Installing a power inverter

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by BAYOU, Aug 11, 2013.

  1. BAYOU

    BAYOU Road Train Member

    2,847
    1,592
    Sep 23, 2010
    Beaumont,Tx
    0
    So I just got a cobra and it has two power and two grounds is there a reason for this?
    next question is the chassis ground (small one) do y'all really hook it up and or can you jump it over from your big ground?
    And last does it matter what way you mount it? My last one was on the side panel mounted up/down with the plug facing up
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

    19,720
    12,268
    Jul 6, 2009
    0
    when i drove the w9. it was upside down. mounted under the bed.
     
  4. ironpony

    ironpony Road Train Member

    17,502
    12,015
    Sep 23, 2007
    Ask my GPS...
    0
    I haven't torn one apart yet, but I'm willing to bet it's two smaller inverters hooked in parallel to increase the current output. Yup, you need to jump DC to both sides.

    That's the frame ground. It hooks up the short-circuit protection circuitry to ground. It doesn't carry any current, but it will keep you from blowing yourself up. Yup, you need to hook it to ground... where the ground lead from the inverter attaches to the battery.

    Just make sure you don't block the cooling fans.
     
  5. truckon

    truckon Swamp Thing

    4,775
    15,914
    Dec 16, 2011
    Like I'd tell you!
    0
    i would think you would want the plug down, just to keep it clean.
     
  6. Hanadarko

    Hanadarko Independent Owner/Operator

    2,962
    927
    Oct 1, 2009
    Midwest
    0
    Cobra? (shudder....)

    Wait...
    Don't they use twin input ports (pos and neg) so you dont have to run 1 xTRA large cable for each POS and NEG connections?
    I thought I saw it that way in the past....but maybe I'm wrong.
     
  7. 379exhd

    379exhd Road Train Member

    2,925
    3,149
    Jun 25, 2012
    rolling through hell
    0
    The one we have mounted in our 06 is mounted under the bed. We had to buy extra leads for the power wire and just bought one to extend the ground as well and grounded out to the batteries. You can get a set of leads from harbor freight for about $20 can't remember what different lengths and gauges they have. We have a local welding shop that we bought our wire from. 2 lengths of copper welding wire for $30 out the door. Its thicker than the battery cables, and for the price I didn't think it was too bad. 20ft of that for $30 was a good price IMO.
     
  8. BAYOU

    BAYOU Road Train Member

    2,847
    1,592
    Sep 23, 2010
    Beaumont,Tx
    0
    This one is a 2575 model 2500 watt.

    my ground now is not hooked to the battery it's hooked to my frame, so jumping the ground across the inverter would be the same right?

    And I have all 4 gauge wire ran now.
     
  9. ironpony

    ironpony Road Train Member

    17,502
    12,015
    Sep 23, 2007
    Ask my GPS...
    0
    18 ga (minimum) or 16 ga (better) stranded wire and a ring lug at the inverter end will work fine for that frame ground. The voltage drop across the ground cable to the power terminals makes hooking the frame ground at the inverter a bad bet. It's just a protective connection, and several feet of stranded wire isn't going to cost much.
     
  10. BAYOU

    BAYOU Road Train Member

    2,847
    1,592
    Sep 23, 2010
    Beaumont,Tx
    0
    I ran it like this to keep my ground under 4ft and is hooked to my main frame rails. Even my power comes off my stereo capacitor so it gets full voltage at all times.
     
  11. ironpony

    ironpony Road Train Member

    17,502
    12,015
    Sep 23, 2007
    Ask my GPS...
    0
    You still have the frame to battery, the frame, and then the cable to the frame. Yes, you want the shortest connections you can get, but the contact resistance on those three connections negates any benefit you might receive from the shorter cable. Best bet is to go directly from the inverter terminals to the battery terminals with that no. 4 cable.

    Make sure you protect those cables with some heavy-duty cable loom to prevent any chaffing... especially where it goes through the cab wall/floor.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.