How many watts is your inverter when cooking food in your truck.

Fair enough and yea i was confused when i found them. Ive always used 10 guage cords for my nuke. But i also like overkill when it comes to protection. Better that then a fire and ive had a couple 10 guages get hot as hell over the years if i use the air fryer function on my microwave. Box says it can pull upto 1800 watts using the air fryer. So....overkill is best lol.

As for shore power its a rare thing indeed for me to be parked more then a day or two. Usually only happens around the holidays. That said usually i have a good APU but this new truck came without an APU espar or anything so i just gotta run it till i recover from dropping 72K in 1 month. Had my accounts save my "oh ####" account at or near 0 for the last 3 weeks XD. Figure a month or two of heavy idleing while i rebuild my maintaince account and pay off a couple credit cards i maxed out to get this thing moving aint exactly good for it. But wont kill it either.

 

For a 3K watt inverter?

I'd use a minimum 3/0 if you can find it. 4/0 is more common and will work. It's just bulkier.

4/0 AWG Gauge Red + Black Pure Copper Battery Inverter Cables

 

Yes, 0 gauge will work fine for a 3000 watt inverter. Most installations are 10 feet or less of wire, well with in the rating range for the size.

 

DC Wire Size Charts – AFE Solutions
Depends entirely on who you ask. First chart has 200A which is 2kw or so minimum 2/0, quickly rising. Another does show 0 for 3kw at 6 to 12 ft. Depends on how risk averse you are. Especially in a $100k truck that is your livelyhood. I guess it's not going to be a huge issue with how long they tend to see max power.

 

3000 watts / 12 volts = 250 amps.
To meet the NEC 80% rule multiply 250 amps x 1.25 = 312.5 amps.
Now double that number because 3000 is the continuous rating. An inverter may do double that under peak transient loads.
So... 625 amps peak.

Here's a wire size calculator.
https://www.omnicalculator.com/physics/12v-wire-size
I assumed a 5 foot cable, left the voltage drop at the default 3%, and left the max temperature at 122F. It says it requires a 4/0 cable.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

Go with that, you will be fine.

 

Buy 3 things.

1. A setpower fridge/freezer or similar.
2. EcoFlow delta 2 or similar. River 2 max or similar will suffice. Run the fridge when not idling/driving and for cooking/heating.
3. A hotlogic cooking bag preferably 120v.

Now you can cook fresh or frozen. Inverters, microwaves, those goofy lunchbox ovens, etc are a waste.

 

My inverter is rated at the same wattage whether I'm cooking or not. Not powering anything, it's 3000 watts full sine wave. Cooking, still rated at 3000 watts.