Best way to wire up inverter?

aphesis · 11-24-2003, 01:25 AM

Well i'm about to attempt my first install of the carputer in the car and just have a few questions which hopefully will be resolved.

1) What would be the best way to setup the inverter so that it turns on automatically when I start the car? Also is this a good idea? I don't really like the idea of switching the inverter on and off everytime. Sounds like too much work hehe.

2) I plan to mount the inverter underneath the front passenger seat, do they really get that hot? Don't really wan't my seat to catch on fire hehe.

3) I'll be using 8 gauge wire from the inverter to the battery and also i'll have a fuse located about 10cm away from the battery to protect the wire. By the way my battery is located in the boot.

4) I assume that it would be alright to ground the inverter to the body?

That seems to be about it so far.

Thanks in advance

Skraggy_uk · 11-24-2003, 09:02 AM

I wired the inverter plus and minus to the battery directly.
Fuse close to the battery.
I also grounded the inverter case to the shell of the car using the wingnut/thumbscrew on the case supplied, and grounded the PSU, and Motherboard and tft to the same place.

I fitted a relay into the main power leads for the inverter. I wired this top the remote line of the headunit, but you could use the acc line of your ignition switch, or a switch 12v source from the fusebox. This allows the inverter to be completley hidden, yet switchable without having to reach the switch on the inverter, disconnect the battery, or fit a mnual switch in line, that you can forget to flick.

My 300watt gets warm, but is fan cooled. Has been under the rear seat through summer and winter, I did cut the carpet to route the fan into the cabin for cooler air, but I don't know if that is necessary.

wi77iam · 11-24-2003, 12:54 PM

I also used a relay from my Acc line to supply power and a switch on the dash to turn on/off the inverter. It works good. That way I can choose to power up the thing or not, rather than having it start every time I start the car. My 350 watt inverter also has a fan in it which can get kind of noisy. That's why I put it and the PC in the trunk. I also have buttons for turning on/resetting my PC from the dash.

swzine · 11-24-2003, 09:32 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by wi77iam

I also used a relay from my Acc line to supply power and a switch on the dash to turn on/off the inverter. It works good. That way I can choose to power up the thing or not, rather than having it start every time I start the car. My 350 watt inverter also has a fan in it which can get kind of noisy. That's why I put it and the PC in the trunk. I also have buttons for turning on/resetting my PC from the dash.

Thats the same thing I did. I am not an electronic wiz, but I do believe the relay is VERY important as many switches can handle only 10amps. If you use a relay you can use a front mount switch but get the power from a stronger source. You can probably find switches that handle more power, but it's hard enough finding the perfect looking switch for your car looking at all options. I'd hate to narrow down the options!

Skraggy (or anyone), what is the reason for grounding the motherboard to the car? I'm not questioning cause I disagree just because I didn't think it was necessary.

Skraggy_uk · 11-25-2003, 01:00 AM

I found grounding all the parts (including the inverter casing) together in one place helped cut down a lot of signal noise, as I'm using an FM modulator, rather than an AUX in, or straight to AMP setup.

If you are using a normal, or mini case in metal, you will probably find your inverter shell being grounded is sufficient, but mine uses the fibreboard center console with no common sections of metal between the mobo, PSU and screen. Found it cut down on the hiss and crackle a lot better than a ground loop isolator ever could. Infact, if I use one now, it actually adds extra noise. If you do a search on grounding or ground loops, or signal noise, I'm sure someone has already explained it better than I could.

aphesis · 11-25-2003, 01:06 AM

so how is the relay actually wired up and should it be closer to the battery or the igniton trigger?

Skraggy_uk · 11-25-2003, 01:36 AM

Wire it into the main live feed between the battery and the inverter.

Normally, you have power live feed in, power live feed out, relay ground and and trigger live in. The terminals are numbered and I don't have it handy, but you can find a diagram through google, I used a 35amp headlight relay.

I wired the relay close to the inverter and uses the antenna/amp remote for mine. It actually has a long run to it, running from the headunit through the dash, along the top of the sill under the kick plate, out under the rear seat, and across the floor in the rear seat area, to the inverter. Hasn't caused any probs so far.

alphonsus · 11-25-2003, 03:17 AM

This may be totally off the page, but is it possible to connect the inverter to your stock stero power? I mean still connect the nevative to the battery terminal but then the positive to your strero harness?

That way when you start your car it turns on automatically like a stock stereo.

Whats the voltage that the stereo harness gives out?

Skraggy_uk · 11-25-2003, 04:11 AM

I use the remote line of the antenna/amp feed to switch the relay.

A decent size inverter will use between 15-30 amps, far more than the stereo power loom can support with out blowing, and that is what the remote feed is for.

I switches an internal relay in an amp, or in my case power antenna, I just branced it off with a connector block under the seat the trigger the external relay in the inverter power line, and it fires right up.

I set the bios of the Epia-M Mobo to resume on AC power return, and the PC fires straight up. once I get a decent Headunit with AUX in, I will be able to leave it switched to the AUX source, and have the PC audio as soon as it returns from hibernate.