Power inverter, what do you guys use

[Matt Tottle]

I don't know what you mean by 'asking for a fire'.. An inverter draws what it draws (in this case approximately 37A at full load - you have to account for inverter inefficiency), and as long as the wiring is appropriately sized and fused for the load and wire length, there is no fire hazard.

It would be cheaper to go to an audio shop and get the cable by the foot and a cheap fuseholder. That kit has a lot of wire you dont need, plus it's overkill for your needs. You don't need any special battery attachments, just simple copper terminal lugs (You can go with a gold plated one for under the hood if you want, but it's not necessary). You just take the nut off the positive terminal clamp, slip the lug over the bolt, and tighten the nut back on. There's a special tool for crimping the lugs onto the wire, but you can do it with a hammer and punch.

If the cable length from the battery to the inverter will be under 10 feet, you can use 8ga wire. If it's more than 10 feet you'll need 6ga. 4ga is overkill unless you plan on upgrading to an 800-1000W inverter down the road. Use a 40A fuse. AGU/MAXI are fine, those are the cheapest (MAXI being preferable because any auto parts store will have replacements if one blows on the road). ANL is better because of the bolt-in design, but will be a bit more expensive both because of the design and because the lower amp ratings like 40A are not common, plus they'll be harder to find. ANL is more commonly used for 80-100A+ installs.

The ground wire should be as short as possible and bolted to a solid ground point. DO NOT run it all the way to the battery. My inverter is under the driver's seat and the ground is about 8" long and attached to the seat mounting bolt.

 

[Brett Roberts]

I don't know what you mean by 'asking for a fire'.. An inverter draws what it draws (in this case approximately 37A at full load - you have to account for inverter inefficiency), and as long as the wiring is appropriately sized and fused for the load and wire length, there is no fire hazard.

It would be cheaper to go to an audio shop and get the cable by the foot and a cheap fuseholder. That kit has a lot of wire you dont need, plus it's overkill for your needs. You don't need any special battery attachments, just simple copper terminal lugs (You can go with a gold plated one for under the hood if you want, but it's not necessary). You just take the nut off the positive terminal clamp, slip the lug over the bolt, and tighten the nut back on. There's a special tool for crimping the lugs onto the wire, but you can do it with a hammer and punch.

If the cable length from the battery to the inverter will be under 10 feet, you can use 8ga wire. If it's more than 10 feet you'll need 6ga. 4ga is overkill unless you plan on upgrading to an 800-1000W inverter down the road. Use a 40A fuse. AGU/MAXI are fine, those are the cheapest (MAXI being preferable because any auto parts store will have replacements if one blows on the road). ANL is better because of the bolt-in design, but will be a bit more expensive both because of the design and because the lower amp ratings like 40A are not common, plus they'll be harder to find. ANL is more commonly used for 80-100A+ installs.

The ground wire should be as short as possible and bolted to a solid ground point. DO NOT run it all the way to the battery. My inverter is under the driver's seat and the ground is about 8" long and attached to the seat mounting bolt.

A belated thanks for this advice.

After the circus my weekend turned into trying to get this project behind me, I can only reemphasize what DRMabe said a few posts up: it is almost impossible to find everything you need for hard-wiring an inverter locally. If you're looking into doing this, do yourself a favor and order everything online. I spent hours and hours bouncing between Wal-Marts, auto parts stores, RadioShack, and hardware suppliers -- and just barely scraped together a less-than-ideal setup that works.

The biggest problem is that no one seems to carry wire thicker than 10-gauge. I wasn't able to check the local car audio shop since they're closed weekends, but I imagine many people don't even have one nearby anyhow. I ultimately settled with an overpriced amplifier install kit from Wal-Mart that includes 8-gauge (along with 10 other things I don't need). The positive wire is about 2.5x the length I wanted at 16 ft., so had to be cut; the ground, OTOH, was only 2.5 ft. and just barely reaches from the inverter to a rear seat bolt. So if you absolutely must buy locally in a pinch, hit up Wally World; just don't expect a great deal or non-laborious process. The one nice thing is that a Maxi fuse holder was already placed inline near the battery connector, though.

As for crimp-style battery terminals, they were even more difficult to hunt down. I nearly gave up but finally found some for 8 AGW at a local hardware place here called Atwoods. (I see now that you recommended standard terminal lugs, but in hindsight I'm glad to have the 1/4" rings which fit snug on the inverter).

 

[Matt Tottle]

I don't understand.. Are there no audio shops near you guys?? They all carry rope strand wiring on rolls and sell it for like a buck or so per foot.

 

[Brian Hurst]

I like to carry a jump starter pack as back up power most have a inverter build in. Because you blow a fuse or your inverter or battery goes dead there's no time to trouble shoot with a dead laptop with storms on the way.
https://www.cobra.com/detail/500-peak-amp-jump-starter-ac-and-dc-power-pack.cfm

 

[david diehl]

has anyone ever thought of using the #2 gauage ground wire for welder?

I running everything on 12 volt DC, no inverter, unless someone needs it.
I have the welding ground cable with a 35amp circuit breaker under the hood. one wire going in, and a fuse panel under the console