Is it stupid or will it work? Charging aux battery through 400W inverter?

[Boatbuilder79]

So I am glad it worked out for the op

do any of you with the factory inverter think it would be possible and practical to replace it with a real one and still use the plug in the dash?

my f150 does not have the factory inverter.

I do have a dual battery setup that powers my fridge and camping stuff.

I have a big 2awg Anderson plug wired up that I plug in my 2kw inverter into when I need it. But it is kind of a hassle to drag it out and it up when done.

So I was thinking about getting a factory 120volt outlet for the dash and mounting the inverter behind the back seat and wiring it up. Would have a remote switch and would add some 120 volt outlets that the bed too.

what do you experts think? Will this work or bad idea?

 

[Boatbuilder79]

As far as the 4 runner. I did test the concept and found that it worked for a little while but I ended up not needing to.

 

[rayra]

2kw seems a huge overkill for front-seat charging duties, why not get a smaller cig-lighter style inverter and put the bigger inverter in a more permanent mount where it might support heavier tools or charging duty?

 

[Martinjmpr]

Sounds good to me, and a fun project too.
But, unless inverter is used frequently, I would skip all the extra work of putting all the 120VAC wiring in as built-in system.

^^^^ What he said.

IMO an inverter is just a gimmick that they use to sell trucks.

I imagine a customer saying "OOH! Look! It has a 120v AC outlet so must mean I can plug in a coffer maker/wife's hairdryer/microwave oven/hot tub/big screen tv! Awesome!"

Only to find that the "built in inverter" is about as capable as those cheap 150w inverters that they sell for $15 at truck stops that plug into the 12v power outlet and are good for maybe a camera charger or a phone (although that's moot because every vehicle has 27 USB outlets now.)

If it was taking up valuable space in my truck (it's not) I'd rip mine out and put the DC-DC charger there. I get much more value out of that.

EDITED TO ADD: Wife and I camp in a travel trailer (R-Pod) and I'm on a few RV facebook pages. If I had a dollar for every time I saw somebody complain that they can't figure out why the 120v AC outlets on their trailer aren't powered when they are boondocking (camping without hookups) I'd be a rich man.

It's almost as funny as the people who say "Wait a minute - how am I supposed to make coffee if I can't plug in my Keurig?"

 

[rayra]

^^^^ What he said.

IMO an inverter is just a gimmick that they use to sell trucks.

I imagine a customer saying "OOH! Look! It has a 120v AC outlet so must mean I can plug in a coffer maker/wife's hairdryer/microwave oven/hot tub/big screen tv! Awesome!"

Only to find that the "built in inverter" is about as capable as those cheap 150w inverters that they sell for $15 at truck stops that plug into the 12v power outlet and are good for maybe a camera charger or a phone (although that's moot because every vehicle has 27 USB outlets now.)

If it was taking up valuable space in my truck (it's not) I'd rip mine out and put the DC-DC charger there. I get much more value out of that.

EDITED TO ADD: Wife and I camp in a travel trailer (R-Pod) and I'm on a few RV facebook pages. If I had a dollar for every time I saw somebody complain that they can't figure out why the 120v AC outlets on their trailer aren't powered when they are boondocking (camping without hookups) I'd be a rich man.

It's almost as funny as the people who say "Wait a minute - how am I supposed to make coffee if I can't plug in my Keurig?"

I got a little excited when Ford and GM were first talking about hybrid pickups, expecting some sort of rear bed power console with some 115VAC otulets. But now I've basically built that into my Suburban, anyway. Maybe a better far more costly bigger inverter than the cheap 1000W I have now, but it's running the powered hand tools I need just fine for now.

 

[Boatbuilder79]

2kw seems a huge overkill for front-seat charging duties, why not get a smaller cig-lighter style inverter and put the bigger inverter in a more permanent mount where it might support heavier tools or charging duty?

I mainly use it for power tools and a blender for margaritas. but was thinking it would be nice to have installed more permantly with some outlets in the bed but figure I might as well have the dash plug too.