apparently i dont know how to wire stuff...

[Fish Man]

hey everyone. for some reason my power inverter wont work. i feel like a frggen retard cause ive been working on it for 2 days and i cant get it going. all i wanted to do (which is exactly what i did with my old one and it worked fine) is extend the plug wires out to the console so the plug would be on the car instead of on the power inverter. then i wanted to tap into the switch. so i got the plug extended and everything was fine. however when i tapped into the switch wires nothing happened. youcan touch the two switch wires together and nothing happens. the unit wont power on. but when you touch the switch wires to power the unit powers up and works fine. i was confused but figured whatever, if thats what it wants ill give it that. so i hook it up to a power and when i go to put it to the switch it starts freakin out and sparking and stuff. i have no idea what the hell is going on. i dont know if yall can help me cause i didnt explain it very clearly...maybe this is just more like a rant cause im pissed that i cant get it to work and feel so stupid.

 

[410Fortune]

Okay so you are trying to tap into the accessory on power wire from your truck so the inverter does not run when the key is turned off, correct?

Where are you trying to get this 12V+ source?

You have two choices, tap into a wire at the fuse panel or in the power dist box under the hood.

 

[Fish Man]

nope, i am running straight off the battery but using a switch to cut the current. i tapped into the switch wires on the switch on the inverter to run to my own switch (the inverter will be hidden) and then stuff got weird...i think there might be something wrong with the inverter to begin with, im gonna see about getting another one...

 

[410Fortune]

First check the wire you ran from the battery, sounds to me like it has been cut or is grounding out somewhere.

There are wires you can easily tap into so the converter only gets power when the key is on.

You might have a bad switch.

Sparks = dead short.

 

[Fish Man]

yea i thought of that too...i went so far as to use a different wire. still no different. yea i thoguht about doing that with tapping into ignition controlled stuff but then i realized i needed a bigger wire so there wouldnt be as much current drop. with a small wire this 400/800w inverter wouldnt power my laptop so i ran an 8ga instead. i was thinking about the bad switch...but it is one that i have used before for my old power inverter. thanks for your expertise...this one has baffled me as well

 

[410Fortune]

You have a multi meter or a 12v test light? Because this could narrow it down in about 2 seconds

 

[Fish Man]

actually i dont i really need one...where should i be testing?