HOW TO: 400W Anytime Mod 3rd Gen

Do you have a night time pic of the pro fog light beam pattern?

 

So what about doing this, but wiring to a switch so that you can enable/disable it as you see fit?

In short, you'd be flipping a switch to then use the 400w setting (while moving)?

 

First, I am not trying to step on the toes of the OP. The OP did a great job in figuring out how to do this mod. I just thought I would share my thoughts and knowledge of electronics.


I think Toyota limited the inverter to 100W when the truck is in motion for a reason. 400W will pull a lot of DC Amps and when adding up everything else that is pulling amps when the truck is in motion, you can quickly put a heavy strain on your electrical system. Especially if you are just running a standard 12V battery. Here is an EXTREME (using most of the power available from the inverter) example showing what the DC amp draw is when using the inverter on the 400W setting.

AC Voltage = 120V (E) This is the AC voltage the inverter is putting out
AC Amps = 3A (I) This is the AC amps the device uses that is plugged into the inverter
Watts = 360W (P) This is the power requirement (watts) of the device plugged into the inverter
Formula to get Watts Watts = Current (I) x Voltage (E)

Now to get the DC Amps that are used by the inverter:

We use the DC Voltage for the truck, normally (12.5V) and the watts used by the inverter (360).

DC Voltage = 12.5V (E)
DC Amps = 28.8A (P)

Formula to get DC Amps Amps = Watts (P) / Voltage (E)

So the DC amp draw on the trucks electrical system is 28.8A. If you have the towing package or upgraded to the heavy duty alternator then you have the 130A alternator. So, this has used almost 1/4 of the capability of the alternator. Then if you start adding in all of the other things that use power from the electrical system.. stereo, lights, A/C, keeping the battery charged. The amp draw on the electrical system adds up quick.

With the 100A maximum when the truck is in motion. The amp draw is 8A. Big difference.

 

Does this allow the inverter to be used when the truck isn't running? I'm less concerned about the 400 watts. It'd be nice to run a projector or something without the truck running though.

 

N128CG,

You can use the inverter with the truck off and in the "ACCESSORY" position. As stated in the owner's manual "●Do not use the power outlets longer than necessary when the engine is
not running."

The reason for this is that the inverter will drain your battery quickly. The standard OEM battery has about 100 minutes of use when using the maximum power (400W) of the inverter. At that point you will not have enough power to start your truck. You could upgrade your battery to a larger battery, but that will only give you a little more time. Another option is to add a second battery (this is the better option). I would also use a deep cycle battery which are designed to be regularly deeply discharged using most of its capacity. In contrast, starter batteries (automotive batteries) are designed to deliver short, high-current bursts for cranking the engine, thus frequently discharging only a small part of their capacity. While a deep-cycle battery can be used as a starting battery, the lower "cranking current" implies that an oversized battery may be required.

I saw a mod to add a second battery on the passenger side.

All in all, I would try to run the inverter as little as possible with out the truck running.

 

Yeah. I had duel batteries on the first gen. I don't think that I'll be going to route with the new truck though. Trying to keep things lighter this time around.

Thank you for the info on that. I hadn't thought to try it in the accessory and I have an aversion to manuals and instructions in general (pretty sure I'm allergic to them).

 

Thanks. I've thought about putting some of those on my truck.

 

TWHMAPPM

 

Dude, I need this. Thank you for the post. Looks like I have my project for the weekend

 

Right on! Thanks guys, you are awesome!

 

Where did you pull the wires for the additional plug? I'm working on it this weekend and would like to do this as well. Thanks.

 

I basically followed the 2nd gen instructions for manual transmission here
(https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-ac-outlet-in-cab-400-watt-anytime-mod.322320/) with the exception of the colors for the hot and neutral wires. In 3rd gen, the wires are BLUE[Not red] for neutral and WHITE[Not green] for hot.

 

Just curious, are you guys that have done the 400watt anytime still able to switch between 200 and 400? Wondering if i did something wrong because I can not.

 

No, once you do that mod it will be 400W all the time, but keep in mind that's the max. So if you have it set to max 400W and you plug in a 60W appliance, it will still only be drawing 60W whether set to 100 or 400.

 

No, it's 400W always.

 

Beat me to it!

 

With the AC Outlet Mod option:



Can you tell me which spot you use for which wire? Red Wire being the Hot, would that connect to the Right Side spoke looking from the Back, Green Wire being the Neutral, would that connect to the Left Side spoke, and run a Ground Wire from the Outlet to a spot by the Inverter? Lastly, do you know if for the 3rd Gens these two colors are the same for this Mod. Not sure if you've done this one or just the 400W.

 

Thanks again guys, my original thought was to put in a higher output inverter, but hesitated because of the multifunctional switch. Come to think of it though, wire are so thin I don't think it could handle much more output without serious rewiring. Regardless, super happy you guys figured this out!