power converters

[towtruckerfour]

Hey guys. A while back I thought I saw a thread where someone installed one in their truck and put a 110 outlet in the ashtray. I tried looking but could not find it. Does anyone remember this thread or did I read it somewhere else? Thanks

[bobsgarage]

I haven't seen the thread, but I know invertor's are available. Takes at least two batteries, if your truck is not running. Or one if your only powering say a laptop. An invertor will convert 12 volt current to 120 volts. You can buy ones that plug into a cigarett lighter or larger to power bigger items. I had one on the 68 I had, it came that way from the PO. But for it to work, he istalled a larger alternator, and the truck had to run high rpm's to maintain the voltage. Your tow should have enough battiers in it for a good size invertor. What are you looking to try and run ?
Invertors are rated by the amount of wattage they produce. So you would need to look at the device your trying to power up, and check the peak wattage it would require, and buy accordingly. In RV's you usually won't see them unless it's a really big class A. And then they only run the TV's and fridge. Hope this helps.
Report this postReply with quoteInverter and the ashtray
by Roodaddy on Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:46 pm Engine and electrical, this may be the thread.

[amishbuggy]

A couple years ago I had one of those mobile glass companys replace a windshield in my driveway and the dude had a sweet inverter set-up, he was able to run a sawz-all, a r.o. sander and a electric chaulking gun with the engine off. The van had one of those "auto on" deals where when the batteries dropped to a certain point the engine would start.

[towtruckerfour]

I have a 400watt converter I used to use on the forklift I drove to power a radio for some tunes while I worked. I was thinking of putting it in my 68 so I had 110 available if I ever needed it for powering tools or something.

[bobsgarage]

We had set up several vans for a really big locksmith company. They all where set up to runs key making machines will the engine was off. There are also auto start setup's for systems as posted above, usually to start a generator if the battery voltage gets to low..

[Oren09]

I have a 400w AC (30A @ 12VDC) inverter in my Dodge daily driver. I runs my laptop just fine, but I haven't found something that draws 400w to test it out all the way. I have it wired directly to the battery using 8g wire and a relay system to kill all power to it. It has a phantom drain for the 5VDC USB port. My Dodge has the heavy duty 160A alternator so I have no problems running devices with the engine on. I leave the inverter on overnight for up to a few days to keep my music cell phone and bluetooth headset charged. If the truck sits too long, the battery dies. The inverter has auto shutdown at 10V, but only for the inversion parts- not the pass through for the 5VDC USB.
The inverter is pretty small, so there should be no problems mounting it inside of a bump's dashboard (mine is where my Dodge's cupholders used to be).

[westernkansas]

found one hooked up to an old bump at salvage yard, it has 5 or 6 wires running from it, only ones that were hooked up was 2 to the alternator, and 1 to the voltage regulator. i will dig it out and post a pic of it shortly. it has 1 double outlet, and an on/off switch. have yet decided if I want to hook this up or save up and buy one. want to use it to power an air compressor, wondering if I should research how to hook up a second battery to my 72 390. some of the reading I have done on this thread suggests to put it as close to the battery as possible, also I read it gets hot fast, maybe if I do use the one from salvage yard I may hook up a fan from an old computer to it to held keep things cooled.

would like the option of operating the thing while motor is shut off but not sure if that will be possible