Can i wire an inverter like this

**shakedown** · 11-19-2009, 12:38 AM

i have a 400/800 watt chicago electric dc-ac power inverter i bought used on ebay. i cant find any specs on it or wiring schematics. im gonna put it in my car to run my laptop.
i have a 400 watt amp running my subs. ive got a 4 ga. wire ran to it which is really overkill. so im wondering if i can get away with wiring the amp and inverter together on that wire...split it with a distribution block...then have 8ga wire going to each one.
as long as it doesnt pull too much current through the 4ga wire it would work i think. the reason i want to is i dont want to run another wire from the battery. and im just gonna run my laptop on it, not huge loads.

has anyone ever tried this?

**Bugbyte** · 11-19-2009, 04:34 AM

The only way to be sure is to calculate the power draw of both the amp and the inverter. Max load of both would be 400 + 400 watts = 800 watts.

Watts = Volts * Amps, so 800 = 12 * A. Amps = 66 amps, or 33 amps on each 4 gauge wire. The 12 volt.com says you can get away with a wire run of up to 12 feet at that amperage for 4 gauge.

The actual max load is probably less since when the car is runnng it outputs closer to 14 volts.

**DarquePervert** · 11-19-2009, 06:28 AM

Do yourself a favor and power your laptop with an auto power adapter (or DC power adapter - same thing).
Battery charging systems and laptops don't play nice together in many cases.