Power Inverters

I just installed the 2500 watt Cobra Inverter that the Petro sells, any way, I only connected 1 positive and one negative to the battery using 4 gauge wire, and 8 gauge to ground to the cab. why is there another pos and neg connecting location?

I turned the converter on and ran my microwave. it heated a slice of pizza up without any complications. the display indicated 13.7 volts during the process and 750 output watts.

 

First, did you use any loom or wire trough to protect those power lines from chaffing? Also, is there a fuse on the postive supply lead near the battery? Any shorts on this wiring caused by vibration that damages the insulation can very likely cause a fire that burns your tractor down to the chassis!

The second pair of terminals is a remote sensing input that the inverter uses to determine what the battery terminal voltage is. These are just signal lines that don't carry any appreciable current, that the inverter's supervisory circuit uses to adjust how it reacts to input voltage levels. You can hook them up or not, 18 ga. should be fine for this.

 

I drilled 2 holes, one for each wire, and placed a rubber grommet prior to running the wires. I zip tied the wires to existing wires as I ran them and also place a few feet of that black rib style wire protector stuff over the places close to sharp edges and rubbing points.

I used 6 feet of wire for the pos and 6 for the neg terminal. I installed an in line fuse connector containing an 80 amp glass fuse aproximately 10 inches from the pos battery terminal. 80 is probably on the low side but it was free and figured I would see if it works and if not will buy the $50 larger one.

when I turn the inverter on it beeps and indicates OL for a half second then runs fine, 14.2 or so, not sure if thats normal operating or not.

 

Here it goes. I read most of this thread and found little info. on inverters. But, have a 5k watts normal use and 10k watt start up. great inverter - big son of a gun. Wires: 1 gauge braided, fuse is located by the inverter - do not have to look for it outside of the truck- it's all close to the inverter and inside the cab. I have vnl780 which had no a.c. outputs. two outputs for the microwave and the toaster by the tv compartment. one output by the passanger side door for the fridge. two outputs by the work station. one output is left as an extar and has been wired to the trucks storage box - incase i need to use and extension cord for some tools or light or what ever else I may need to do outside of the truck that needs a.c. current.

make sure you wrap the outside wires really good, use heat-shrink, and sealtight if you can. make sure the wires will not rub on the metal and/or cause a short in the circuit-truck might burn down. I do recommend sound proofing the area where the big inverter is located at-less noise for you to deal with.

If I've forgotten to mention: I've removed the passanger seat in order for me to have more room in the truck.

 

Has anyone ever used a AIMS inverter and if so are they good or bad

 

Never used them. some say they are good, some say they are bad. I would stick with something that has been around for some times, has a wide selection, known name. try wagan - it;s priced close to the aims

 

Hey there. I'm in a company truck that doesn't allow hard wired inverters to the battery. I'm thinking about running my little 300 watt Power Drive to the fuse box but I have a few questions... 1) is it safe? 2) I have 4 positive terminals (acc, ign, iso, and bat) which one should I connect to? 3) can I let it run 24/7?

I'm running a 12v/120v Koolatron fridge, a 19" flatscreen tv, and my DirecTV receiver off of it. Is 300 watts enough to power those three things?

Thanks everyone

 

If the fridge can run off 12 volts by itself I would keep it out of the inverter, and depending on the TV 300 watts may not be enough when it 1st starts up. If you connect directly like this and let them run 24/7, then you have no protection from draining the batteries and could be unable to start the truck.

 

A 300 watt inverter doesn't need wired direct. Plug it into the cig plug and be done. And no it's not enough to run all 3 at the same time.

 

If i plug it in the cig plug its only 150. Manual says 150 if plugged in the cig plug 300 if hardwired.