Ok Guys, I think i have it all layed out right but would like to confirm. Below is how i plan on wiring my invertor to my car. Please let me know if it looks good. The switch has 3A 125vac and 1.5 A 250VAC written on it. Is that enough and do i need a fuse?

Thanks in advance

Jim

 

Jim,

I’m having a little trouble reading the text in your diagram. Past this, and answering your question, I would certainly recommend an inline fuse. Doing that provides an extra measure of safety for your car’s electrical system and the devices you connect to the inverter. Of course some other readers will say this is not necessary, but I like having something past the fuse-block when adding an inverter to a 12 volt environment.

I don’t have a hard-wired inverter in my Z, but do have this in my off-road vehicle. Here I use two batteries and a power-management device so that both batteries don’t drain when doing things like running the winch. In your case it will probably be an X-Box.

My only other comment is that your inverter should be twice the power of all the devices you plan connecting and running at the same time.

--Spike

 

Spike i know i sent a pm,

the top left is ground distro block
the top right is power distro block
switch is the thing to the right
center is a 350 watt innvertor
and bottom is a wall outlet which will be my ac receptors

 

Jim,

I would like to provide a little more explanation and some additional comments to your good question and your Thread.

The inline fuse I have is 30 amps, and that seems adequate for any AC device I connect. The inline fuse proved valuable for me on at least one occasion when I connected a powered beverage/food cooler that had an internal short.

I may have confused things a little mentioning the electric winch on my 4WD since this is not connected to the inverter. The winch is connected to the power management switch I use, but the switch also controls the inverter. The power management switch I mention is in place of the switch in your diagram.

The power management switch on my 4WD off-vehicle (which is equipped with dual batteries) has 4 positions:

• A (Battery 1)
• B (Battery 2)
• C (Battery 1 plus Battery 2)
• D (Off, no power to the inverter)

I doubt you will use a dual-battery setup (but that it a guess and I maybe wrong). If you are using a single battery, the switch is still a good idea since you can use this to kill power to the inverter. And, you can get an “intelligent” switch for a single battery setup that won’t allow the AC connected device(s) to drain your battery. Better inverters also have internal features that prevent draining your battery.

It’s been 10 years since I’ve installed the components I have in my 4WD off-road vehicle, so providing brand names and specifics I have isn’t useful. I’m sure current devices are better. I haven’t researched this lately.

Forums for CarPC’s also have a lot of information about inverters.

Please keep us updated on your project. I’m sure that my interest is shared by many others here.

Subscribing…

--Spike

 

Spike thanks a-lot again for clarifying that. I went to Radio Shack/home depot today and got alot of stuff. So far i have completed the AC circuit as in getting power from the inverter and powering a wall outlet.

I have also run the wires from my two distro blocks, but currently have them electrical taped off. I am about to head to work till about 5-6 AM but once i get back home, ill snap some pics and hopefully complete the DC side with the switch and fuse.

I will keep everyone updated

-Jim

 

Ok guys i know i have been slacking. I finished it up today and it was a huge success. everything works great and i could not be happier pics tom

If you have questions about anything ask away