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Power inverter placement

Chris Ziemer

Chris Ziemer

Daily Driver
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Location
Galt CA
Anyone have pics of where you installed your power inverter? I’m trying to find room in my engine compartment, but am having a hard time finding the best location.
I’m thinking close to the second battery (drivers side) and making a “stand” of some sort off of the inner fender?
Could be a rattle trap though.
 
What size inverter?
I am going to put mine inside the suburban, but I haven't decided exactly where. My right fender is getting the arb compressor.
 
Hey Wes, I have a 1100 watt, which is about 7”x10”. I too thought about placing it in the interior, but am moderately concerned about the huge power cable that’d I’ve have to run.

Mostly, if it catches on fire, I want it to be as far away as possible haha.

Too, it’s rare that I use it. Out of sight and out of mind works for me.
 
how weather tight is the unit. I installed a number of these units in work trucks for the fleet I worked on, most 2000 watt I use 2 ga and 175 amp circuit breaker close the power source. If my users couldn't F it up and set them on fire I think your good. My guys could destroy a steel canon ball.

Making a tray for my driver side fender well 1" square tube on eng side and rectangle shelf on top of square tube. going to nee to relocate vapor canister
 
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To be fair, for occasional use, running extension cords from underhood saves you from running a bunch of $$ copper through the firewall. I would put a circuit breaker in line for an easy disconnect when not in use. For my electric air compressor, I mounted a toolbox on the inner fender. It's not weatherproof, but I've never found water inside the box. I just flip the top open whenever I'm using the air. If the water is up near the hood, I have bigger problems to think about.

The problem with putting it in a box is cooling under heavy load. If your use cases allow you to remove the lid temporarily or leave it open, then it shouldn't be a problem.
 
Wes Harden said:
how weather tight is the unit. I installed a number of these units in work trucks for the fleet I worked on, most 2000 watt I use 2 ga and 175 amp circuit breaker close the power source. If my users couldn't F it up and set them on fire I think your good. My guys could destroy a steel canon ball.

Making a tray for my driver side fender well 1" square tube on eng side and rectangle shelf on top of square tube. going to nee to relocate vapor canister
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Valid points Wes. The weatherproof issue is a real one. In the engine compartment, it’d have to go in a container of some sort or else it’d be junk right about the time I needed it!

The only place I have to mount it in the cab is in the back. That would necessitate about 12’ of wire. I think there is a way to figure out how much is too much, but not sure what that is.

I am trying to find the most right place for it, but perhaps there isn’t one…
 
Is there room under one of the seats? How about behind one of the rear side panels?
 
Some ideas. A second battery. 2nd batt would use small ga charge wire, but would likely be in the passenger area.
I have considered the inside the body of the bed panels. K5 would be easier than a burb.
One install I did on an extra cab 2015 GMC I mounded a 2kw inverter vertical on the back of center console, with 2ga power and ground. The use was very happy he could plug sitting in driver seat.
Many of our Tahoe came with a 17kw inverter bolted on top of an equipment drawer , at rear tailgate. All done be up fitter.
 
I would mount it where it’s best for you, at work we have 1500 watt inverters (2) mounted in baggage bays of buses, on a 45’ bus we are often over 10-12 feet away from the batteries, we run 2 ga feed wire from the battery with a fuse right at the battery, and ground as close as we can to the inverter. In a fleet of 75 buses we haven’t torched one yet.

My service truck has a 2000 watt inverter on the first tool compartment on the bed. It’s about 8 feet of cable, again fused at the battery.
 
Chickntrk said:
I would mount it where it’s best for you, at work we have 1500 watt inverters (2) mounted in baggage bays of buses, on a 45’ bus we are often over 10-12 feet away from the batteries, we run 2 ga feed wire from the battery with a fuse right at the battery, and ground as close as we can to the inverter. In a fleet of 75 buses we haven’t torched one yet.

My service truck has a 2000 watt inverter on the first tool compartment on the bed. It’s about 8 feet of cable, again fused at the battery.
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Thanks for everyone’s input on the subject. It’s been super helpful. I think I’m going to take what you guys suggested, and mount it behind the driver seat on the lower part of the bed panel. Should be out of the way, minimize the length of cordage, and keep it out of the weather.

I’ll post a couple of pictures when I’m done.

Hey, on another note, on a whim I decided to get my cigarette lighter working. Never has since I’ve owned the truck. After an hour of trying to twist the back off with a variety of progressively destructive tools, it was not going to happen. ️
I ended up having to carefully grind the lip off of the cigarette lighter housing in order to get it out.
Ordered a “universal” so presumably that’ll work.
I’ll put an easy access inline fuse in it this time.
 
One more thing, I have two 15 amp plugs on the inverter. Does that mean I need a 30 amp inline fuse?

From the manufacturer:
1100 watt continuous power, 2200 watts peak power. Features 2 USB ports (2.4Amps Each), 2 Standard North American AC outlets (each rated at 15Amps).
 
Chris Ziemer said:
One more thing, I have two 15 amp plugs on the inverter. Does that mean I need a 30 amp inline fuse?

From the manufacturer:
1100 watt continuous power, 2200 watts peak power. Features 2 USB ports (2.4Amps Each), 2 Standard North American AC outlets (each rated at 15Amps).
Click to expand...
No! Don't confuse 12V current with 120V current. Power out is slightly less than power in, so 2200W output (about 18A total @120VAC) is something like 2400W in. At 12VDC, that's 200A. That's why the wire gets so big. The inverter should come with some ratings for fusing and you can use that to choose the wire size. Depending on the duty cycle the inverter is rated for, it's likely you can plan for a little more than 1100W (so more like 100-120A @12VDC).
 
Thank you gents, much appreciated. If it weren’t for you all, I’d own a Honda. ☠️
 
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