Cascadia Inverter Installation

First thing is your not going to find a wire under the bunk that will run it safely. It goes to the battery. From the battery on more than 6 inches before it is fused, that is really important. If ou do not have a fuse for the install stop right there.

 

300 watt inverters usually come with a cigarette lighter plugin. At least Cobra does. 300 watt inverters use 25 amps maximum on a 12V circuit. Every cigarette lighter I've seen is wired and fused for 30 amps. It's suitable for a TV, computer or cell phone charger. That's all that small inverter is good for. You should have a lighter outlet in the TV covey hole and one behind the drivers seat in the cabinet. Most are near the floor but I have seen some higher. There should be one in the bunk area also. Each truck model is a little different.

You can buy a cigarette lighter cord in a truck stop. It is also fused. When you get a 800W inverter or bigger it has to be hard wired within four feet of the batteries and then short extension cords if needed. I would stick with the Cobra brand and it's much cheaper online like at Amazon. When you get a big inverter Cobra makes a big inline fuse now for a safe professional installation.

 

Get some ire at least as big as the cord, a fuse , and pull the sill plate at the drivers door . There are couple of holes to route cables through. Batteries are right under there.

 

wire it to the batteries. factory wiring is to small to much draw. as for the fuse....i never install one never had an issue either......why by a big invertor to put a small fuse in that trips everytime you fire up your tv microwave fridage and laptop......most invertors have a high power trip breaker in it that rests the invertor if you put to much draw on it.......

 

A fuse or fusible link at or near the batteries is a must; Anything between the fuse and the battery is a fire risk in the event of a short circuit. Trucks have been burned to the frame due to chafed inverter leads, or simple bad wiring. If your inverter already has a fuse built into it, that fuse will only protect inside the inverter; you need a fuse to protect the wiring between the inverter and the batteries. Auto parts stores sell both fuses and inline fuse holders. I used an inexpensive 80 amp maxifuse and holder to protect my stereo amp and wiring.

For convenience, if your inverter is fused for 25A, you might consider the next size higher fuse (30A) at the batteries so that the inverter fuse blows first in a failure or overload situation. Either way, be sure to protect your tractor with a fused supply to your inverter, whatever size you choose to install.

Another suggestion; use wire bigger than your current cord if you wire to the batteries; longer leads means more voltage drop at high current draw. Using a larger wire gauge will reduce the voltage drop and minimize inverter undervoltage alarms and shutdowns. Myself, i'd use 12 gauge wiring, minimum, 10 Gauge preferred for a 25-30 amp load.

 

We were also told that if we hooked up an inverter it had to turn off when the batteries reached 12.1 - if we installed one that drew the batteries lower, it would void the warrantee on the batteries... And those gel batteries are NOT cheap!!