Outlet in bed

Runs my slow cooker and air compressor just fine. But @400W (and that's with the engine running) it's not running anything big. But then again if I wanted bigger I'd get a separate generator rather than tax my engine's battery.

 

I use it to charge my Dewalt batteries.

Jay

 

I have run a bunch of things all at once off of it during power outages. At the same time I have run a 32" tv, a computer, router/modem, light and charged a 18v Ryobi battery and my phone. Trick is to turn on the device with the most amps at start-up first or else you'll trip the breaker.

 

Why are 2/3 of the breakers in your house 20A ?

Just curious

 

And are you saying two thirds, or two out of three? If you only have three circuits, that's a bit odd...

 

Me too. It was that way when I bought it. One day, when I'm bored, I'll look to see what gauge the wiring is.

 

Bad idea to be running sensitive electronics on a truck inverter. You're asking for a very expensive problem.

 

My welder is 220 and has a dryer plug on it, I run the cord in the house and plug it into the dryer plug and watch my power meter spin so fast run d.m.c couldn't keep up with it.

 

This is a good thread.
Had dreams of living off the land with my newer truck and power saw.
Happy I found this sight.

 

(had to do this when the tornados had us without power for a few days and needed my fence propped back up lol)

 

I have a 425 watt Craftsman inverter under the front seat. Similar to the 400W from the factory. I can charge up my cell phone and laptop at the same time, can charge up batteries, run a small compressor, it's pretty handy actually.


Even aftermarket inverters, it's tough to get a high wattage one that will run off of the system on the truck, maybe 800 watts maximum???


I saw this thing called a Mean Green high amperage alternator that puts out something like 180 amps, even with that the inverter is max maybe 1000 watts???

 

X2 Perfect for airing up tires

 

I thought it was 100 watts with the engine running and 400 with the key on ACC?

 

The only reason I considered the TRD O/R package was the bed plug. I plan on upgrading the suspension and adding an ARB locker in the future. So that would have been an expensive sticker. Glad I went with an SR5!

 

The OR has some other things, but if you want to slap an aftermarket inverter on it's not all that difficult. Took me about four hours, bought some 6AWG to run from the battery under the frame, put a little hole in an existing plug by the drivers seat, ran the 6AWG through that to the inverter under the drivers seat.


Ran an AC extension cord from the inverter right back through the same hole by the drivers seat, back under the frame to the bed, drilled a hole in the plastic bed near the driver side tailight, ran the extension cord through it (sans plug), then connected a three-way plug from Home Depot onto the extension cord and viola, 425 watts at the bed.


The connections to the battery are the alligator clips supplied with the Craftsman inverter, I soldered them to the 6AWG, clip the positive to the positive battery terminal, the negative I clip onto the catch cup under the oil filter. When not connected I put them in a ziplock bag behind the battery.


I keep them connected quite a bit, no problem, have 425 watts on demand, reach under the driver seat and flip the inverter on or off.


Some silicone on the plug by the drivers seat, some plastic conduit for the 6AWG and extension cord, some zipties, some electrical tape, and there you go . . . .

 

I powered my Milwaukee angle grinder with it. A friend lost the key to the U lock on his bike, pulled right up next to it and cut it off!

 

my house is wired with 12 gauge versus 14. You can run more outlets or lights that way on one circuit.

 

and the advantage is ?

 

More toys in the house these days is consuming more and more power. Thus needing highrr amp fuses and heavier lines. People running space heaters or portable ac units on the same daisy chain of outlets as other equipment.

 

thats pretty much my plan as well, thanks for sharing