outlet in cargo area

[ncdrtyhoe]

Thinking of putting in a battery in my extra tray under the hood. I know I will have to use a isolater so as not to kill my starter battery. But the my plan is to run power to my cargo area for a power converter that I will mount where the jack is located. Then on the plastic interior molding I will install a regular household etrical outlet to plug up a small radio or microwave for when we are out on the beach or tailgating. Anybody done anything like this or do you have any advice?

 

[99Yuk]

Sounds like a great plan. I did something similar with christmas lights on THIS road trip.

I used a power inverter to charge up stuff and run the lights. Worked like a charm. With one small exception. [And the advice.]

Keep water/salt out of the 120v stuff. Possibly discard the 120plug idea.

Mine developed a small problem in that whenever someone touched the roof racks, body, bumper, etc, they would get buzzed with 120v. 'Come on', I thought. The lights are grounded, the inverter is grounded, WTF? And it got worse with salt spray. It was gone after going through a truck wash. Pure water didn't affect it, just the salt/calcium spray. It was a good theft deterent! Touch my truck, get electricuted!

The advice? Keep the 120v stuff far away from the metal body of your truck.. You may think it's seperated, and grounded, and you've followed all the rules, but that 120 will find you.

 

[ncdrtyhoe]

I will have to keep that in mind! Just a thought for now and not sure if I want to do it yet or not! But thanks for the advice!!!

 

[SunlitComet]

Microwave at the beach or tailgating? That just ain't right.

 

[95TwinTT]

While your in the planning stages, it would be a good idea to verify 12 volt wire size needed to power the inverter.

A microwave can draw a lot of juice, plus it is an inductive load, which has a fairly good surge at start up.

Might need heavier wire to feed the inverter………

 

[ncdrtyhoe]

Yea ya never know what you will need! HAHA

---------- Post added at 09:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:26 PM ----------

While your in the planning stages, it would be a good idea to verify 12 volt wire size needed to power the inverter.

A microwave can draw a lot of juice, plus it is an inductive load, which has a fairly good surge at start up.

Might need heavier wire to feed the inverter………

I was thinking of 0ga and doing the big 3 while I was at it!

 

[96ProCompTahoe]

if you actually go about this, why don't you just put the inverter in the cargo area and plug it directly into it? that would be the best way to do it. run 12v back to the inverter.

 

[riso79]

I aded one just like that to my center console. Check out my pictures, comes in real handy to have one mounted in permanently. You should already have a 12v outlet in the back, cant you just add an inverter to that? I bought a 400w inverter, ran its own seperate 8 gauge wire to it then pulled it apart to hide the unit and just have the outlets.

 

[noJeepshere]

I want to do something similar in mine, but I'm going to power a HAM radio from there, and they need some juice sometimes. I would run 12v to the back, then just put the inverter there so you don't have 120v running through your truck where it could potentially rub through the plastic sleeve and short to your 12v frame. The same thing essentially happens when you weld on a car without disconnecting the battery first, everything not 120v blows up.

---------- Post added at 10:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:24 PM ----------

Microwave at the beach or tailgating? That just ain't right.

x2.

 

[95TwinTT]

For reference, a nominal 1200 watt inverter requires 4 gauge wire from the battery with a 150 amp fuse in that circuit. Forget the power point and just wire direct.............



http://www.theinverterstore.com/the-inverter-store-product.php?model=pwric1500w-top-rgb#