Power Inverters

Probably 1500 watt.

 

A 1000 watt will run a microwave with no probs and a toaster aswell for that matter.Just have to make sure you wire direct to the batt and use decent cable's not the ones you buy at the truck stop.I use 1/0 car audio power cable and ground cables and you must put a circut breaker or fuse in line on the power side as close to the batt as possible.I use a 250 amp waffer style fuse in my setup,but im running a 1750 watt and run a fridge and a toaster oven.

 

You need to look at the peak watts that it handles. I know someone that could not get the 1000 to run the microwave. It was a smaller one. He upped to the 1500 and it runs with no problem.

 

depends on the wattage rating on the microwave. he said a smaller one which could be as small as a700 watt. In which case a 1000 would do fine. A normal sized microwave which is usually 12-1500 watts obviously would need a larger inverter. By the way the way an inverter is rated 1500 watt means that it can handle 1500 watts continuous and a max surge of 2500-3000 watts. As mentioned above make sure to run heavy cables straight to the battery and fuse it as close to the battery as possbile to avoid any fire dangers.

 

1/0 is a bit much. Competition vans use that. 4AWG would already be more than enough. Just saying, since you're going to be putting a hole in your cab.

 

Depending on your cab some trucks already have the holes just have to look.The best way to find the is look under the sleeper and look for the black rubber plugs pop them out and put a slice in the center and push the cable thru it.
And cable size needs to be determind by lenght of the cable and expected amps to be drawn.For a 1000 watt 4awg would be fine but when you bigger you need larger cable.My cables are about 6ft long and is what is recomended from the power inverter mfg.
And Comp. stereo's use bigger been around that for quite some time.My stereo is small and I have 1280 watts of stereo in my truck with 3 amps.Each amp has 4awg by it self all seperate from each other.(460x1 @4 ohms,460x1 # 4ohms and 90x4 @4 ohms).Like I said this is a small stereo system but works well in the truck only because I have matched the cable to the amps draw.
In summary the longer the run the bigger the cable must be.

 

Use a Thor inverter. They are professional grade and come with a 2 year warranty. They also have a 15% reserve built into them as well. The 2000 watt unit I use will actually put out 2400 watt continuous.

 

If your looking for a good inverter I would recomend the Thor inverters. I have always used them and they have never let me down. They are professional grade and never let me down. I have a Thor inverter in everyone of my trucks. I also have a guy at Thor that will sell them for wholesale. His name and # is below.

 

Thanks everyone for the info!!!

 

BGDaddy just be sure to check with your company. All companies have limitations on the size of the inverters or want their maintence dept. to install them. I can understand since its their equipment and they don't want any electrial problems.