I have duel altinators in a 2005 ford E-350 and want to hook up an inverter. Do i install 2-3 smaller 400.volts or 1 larger unit? Where is the best spot to tie in the power? I was thinking of installing them in a cabinet behind the driver seat. I will be running a TV 13-20", DVD or VCR, laptop and maybe a microwave. All inexpensive (cheep) stuff so when it brakes it is easy to just buy a new one. Thanks for any help.
Lucky you. I've got an E-150 with one 130amp alternator and an optima battery. I believe yours is the ambulance package that comes on the fords. You may also have a second battery.
Either way.... the ford batterys are very strong and you obviously won't have any alternator problems. Your going to have to see how much draw is for each of the appliances and then figure out what kind of inverter your going to need. You have to get what its rated at for constant not peak power. a 400W inverter will not give you 400w of power contiuously. Chances are that your going to need at least a 1000w inverter because a microwave and larger TV's suck a lot of juice. If you want to run two or more inverters. Run a big fat 1 or 0 gauge wire from the battery to a distrobution block (fused for each output accordingly) then split it to the inverters. Ground each of the inverters with the biggerst wire you can find to the chassis of the truck.
I run a 10" lcd, Playstation 2, fog lights, a 400w amp, and a 50w amp all from 4gauge wire from the battery with no problems. All located behind the drivers seat. Keep in mind that the further you go the larger your power and ground wire will have to be to keep up with the demand.
hope this helps!
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