I have a Cobra 1500 Watt inverter to put in my 4 door taco. Per the instructions, it says to keep the wiring (4 guage) less then 5 feet. Since that is noit going to happen, I was wondering if any of you have installed something similar and where/how?

I was thinking on just bringing the wires into the center console and adding lugs of some type for use as needed, however I would really like a more permanent solution.

 

replace the 4 with something thicker, the thicker the wire the longer distance you can run it

 

The 5 ft limit is because of the total amp draw. At 12 volts and 1500 watts, that is 125 amps. You'll also get some voltage drop across this distance. The issue is the resistance of the wiring and the load it may have to carry. Keep in mind that your alternator may not be able to keep up with the load, either.

Here is a helpful website that helps with some wiring calculations:
http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

If you expect to never get close to 1500 watts, then you may be able to safely run longer 4 gauge wire. Or you could replace the 4 gauge with something thicker, like 2 gauge. The resistance of a 5ft 2 gauge wire is roughly half the resistance of a 4 gauge wire. So you could probably run it about 10 feet without trouble.

The other option is to have a separate deep cycle battery that gets charged by the alternator, but uses it's own stored energy to run the inverter. Two battery setups on your car aren't a bad thing if you expect to run heavy loads with the inverter.

HTH,
MadCityRich

 

I have a 1000W (1500W peak) inverter connected to a deep cycle optima blue top battery. I mounted the inverter under my driver's seat. I ran 1 gauge wire from my aux battery to a 150 amp fuse in the engine compartment, then ran 1 gauge wire through the firewall on the passenger side, through the center console, to under the driver's seat where it connects to my inverter. All my wire is covered by plastic split loom to protect it.

Since you're dealing with so much current and direct wires from the battery, I recommend that you cover all your wire with plastic split loom to protect it like I did (you don't want to short it out if the insulation gets damaged). I also recommend the high amp fuse or circuit breaker (which will prevent a fire in your truck if you do get a short.) Just size the fuse or circuit breaker to slightly higher than the max current you expect to draw with your inverter.

 

First, thanks. In three replies a TON of useful info.

The dimensions are 8.5" X 9.625" X 3"



So I am not sure it will fit uner the seat. The majority of the time it will be powering a laptop, so the requirements won't be too taxing however on occasion it will be running a small tv/DVD. I have a soun system that needs to run in an upcoming parade, however I think it was well within specs.

I will try to find the thicker guage wire to make my life easier and run ground to a closer point.

Thanks.

 

With a laptop load, you will have no issues with power draw. Laptops are pretty efficient. The small TV and DVD probably won't draw much, either. I recently went through my house and tested a bunch of my appliance loads, largely to determine the standby power draw. Here are a few:

24 inch CRT tube TV - 62 watts running
5 disk DVD player - 25 watts running
Home theater receiver - 61 watts running

It's when you start trying to power big sound systems, incandescent lights, or heating elements that you will get into trouble.

100W incandescent lightbulb = 100 watts
27 watt compact fluorescent = 27 watts, but same light as 100 watt
My coffee maker - 1040 watts when heating element kicks on
My microwave - 1,690 watts when on high

I think you'll be fine, though you might want to test the sound system before you need it for the parade.

Good luck,
MadCityRich