from 2 different people and you still want to use the small radio or lighter wires, go ahead.

 

[IceDragon]

the way i read what he was saying was that hardwire installing it would cause it to draw alot of power and make my battery die fast... but heres the thing, do I absolutely need a relay considering I am wiring an on/off switch??? I figured I'd just need an inline fuse??? What do you think? Than again... the on/off might break and stay on too... I really should just run a relay just incase... what do you guys think on relay vs on/off switch?

 

[devlish]

the way i read what he was saying was that hardwire installing it would cause it to draw alot of power and make my battery die fast... but heres the thing, do I absolutely need a relay considering I am wiring an on/off switch??? I figured I'd just need an inline fuse??? What do you think? Than again... the on/off might break and stay on too... I really should just run a relay just incase... what do you guys think on relay vs on/off switch?

relay

hardwiring it to the battery will help you when you have your laptop hooked up & it's using a lot of power. this way it will draw directly from the battery via a large wire, and not a tiny little wire connected to your lighter socket.

again: RELAY

 

[IceDragon]

Either way dude I am gonna run it straight off the battery like you told me to do now, running a whole new wire... I am just trying to figure out, Maybe I should mix the lines together, a relay to the inverter to get power, but still an on/off switch too so it doesn't take power away from battery when there is no need for it... good idea?

 

[frigginlazer]

ok let me try to explain the HOW now that we have you sold on the WHERE of tapping power.

get a 30amp relay from your local autoparts store. therre will be a number of prongs on it. They are input, output, trigger and relay ground.

the wire from your battery will go to the input

12v power to the inverter is from the output

the RELAY ground is... well... grounded.

the trigger is a small voltage input that the relay uses to tripp a circut inside the relay to connect the input to the out put allowing mass ammounts of power to flow. Get the source for this from something that comes on with your ignition. I think that you could use your cig lighter for this as it only draws a SMALL ammount of power. this is also the wire that you will put your switch in so that you can turn it off.

Ground your inverter to the chassie in a CLEAN spot.

I would avoid tapping into any power for any form of stereo components. you ri\un the risk of introducing noise into the line.



Dont forget to put a good inline fuse with in 12 inches of your battery on the power wire.

we arent trying to talk down to you or sound like Richard Cranium's, (unless that is develish's true name in which I guess he really would sound like Richard Cranium then wouldn't he??) we are just trying to help you protect your car. I wired the EXACT thing you are doing the easy way and it DID start a fire with in 5 mins. I was lucky. You might not be so lucky.

Follow our advise and you will get to enjoy your DSM longer.



Mike

 

[kyledykstra]

ok let me try to explain the HOW now that we have you sold on the WHERE of tapping power.

get a 30amp relay from your local autoparts store. therre will be a number of prongs on it. They are input, output, trigger and relay ground.

the wire from your battery will go to the input

12v power to the inverter is from the output

the RELAY ground is... well... grounded.

the trigger is a small voltage input that the relay uses to tripp a circut inside the relay to connect the input to the out put allowing mass ammounts of power to flow. Get the source for this from something that comes on with your ignition. I think that you could use your cig lighter for this as it only draws a SMALL ammount of power. this is also the wire that you will put your switch in so that you can turn it off.

Ground your inverter to the chassie in a CLEAN spot.

I would avoid tapping into any power for any form of stereo components. you ri\un the risk of introducing noise into the line.



Dont forget to put a good inline fuse with in 12 inches of your battery on the power wire.

we arent trying to talk down to you or sound like Richard Cranium's, (unless that is develish's true name in which I guess he really would sound like Richard Cranium then wouldn't he??) we are just trying to help you protect your car. I wired the EXACT thing you are doing the easy way and it DID start a fire with in 5 mins. I was lucky. You might not be so lucky.

Follow our advise and you will get to enjoy your DSM longer.



Mike

If you have any friends that are into car audio, talk to them, this is the exact same way you wire up mulitple amplifiers so they turn on through a relay.

 

[devlish]

we arent trying to talk down to you or sound like Richard Cranium's, (unless that is develish's true name in which I guess he really would sound like Richard Cranium then wouldn't he??)

hey now, be nice! however, i couldn't have worded it better on how to hook up the relay. the relay you purchase will come with a small wiring diagram, just follow it accordingly by using common sense, and your set! i can even get you the correct pinouts for which prong to connect to what wire per FrigginLazers excellent writeup!

enjoy, and good luck! don't be afraid to ask me for the pinout wiring

respectfully,
~Dick C.

 

[IceDragon]

thanks guys... now i gotta find it... I let my dad borrow it for in his truck so he could power his cell phone on a long long trip (the guy refuses to pay 10 bux for a car adapter to his cell phone), but just to let you guys know, this thing isn't exactly one thats made to be hardwired... does that make a difference, if not awesome... if so... what is the difference?

 

[rjdavis21]

mine is a 400watt and it was made to either be hard wired or cig lighter. i ran wires under the carpet to the passenger seat and its under the seat. i just pull it out when I need it. works good. try that out. awesome use for like a heating blanket or something with ur chic

 

[kyledykstra]

thanks guys... now i gotta find it... I let my dad borrow it for in his truck so he could power his cell phone on a long long trip (the guy refuses to pay 10 bux for a car adapter to his cell phone), but just to let you guys know, this thing isn't exactly one thats made to be hardwired... does that make a difference, if not awesome... if so... what is the difference?

None really, just hack off the ciggy plug, the two prongs on the outside are the ground, and the center is positive.

 

[Chuckster]

Ice, you're getting some really great advice in this post. Follow it, UNLESS, your father is going to make demands to borrow it again! I can imagine the look on my father's face so many years ago if I had hacked apart something like that. Ah to be a teenager again.

 

[IceDragon]

well... thanks for the advice chuckster... maybe i should hide it under the seat like rjdavis21 said so i can just be like... no dad... i don't know where its at... *innocent whistle*... But that its an awesome idea... Under the seat... how comes i don't think of the easiest stuff like that????

 

[devlish]

None really, just hack off the ciggy plug, the two prongs on the outside are the ground, and the center is positive.

exactly. the red goes to the output of your relay, the black to the same grounding spot as your relay. voila! hardwired

 

[IceDragon]

how did you mount yours under the seat... how did you like make sure it stayed in place... was it a slimmer model, because mines a bit too tall.... i'd like to know where you got yours, i'd like a nice skinny one for under seats...

 

[rjdavis21]

I got mine from Best Buy its a 400 watt and got it for 50 bucks. They have an 800 for 80. I love it. I can charge my phone, run a heating blanket, anything smaller of that nature. its only about an inch tall so yeh its slim and it stays under the seats because some humps in the floor in the front and rear of the seats hold it there(at least in a 2g).