Hey everyone. If you are thinking that I'm putting a dozen LCD tvs in my car like Pimp My Ride i'm not. This is actually functional. My friends and I are taking a road trip in early March heading from Sheboygan, Wisconsin (on the shore of lake michigan) to San Franscisco and then down to LA and back. We'll be gone about 10 days and I estimate we will cover 5000 miles. The car we are planning on using is my '00 Saturn SL2. Here's my question;

I've got the little PS2 and my friend has a little TV set he got out of a conversion van a few years ago. Basically the plan is to stick the TV in between the two seats and be able to play PS2 or watch a DVD in the back seat. I know I will need a power inverter and It would probably be better to just connect it straight to the battery instead of a cigerette lighter type. Is there anything I should be watching out for? Anything in particular to look for in an inverter? Is this even feasible or are we just dreaming of a way to make the miles go by a little quicker but will kill the car half way across Nebraska? Any help is appreciated.

Oh, and if you think "don't you want to see the scenery?" if you have ever driven on I-80 west for any length of time you can see why we are thinking of a playstation.

-Tim

I am a OTR truck driver so I know I80 west, and it gets interesting once you get past Nebraska headed west, that said, your biggest issue is a non true sine wave inverter going to kill your electronics. A small tv and a PS2 shouldn't need more than a 1500 watt inverter. Can your car handle that draw?

You need to figure out how much the tv and ps2 draw and give some room for the start up of the TV.

I ran a 13 inch tv off a 150 watt inverter for kicks, it took forever to charge the tube, constant power button presses, but ran fine once it was charged. If its not an lcd tv, don't worry about the sine wave part of the equation, I would be more worried about the PS2, which may or may not be damaged by a cheap inverter.

First you need to find out the wattage of the devices you want to use. My Magnum has a 32" LCD screen that uses 40 watts. I also use my laptop with a Canon printer that uses 20 more watts. That means I need a constant 60 watts to operate. I use a Belkin 200 watt inverter so I even have excess that I can use for something else. I shopped for the LCD TV and found a very wide spread of ratings. Smallest use I found was JVC that used 30 watts, and a Sony that used over 100 watts. Id recommend that you use one thats hard wired to the battery and not the lighter plug style. I used a digital tester to plug in each device and it displays the watts used of the device plugged into it.

Because I don't know any better, I bought a 400W inverter from somewhere like Fleet Farm. Can't remember. Anyway, I had a 13 inch regular TV/VCR combo. I had the kids set it up in the back of the minivan and drove from Milwaukee area to Fort Myers, Florida. That thing was on much of the time. I had it run through the lighter plug. I had zero problems with the car or the TV. As far as I know, it didn't hurt the electrical system of the car.

I used it to run 2 laptops at a time on the way to Iowa City, Iowa and back. About 4 1/2 to 5 hours one way. Plugged it in through the lighter plug. No problems with the laptops or with the car.

Someone tell me if this is hard on a car because I have been doing it for about 5 years now and haven't had a problem doing it in multiple cars. But if I am pushing my luck, I would like to know.

quote Originally posted by frontal lobe: Because I don't know any better, I bought a 400W inverter from somewhere like Fleet Farm. Can't remember. Anyway, I had a 13 inch regular TV/VCR combo. I had the kids set it up in the back of the minivan and drove from Milwaukee area to Fort Myers, Florida. That thing was on much of the time. I had it run through the lighter plug. I had zero problems with the car or the TV. As far as I know, it didn't hurt the electrical system of the car. I used it to run 2 laptops at a time on the way to Iowa City, Iowa and back. About 4 1/2 to 5 hours one way. Plugged it in through the lighter plug. No problems with the laptops or with the car. Someone tell me if this is hard on a car because I have been doing it for about 5 years now and haven't had a problem doing it in multiple cars. But if I am pushing my luck, I would like to know.

With the vehicle running you won't see much effect, the alternator will be working harder but should not really effect the overall electrical system. Battery drain can be a problem when the vehicle is not running (charging) but a lot of the inverters have an automatic low battery shut off which helps avoid getting stranded. Power/cigarette lighter outlets are rated to a specific amperage, so higher output inverters need to be connected directly to the battery but the small ones that come with a connector designed for the power outlet in a vehicle should be fine connected in that way. I run a coleman 1200 watt inverter connected directly to a bank of deep cycle batteries, I run power tools, shop vac, carpet cleaner, window unit, haven't found anything I need to run that I can't.

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Dealing with failure is easy: work hard to improve. Success is also easy to handle: you've solved the wrong problem, work hard to improve.

As someone who is off grid and uses solar for power I can give you some info on this.
You will probably only need a 200 to 400 watt inverter which only draw about 2 to 5 amps at max load. Anything above 15 amp should be hardwired with a fuse to the battery. To figure out what you need to run what you are using look at the back of the equipment and see what the power consumption is. It might give it to you in amp draw or watts used. If it is watts just add them up and add 25% to get what size inverter you need. If it is in amps multiply it by 120 which will give you watt usage and again add them up.
Even using solar I can still run most everything that everybody else does. I just have to be careful not to leave anything on when it is not in use.

Id say hardwired is far better as far as the car charging system is concerned. I use an 1100 AH battery as an auxillary. When cars turned off, my tv, printer and computer run off it and it dont draw any from the vehicle battery. I will run my big TV, DVD player, and printer 8 hours a day for an entire weekend at shows without charging it at all. Like I said my inverter is 200 watts. Im sure a PS dont use much power, but you can easily find out. You wont need a 400 or bigger inverter unless you plan on running a refrigerator, coffee maker or something bigger.

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Id recommend that you use one thats hard wired to the battery and not the lighter plug style.

I know this would be extremely simple to you, but for some of us it seems very complicated to do when the other option is something everyone can handle: plug into a lighter plug.

So how do you handle running the wiring from the battery, into the car where you want the inverter to be?

We aren't looking for permanent placement of an inverter in our cars. We are just looking for a simple way to power stuff on a long trip. When the long trip is over, we don't want an inverter in the car and want to just take it out when we get back. Using the lighter plug makes that incredibly simple. Just put the inverter in the car. Then it's, "Hey, kids. Plug into the lighter plug when you are using it. Unplug it when you aren't or when we get out of the car." (I make sure to unplug when I'm stopped).

On the other hand, we don't want to ruin electrical components in the car just for convenience, either. If that is the case, then it is, "Hey, kids. Quit complaining and look out the window. And, yes, before you say it, your mom and I KNOW Iowa and Nebraska are flat."

rogergarrison, (and others) I appreciate your responses on this.

Just run a pair of wires from the battery, one on neg and one on pos, thru the firewall to the inverter. It will usually have screw on tabs to connect them. Thats it. Just make sure you connect pos and neg to right terminals. If you dont want to mount the inverter (i dont mount mine except with velcro so I can use it with both cars) just get a 2 wire plug from Radio Shack with male and female ends. Put the female on the wires, and put the male on a short pair of wires on the inverter. Make sure you always connect the pos to pos when you plug it back in each time.

There are 2 reasons to hard wire. Lighter plug wires are usually pretty small for small load and will heat up. Lighter plugs/ sockets are not very precise and connections can jiggle lose very easy, making and breaking contact a lot....which CAN mess up your charging circuit. I sometimes have to jiggle my GPS when I plug it in to get contact.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 01-14-2009).]

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: Just run a pair of wires from the battery, one on neg and one on pos, thru the firewall to the inverter. It will usually have screw on tabs to connect them. Thats it.

Again, I know this is "fool" level for you, but I would need every specific detail if I was going to do it.

1. Any certain type of wire?
2. Leave them hooked on to the battery permanently with no problems?
3. Where do you go through the firewall and into the car?
4. Where do you run the wires when in the car?
5. What do you do with the ends of the wires when not in use?

Once the wires are in, the inverter has clearly marked terminals with easy-to-use connections.

I'm not trying to make this overly difficult, but I've never gone through the firewall, never run wiring under carpet, etc. When it comes to a lot of automotive stuff, I'm like a 53 year old ten year old. I'm eager and willing to learn, but just have simply never done some of the stuff you guys have been doing for 30-40 years.

Side note, but I hope you are having a fun time figuring out what to do with the extra time you have now that you aren't running the business anymore.

LOL, gotcha....really ez here

Go to Radio Shack and get a small roll of red and small roll of black 14 gauge insulated electric wire. Ask the clerk for some kind of 2 wire plug you can put on the ends so you can unplug it when unneeded. Depending on inverter you get, it may even have plug on connectors included.

Get some crimp on wire connectors there too that fit the 14 gauge wire with large enough hole to fit your battery terminal bolts.

Now look under your dash for anywhere there appears to be wires, cables coming thru the firewall into the engine compartment.

Push one end of each wire (red and black( thru that hole into the engine compartment.

Find them in the compartment and pull enough thru to reach your battery posts. Use electrical tape or tie wraps to fasten both wires to existing wires and components that are non moving.

strip 1/4" of insulation off the ends and crimp on one of the wire connectors to each wire

fasten the black wire to the negative (-) battery terminal, leave the red one UNCONNECTED for now

Now decide where you would put the inverter. Under a seat is usually OK.

If you want it removable, mount it to a piece of wood a little larger in size as an insulator from carpeting. Put a piece of velcro (the rough half) on the bottom of the wood. This will be plenty to keep the wood/inverter from sliding around. Make sure you have easy access to the plug openings for your tv, etc.

now unscrew the screws or clips that hold the door step molding to the car. This will allow you to put the wires under the carpet

Figure how much wire you need to come down from the dash, under the carpet, under the seat and to the inverter. I would put these together in a protective wire loom (couple bucks for a few feet)

Now lay the carpet back on top and remount the door step molding.

You need to cut off both the red and black wires now, leaving enough slack that you can pull the inverter out to disconnect it

Fasten the red wire to the positive connection on the converter. fasten the black wire to the negative connection on the converter

Most converters 200 watt and over have an on off switch on them.

The final step would be to go back to the engine compartment and attach the red wires connector to the positive (+) battery post . Your inverter might or might not have a built in fuse. If it dont, you will have to put a fuse holder/fuse in that positive wire at the battery. (also only a few bucks at RS or auto parts store)

Now all you have to do is plug in whatever your using into the 120 outlet and follow the inverters instructions. Some will say turn on inverter before turning on your device, some dont matter. And your all set. To remove just pull the connectors off the inverter and take the inverter out. The plastic plugs on the ends of the wires will keep them from shorting out so you can just leave them rolled up under the seat.

Hope that helps you.

Awesome everyone! Thanks a lot. We have decided against the TV/PS2 deal just because after the boring stint on I80 we really won't have too much use for it and it will take up a lot of room...that should be used for beer. My friend is bringing his laptop and we've all got MP3 players, cell phones, and cameras to charge so I think we will put a 200 - 400 watt inverter in the car for that stuff. The wiring shouldn't be a problem for me. Thanks again!!!

Plus sandwiches to all!

-Tim