Installing An A/c Inverter

deyomatic · October 26, 2011

Kind of a dumb question, but I'm trying to hard wire an inverter into my 2012 WT Extended Cab and can't find a good place to route the wire from the cab to the battery. On anything else I've ever had, I'd just drill a hole and run the wire through the firewall, but everything seems to be covered with layers of flooring, insulation, and plastic covers or it looks like a false wall that might have something behind it. How have others done it?

wavery · October 26, 2011

Kind of a dumb question, but I'm trying to hard wire an inverter into my 2012 WT Extended Cab and can't find a good place to route the wire from the cab to the battery. On anything else I've ever had, I'd just drill a hole and run the wire through the firewall, but everything seems to be covered with layers of flooring, insulation, and plastic covers or it looks like a false wall that might have something behind it. How have others done it?

How many watts is the inverter? What size wire are you using?

If the inverter isn't too big, you may be able to get away with running 8G wire and running it up through the floor instead of the firewall. Just be sure to use the proper gauge wire for the amps and distance of the run (the run includes round trip).

I have a 400W/800W inverter in my truck and I use 6G for the 22' run. I don't run anything big on it.

I have a 1500W/3200W inverter in my camper and use "2G" battery cable for the 6' run to the batteries. I often use the electric coffee maker or microwave oven on it.

Ne sure that you understand that running a 110V item that draws 1000W (10A) off of an inverter will draw ~100A off of your 12V battery. Be sure that you have battery capacity to run what you want and that the alternator will keep up with demand.

deyomatic · October 26, 2011

It's a 400W/800W inverter also. I grabbed 10AWG wire and it should be around 5 or 6 feet away from the battery (one-way). I grabbed a 10AWG 30A fuse and holder, to run at the battery, too. I'm only going to be powering a 170W laptop computer.

My unit came with 14 gauge wire and plug for the auxiliary outlet with a 15A inline fuse inside the plug end. It worked just fine, but at one point I plugged something in under load and the 20A fuse in the dash blew. Since it's my work truck and I'm in it all day- moving accessories around from outlet to outlet I just figured I'd cut out the fuse panel and go right to the battery so I don't have to keep shuffling items from outlet to outlet. The inverter also has a 40A fuse in the back of the unit.

My plan was to come off the battery with the 30A fuse and holder, then into the cab and keep the inverter on the transmission hump. I just don't want to pull the entire interior apart to try to find the firewall. I already broke one of the covers for that brace right by the throttle pedal. I thought about going down through the hole for the 4wd shifter but I ran out of light and couldn't really see how that plastic cover comes off. I also thought about going through that plastic fuse panel cover on the passenger side but can't see under or into it to for a way into the engine compartment. I thought about going through the door jamb but then I have to deal with the weather stripping.

Any ideas are appreciated.

wavery · October 26, 2011

It's a 400W/800W inverter also. I grabbed 10AWG wire and it should be around 5 or 6 feet away from the battery (one-way). I grabbed a 10AWG 30A fuse and holder, to run at the battery, too. I'm only going to be powering a 170W laptop computer.

My unit came with 14 gauge wire and plug for the auxiliary outlet with a 15A inline fuse inside the plug end. It worked just fine, but at one point I plugged something in under load and the 20A fuse in the dash blew. Since it's my work truck and I'm in it all day- moving accessories around from outlet to outlet I just figured I'd cut out the fuse panel and go right to the battery so I don't have to keep shuffling items from outlet to outlet. The inverter also has a 40A fuse in the back of the unit.

My plan was to come off the battery with the 30A fuse and holder, then into the cab and keep the inverter on the transmission hump. I just don't want to pull the entire interior apart to try to find the firewall. I already broke one of the covers for that brace right by the throttle pedal. I thought about going down through the hole for the 4wd shifter but I ran out of light and couldn't really see how that plastic cover comes off. I also thought about going through that plastic fuse panel cover on the passenger side but can't see under or into it to for a way into the engine compartment. I thought about going through the door jamb but then I have to deal with the weather stripping.

Any ideas are appreciated.

You may be surprised how much wire it takes to make that run from the battery to the cab. The battery may only be 5' away but by the time you run the wire, you can easily double that or more (each way). Be sure to protect the hot wire, where it comes through any metal. I found some real nice rubber grommets at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/180-Piece-Rubber-Gro...;sr=1-1-catcorr

The biggest reason that I went with 6G wire is because I don't want to have to run the wire again, if I decide to go with a bigger inverter.

I went with this fuse holder for the same reason. http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-EWFH-Single-...;sr=1-3-catcorr