Power Inverter Hardwire
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Mobile Video, GPS, and Navigation
Forum Discription: Mobile Video Head Units, DVD Players, LCD and TFT Monitors, Navigation, GPS, PS2, PS3, XBox, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=30200
Printed Date: May 03, 2024 at 10:35 AM
Topic: Power Inverter Hardwire
Posted By: satexasuser
Subject: Power Inverter Hardwire
Date Posted: April 11, 2004 at 8:50 PM
I have a power inverter I would like to hardwire to my cigarette lighter in the back of my 02 Ford Excursion. It looks pretty straight forward (one red and black wire going into the cigarette lighter) and splice the power inverter wires and figure out which one goes where and connect them. But that's why I'm asking tech advice here. Anyone got any thing else I should consider? Thanks In advance.:) ------------- 2002 Ford Excursion XLT
Mario P
Replies:
Posted By: Jay T
Date Posted: April 12, 2004 at 9:10 PM
if you do a search you can find some more info in either this forum or the audio forum. There was one with a link to a custom mustang install where the inverter was spliced into the cigarette lighter. I beleive the only thing you need to be concerned about is wire size. You won't be able to draw a lot of power from the cig. lighter outlet. If you need to draw a larger amount of power you need to run a wire to the battery and ground the other.
Posted By: Thack79
Date Posted: April 15, 2004 at 7:32 AM
Those wires that are run to cigarette lighters arent very big, i would run a separate wire from the battery. Dont have to worry about a wire burning out.
Posted By: biznisman2u
Date Posted: April 15, 2004 at 6:11 PM
yeah. i just burnt out my wire coming from the cig. lighter... should i connect both ground and power to the battery or just the power
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Biznisman2u
Posted By: customsuburb
Date Posted: April 15, 2004 at 6:31 PM
You should connect your ground to clean metal (the chassis) near your inverter, and your power to the battery.
Posted By: satexasuser
Date Posted: April 15, 2004 at 7:30 PM
On the isntall where you burned out the wires did you install an inline fuse on the postive(red wire) connection to the cig? the article that was suggested earlier is great and is from Car audio a pretty reliable source. Check out this link https://www.caraudiomag.com/technical/0305cae_swap/. In the install he uses a inline fuse to connect. That's what I'm going to do is connect directly to the cig wires but use an inline fuse between my inverter and the + (red) line from the cig. Thanks for all the great input. ------------- 2002 Ford Excursion XLT
Mario P
Posted By: biznisman2u
Date Posted: April 15, 2004 at 11:10 PM
no i use small i think 18awg wire and i hooked my cig. lighter to my ign.rod fuse and the ground to the cd player... i think my wire was to small to handle my power inverter.. i will be getting a longer piece of 14awg wire and power from the battery...Should i use a fuse or a distribution block for this like my amp"?
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Biznisman2u
Posted By: Thack79
Date Posted: April 16, 2004 at 7:02 AM
Depending on the size of the inverter i would go a bigger gauge. Im running a 10 gauge with a 350 inverter from the battery . Run a separate ground as well. A distribution block wouldnt be needed unless you are running multiple components but i would definately fuse it.
Posted By: biznisman2u
Date Posted: April 17, 2004 at 1:39 PM
Running it to the battery would cause iit to be on all the time wouldnt it.... I mean you would have to turn it off manually? Shouldn't it be ranned to an ign. Switch?
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Biznisman2u
Posted By: Teamrf
Date Posted: April 17, 2004 at 7:36 PM
You don't have to run it to your battery..you can run it to 12volts under the dash. I think it only draws 20 amps.
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~The Rookie~
Rookie of the year that is...
Don't let the smoke out of your equiptment..it doesn't go back in.
Posted By: sdavidow
Date Posted: April 26, 2004 at 3:50 PM
Question...Where/what is the 12volts under the dash? I'm trying to do the same thing on my jeep. I actually need to install an inverter and a 12vDC fan...
Posted By: Jay T
Date Posted: April 26, 2004 at 4:56 PM
anything that is getting power (cig lighter etc.) is 12 volts. Some are accessories and only run when the car is on, others are constant. Depending on what kind of draw you need, you can plug in to one of the under dash sources. If you need to draw a fair amount or power or just want some saftey and head room, run a wire direct to the battery and ground the Neg / black. This will allow you to draw as much power as the inveter allows. If you plug into the cig lighter and you won't be able to draw much power due to the size of the wire.
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