Thread: where to buy wire to run from battery to inverter?

I have a 400 watt Coleman inverter. I purchased a kit that was meant to power a 400 watt amp because it included all necessary connectors, an inline fuse holder, and the right length. It also came with some plastic protective cover for the wire that resides in the engine compartment, and some hardware to get the wire through your firewall.

Works just fine for me. it was about $25, which i thought was a little expensive for a 15 foot length of wire and some connectors. But I guess you pay for the convenience. I just wanted to be safe by using something meant for a car.

The inline fuse is meant to be kept close to the battery in case of an accidental short. I would NOT connect a lenth of wire drectly to the battery without a fuse because you can ruin your battery or set your car on fire (I've seen it happen).

Good luck.

I'm currently running a 700w inverter in my trunk. I have a 2000 Camry and have found that they run their wiring under the car with a plastic cover, so there is where i ran my 6 gauge wire (just one wire, and use the frame of the car for neg). I used two fused blocks, in parallel (radioshack 270-1213) with two 15A fuses along with a 30A automotive relay (in series with the fuses) (275-226) to kill the power if anything should happen. I mounted the fuses RIGHT at the battery, then the relay. You DO NOT want to run any length of wire HOT from the battery for saftey sake. I found the wire at a recycle electronic store, about 30ft of 6 gauge for $6. Multistrand is best.

To test this out i ran 4 100watt 115v bulbs for 2 hours out of the trunk, when i first tried this, i was only running one fuse holder and it did get kinda hot, so that is why i went to two fuse blocks and split the current rating of the fuses.

I do have pictures if anyone is interested..
Good Luck!

Originally Posted by crosseye

I have a 400 watt Coleman inverter. I purchased a kit that was meant to power a 400 watt amp because it included all necessary connectors, an inline fuse holder, and the right length. It also came with some plastic protective cover for the wire that resides in the engine compartment, and some hardware to get the wire through your firewall.

Works just fine for me. it was about $25, which i thought was a little expensive for a 15 foot length of wire and some connectors. But I guess you pay for the convenience. I just wanted to be safe by using something meant for a car.

The inline fuse is meant to be kept close to the battery in case of an accidental short. I would NOT connect a lenth of wire drectly to the battery without a fuse because you can ruin your battery or set your car on fire (I've seen it happen).

Good luck.

Where did you get this kit?

Originally Posted by sabre

Where did you get this kit?

You can usually find them at any place that deals with car audio sales or installation. I've seen them at BestBuy, Pep Boys, and Advanced Auto Parts.

wow everybody, thanks for the useful answers & feedback.

I think that since i'm a total noob to messing with stuff under the hood of my car, i'm gonna swing by Advance Auto Parts on the way home from work today and pick up one of those 'all-inclusive' kits...sounds like the easiest way to go for a noob like me.

let me know how that goes. I have an inverter and want to run it to the battery but I dont have confidence in buying what I need seperately. If those kits are easily available and work, im gonna get one this weekend.

Originally Posted by mbkowns

run it inside the car forget doing it outside its more work... Those panels come off much easier then you think

those panels? sorry, forgive my ignorance, but what panels are we referring to here?