Will this inverter work?

Samirnoff! · 01-08-2004, 12:39 PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...goryId=cat08298

gracias mi amigos

sabre · 01-08-2004, 12:55 PM

link broke?

Defiler · 01-08-2004, 03:14 PM

I'm sure the inverter will work. It's what you are planning on plugging into it that I have no idea about. What are you going to use?

Samirnoff! · 01-08-2004, 05:14 PM

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....oryId=cat08298

sorry, heres the link
..and i was wondering if this inverter will work for a computer and lcd...and if the car charging port will provide enough power to run the inverter....(you wouldnt have to attach it to the car battery , correct?)

hijinks21 · 01-08-2004, 05:22 PM

yes that will work. Most lcds take dc power so the best thing to do is take the 12v dc power right from the PSU. On the other hand if you don't want to cut wires and worry about 12v and ground when just plug it in

grahamrb · 01-08-2004, 05:27 PM

Gonna need more info to answer your questions properly. If you are planning on drawing the full 400watts then you would most likely need it connect it to the battery as most cig lighters are only capable of supplying 150watts (some even less). Personally I would hook it to the battery as it is safer and a more reliable connection.

Samirnoff! · 01-08-2004, 05:46 PM

well, lets see more info.... my powersupply is 250watts, n im not sure what the monitor is....but if i connected it straigt to the battery, wouldnt the connections be loose? or become loose?....it doesnt seem like a secure connection to me.

grahamrb · 01-08-2004, 11:20 PM

You need to go down to your local auto shop and pick up a battery terminal. Use that to secure the positive line for the inverter to the battery (you will also need to buy some wire). Then connect the ground on the inverter to a point on the cars body. There should be a good few threads around that explain this in a bit more detail otherwise look at some tutorials on the net for installing a stereo amp.

deadweasel · 01-08-2004, 11:44 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by grahamrb

You need to go down to your local auto shop and pick up a battery terminal. Use that to secure the positive line for the inverter to the battery (you will also need to buy some wire). Then connect the ground on the inverter to a point on the cars body. There should be a good few threads around that explain this in a bit more detail otherwise look at some tutorials on the net for installing a stereo amp.

Want good ground? Look for a bolt somewhere near your inverter's mount point that goes straight into the car's primary body or framework. It shouldn't be something crucial like a trunklid bolt though! If it's going to be in the cabin with you, maybe attaching a wire under a seat bolt would work nicely. If in the trunk, I have always had good luck finding a good ground by putting a screw through one of the raised spars on the backside of the rear quarter panel (found behind the interior trim panels in the sides of the trunk, or again, using an existing NON-PAINTED bolt somewhere in the same vicinity. Maybe even near the brake lights...

grahamrb · 01-09-2004, 07:19 AM

Yeah, I attached my ground to a bolt near my brake lights, works great.

Hcomplyr · 01-09-2004, 08:05 AM

thats the one I use, i highly recommend it

sabre · 01-09-2004, 09:42 AM

My PSU is 140w....so would that be ok to just plug directly into this inverter and have the inverter plug into the cig lighter (or other available outlets provided in the truck)?

Will it then be ok to plug a lcd into it also?

I am considering getting an in dash vga lcd. Not sure about touchscreen or not. Is there much difference in power consumption between TS and no TS?

crosseye · 01-09-2004, 10:12 AM

Just a quicky, they have a VERY similar Coleman 400W Inverter for $29.99 at PepBoys. I experience NO line noise in my speakers when running it. Just get some 8 gage wire (RadioShack?) to connect to the battery. I wouldn't go any smaller than 8 gage because you can potentially use all 400W (if you plug additional things in, etc).

grahamrb · 01-09-2004, 06:06 PM

Ok, to check if your cig lighter can handle the number of watts you want to draw from it do the following...
1) Check what fuse is being used for your cig lighter in you car (fuse box usually in driver side foot well).
2) Multiply this by 12 volts (eg, if the fuse is 10Amps then 10 X 12 = 120watts).
3) Don't blow anything up!

deadweasel · 01-09-2004, 09:42 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by grahamrb

Ok, to check if your cig lighter can handle the number of watts you want to draw from it do the following...
1) Check what fuse is being used for your cig lighter in you car (fuse box usually in driver side foot well).
2) Multiply this by 12 volts (eg, if the fuse is 10Amps then 10 X 12 = 120watts).
3) Don't blow anything up!

There is one other thing that I would like to add here. I learned from this board that the cigarette lighter is teh bad place to plug an inverter in. Not only do you have to worry about low wattage capability on that circuit, but there is a ton of noise on that line, as well as a good deal of resistance offered by the crappy connection between the inverter plug and the socket. If you aren't afraid to do so, I would cut that plug off and hardwire the inverter to a better power source, preferrably to the battery itself, with like a 30amp fuse inline. If you are concerned that you might need that plug later, than make it removable with some butt splices (that name cracks me up) that are removable. The type that you crimp on, and then plug into the other half. You will want to use the big ones for this. That way, you can have an inerter plug that can be pulled off, and then you could have a pigtail off that battery that you could just plug into on the fly, with a much better and more reliable connection than using the lighter socket.