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I've Officially lost it....Inverter install.....

73k5blazer

73k5blazer

End the H1B Program!
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Instead of doing things like...oh....mabey getting and engine and putting it in...I'm stuck on the wiring, during which I put this 500winverter/10amp charger in. Works very nice.
Buried behind my side panels, along with the stereo amplipiers, has a 15amp 120v inlet I mounted above the rear taillight. This model didn't have a remote panel, so I removed the panel from the inverter, made a block off plate, hardwired a plug, and used a cat5 network cable to extend the LED display and 2 18ga wires for the switch.
I also put an AC switch and ran the wire it switches to the engine compartment for an engine block heater. That way I can have just 1 15amp inlet the charge the battery and run the engine block heater.

IMG_6193.jpg

CloseUpInverterPanel.jpg



ANd the placement of the components (on this side), before diamond plate installation.
Not shown in this picture is the 12vDC acc. outlet I installed just above the inverter there, so I can put a 12vdc fridge back there. I never expected I'd turn my K5 into an RV.

MarkedupIMG_6180.jpg
 
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Inverters can be pretty handy! I don't think it's odd at all. Not having an engine might be :eek1: but the inverter makes sense.

I know a guy that uses one on his diesel Suburban - just to run an electric grill for lakeside cookouts. First, he got tires of using the park grills (building the fire, etc). Then he got tired of buying propane and waiting for the rocks to heat up on his portable gas grill. So, he did away with all that and hard-wired a big inverter so he could set up his electric grill on a folding table. While everyone else is letting the coals form or letting the propane heat up the lava rock, he's already grilling.
 
Yeah, I wanted a bigger one, but once you get above 500 they get very square and then it wouldn't fit behind the side panel. This one is long and flat and it has a fan and says it's designed to be mounted in tight places. Plus any bigger and I don't think I'd have been able to mount it so far from the battery, all the 1000/1500 watt ones want you to mount the thing on the battery to minimze voltage drop in the cable.
 
That looks great. I have a couple of inverters (1500 and 2000) that I run directly from the battery. They are very helpful on cross country and while camping. I never really thought about it, but I suppose that I am turning my Suburban into an RV also.
 
old school...

I remember meeting an old hippie that had an old school bus that looked just like the Partridge Family's bus..he had an electric motor mounted on the bus engine..he explained it was now a generator!..all you have to do is wire in a few "motor run" capacitors in the 110v line cord,and once it spins at bit faster than it did as a motor (say,1725 rpm motor would need to spin 1800 or a bit more),it starts generating current,and turns it into a generator!..:D

(there is info on this in detail online..google "Induction Motor Generator" and you'll see several pages of info!..)

He said it would put out about 1100 watts,it was a 1hp motor from an old table saw..said it runs everything but motors,or anything that was a direct short,like a heater or stove..(it would run a drill,but a circular saw wouldn't work)..it worked great for lights and TV's,stereo,and other appliances!...neat thing about it was if you overloaded it,it would simply stop generating!--kind of "fail safe"!..

I'm tempted to use a 5hp motor and an old washing machine motor to make a emergency generator,or an old alternator and one of those inverters!--then I could charge dead batteries too..be handy for jump starting my lawn tractor,which always seems to have a dead battery,since its parked 300 feet from my shop..:mad:

Neat setup you have there!...I didn't think inverters could be mounted in an enclosed space so small,nor did I know they can run a grill!--that means you could use a ceramic heater too most likely,if you had enough wattage!.. :crazy:
 
73k5blazer said:
Instead of doing things like...oh....mabey getting and engine and putting it in...I'm stuck on the wiring, during which I put this 500winverter/10amp charger in. Works very nice.
Buried behind my side panels, along with the stereo amplipiers, has a 15amp 120v inlet I mounted above the rear taillight. This model didn't have a remote panel, so I removed the panel from the inverter, made a block off plate, hardwired a plug, and used a cat5 network cable to extend the LED display and 2 18ga wires for the switch.
I also put an AC switch and ran the wire it switches to the engine compartment for an engine block heater. That way I can have just 1 15amp inlet the charge the battery and run the engine block heater.

IMG_6193.jpg

CloseUpInverterPanel.jpg



ANd the placement of the components (on this side), before diamond plate installation.
Not shown in this picture is the 12vDC acc. outlet I installed just above the inverter there, so I can put a 12vdc fridge back there. I never expected I'd turn my K5 into an RV.

MarkedupIMG_6180.jpg
Click to expand...

Dammit 73k5, that is such a great setup that you are going to make me spend more money to do something like yours. Very nice.:bow:
 
I've been kicking around getting an invertor. The lights and fan in my camper run off 12 volt, so I currently have a convertor to run my camper's system off a/c current when I have shore power. I also have 2 a/c outlets for running my air conditioner and other things when I'm plugged in. I basically have the setup in place, it would just be a matter of spending the money and wiring it in.

So there ya go, I don't think you've lost it. I think its a great idea.:bow:
 
I kind of understand what you are doing, but the whole inverter inlet has me confused. I thought you ran a cable from the battery to the inverter, and that converted from DC to AC. What is the inverter inlet for? This sounds like a great idea, and I plan on doing my side panels out of diamond plate too, and would love to do this with the inverter, as it would be a really handy thing to have.
 
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