Auxillary Inverter Installation

[Sal-XK]

I have a cool spot for mounting a inverter, I think its perfect but depends on your options installed if it will fit for you. I saw this while searching around jeep forum I like it and will try this one myself.

[LWM]

I saw this in the other thread and thought it was so cool that it needed it's own thread. I have the DVD player in that location so this is not an option but I had been wondering where I could install mine for a clean look. Thanks for the find.

[Sal-XK]

Now I'm going to have to get cracking on the install. I was thinking of pulling the outlet panel off my inverter and installing it in that plastic panel. On the sides I'm guessing some air vents to get some air circulating in there.

[1USMC]

Thats the exact location my factory inverter is located (2010). Its only rated at 150 watts so I might consider replacing it later. Good luck with your installation Sal-XK..

[Sal-XK]

Thats the exact location my factory inverter is located (2010). Its only rated at 150 watts so I might consider replacing it later. Good luck with your installation Sal-XK..

Can you take a picture of yours. Do you have any vents for the inverter to get air?

[IamJEEP]

That's a great spot. I was thinking there or behind the far rear passenger panel. Does anyone have pics of the "compartment" without the inverter installed? I would like to see what's behind the panels without having to tear mine apart just yet.

[1USMC]

Can you take a picture of yours. Do you have any vents for the inverter to get air?

I hopefully didn't write faster than my mind can think.!. I have a factory inverter outlet in that location ( thinking at the time that perhaps the hardware, is, behind it). Mine also has two switches above that outlet for the rear seat bun warmers. I have run a few wires in that area and don't remember any vents. I'm away at work and will be glad to check if the actual inverter is behind the outlet or not. And if not, see if I can locate it. The master switch for the factory inverter is on a switch bank by the climate controls on the dash, so it may be in a different location.
This last X-Mas I picked up a 400 watt inverter to run a bunch of LED X-mas lights we put on our 1925 American La-France Fire Truck. We had it in an enclosed space and after a couple of hours it would shut off and cool down. My Dept. keep adding lights so I was never able to figure out if we overloaded it or we overheated it.. Ha...
If/ when I do install a larger inverter on mine I'll probably have to run a separate 12V power supply as the factory one appears to have an auto shut off after a pull of approx 170 watts. Sounds similar to my 12V power outlets and their 13 amp circuits. The larger inverters even start coming with their own cooling fans.
It will be next week B4 I get an opportunity to try and confirm for my "actual" inverter location. I'm hopping I'll be able to slow down enough to get some pic's posted sometime in Feb or March...

[strokeZ]

I have seen some larger inverters like 1200 watt - is there a rational limit that should be held to when installing one of these? I am assuming the larger the wattage the faster it can draw down a battery if its being used (like a coffee pot) and the vehicle is not on???

[IamJEEP]

You are correct in saying that the more watts, the more draw, but it depends on the equipment you are running off of it. Say you have a 1200w inverter but you are only using 500w off of it, your amp draw is going to be lower than using the entire 1200w's.

Your battery does'nt have a "limit", but remember the more watts pulled, the quicker it'll drain. If you run you Jeep while using the inverter, you have a better chance of not killing you battery. Just make sure you are not drawing more amprage than your alternator can handle. Ex: If you are drawing 80 amps running the inverter and your alternator only charges at 65 amps, you will eventually burn up the alternator and your battery will not get full charge.

I'm no pro, so anyone feel free to correct me.

[Sal-XK]

I it was a pleasant 70 degrees today so I went home early so I could get this mod started. Here are some pics so you can see whats behind there




Ok so got the panel off like most the stuff on the XK it pops off with a little force. Next I decided to use the actual outlet from the inverter it self instead of putting another one in and connecting them some how. So I had to take the inverter apart to accomplish this.


Then I figured out the wires were not long enough to reach the panel and mount the outlet so I needed to extend them and of course I'm out of wire so to the store I go.
Extended Wiring, The blue wire you see is the wire I added. Not the best solder job but it will hold anyway.



Next I traced out the outlet on the panel and used my dremel to cut the shape out.


I screwed the outlet into the panel and mounted the inverter with velcro to the panel. This stuff is strong its actually ridiculous to try and pull apart.


Now the finished product



I ran the wires up the side of the center counsel tucking all the wires inside the counsel. I left the wires inside my dash for now it got late so I'll tie them in on the next nice day we have. It will have full time power regardless if the jeep is on or not.