power inverter for xbox 360 in car

**hostility87** · 08-21-2010, 08:47 PM

I'm new here,but this seems to be the best forum to post my question..if it isn't,i apologize and let me know where it's to be posted.

I have a 2006 Nissan Sentra Spec V,I bought a brand new red top optima battery [an upgrade over my duralast battery that was already dying] I bought a 500 watt inverter,rca cables,gauge wire..My friend who's a mechanic helped me rig everything together..however,the xbox 360 doesn't power on at all when it's hooked up,we tapped into the cig lighter wire and then hard wired into the battery terminals itself..it wouldn't turn on,not even the power brick supply [the light] I'm not sure what the problem is,the inverter seems to have enough to power it up,but it doesn't..I hooked up a drill and my laptop and it worked fine...it has the wave feature [forgot what's it's called in full] and from what I've read online 500 watts continuous should be plenty...could the inverter me too small? My friend ran power tests on the inverter and the xbox power and it shows it gives out 115 average...I spent a ton of money and time today and I'm very frustrated on what's going on,I'm a security guard,so my job stays stationary for 12 hours a day..any help?

**SNOtwistR** · 08-21-2010, 09:29 PM

inverters are mostly rated at peak power not continuous watts. you most likely need a 1000 watter to give you the continuous watts you need, also i'm trying to understand if you are using the inverter with cig lighter end but lighter is rewired direct to battery or did you try both ways on the inverter? what gauge wire did you use to feed inverter? you might need to bump it up a gauge size or 2 hope this helps SNO

**hostility87** · 08-21-2010, 09:39 PM

Originally Posted by SNOtwistR

inverters are mostly rated at peak power not continuous watts. you most likely need a 1000 watter to give you the continuous watts you need, also i'm trying to understand if you are using the inverter with cig lighter end but lighter is rewired direct to battery or did you try both ways on the inverter? what gauge wire did you use to feed inverter? you might need to bump it up a gauge size or 2 hope this helps SNO

I agree,however,from what I've read the majority of people doing this mod use 400-500 watt inverters in general..I'm not sure what the continuous power is rated at,to be honest.
we tried it both ways,we rigged it to the ligther first,then the battery directly,I plugged in my laptop both wired to the cig and the battery...at this point It has to be the inverter,I did everything else right.

as for the wire,I'm not sure what size he used,but he got thick enough wire [he installs stereos and what not] so I'm pretty sure that's not the problem.

**OldSpark** · 08-22-2010, 03:12 AM

Yeah - I don't understand the cig lighter bit....

A 500W RMS output inverter will take about 50A input - way past anything a cig or Merit plug can handle.