Installing an outlet? (not an inverter)

[Jacob Linder]

Hello all...

Curious if anyone has any experience with installing an outlet? I don't mean a total inverter in the hatch or trunk of whatever. I really just hate having to carry around a lame 300v inverter that doesn't even put out a full 300w when plugged into the cigarette lighter. Looking more to plug in my tablet/laptop when on the road. I have plenty of experience with installing electrical things, just not sure where to go with this though. Input needed please!

 

[beepinX]

Bumping and subscribing on how to do this.

 

[Hickman98]

Before my last inverter went out, I had it mounted under the back seat. It had plenty of air and was out of the way, it was just cheap and I haven't replaced it yet. My kids could plug their tablets into it and I ran an indoor extension cord under the carpet from it into my center console. So I had 110 pluggins at the back seat and in my center console. I ran the positive wire from the battery and the ground to a seat bracket bolt. I had full power instead of the limited power from a 12v pluggin.

 

[BrianDye]

I build cooler stereos, and I think I did what you're wanting to do in one of my last builds.

You still NEED the inverter, however you can take it apart and mount a plug wherever you want, to keep it clean, and look OEM.

I had just one of the little (forget the wattage, enough to charge a laptop, small TV etc) the size that fits in a cupholder.


I went to Ace Hardware, and they had single outlets that you cut a square out and they would "snap" in basically and then I extended the wires from the inside of the inverter, to this new outlet which was flush mounted on the outside of the cooler. I opened the case, removed the built in plug, and then spliced the wires (I highly recommend soldering, and heat shrink, don't just twist and electrical tape or something) into the outlet. Now the inverter was mounted inside the cooler, but I had the plug on the outside so it was extremely clean looking, and I didn't have to plug an inverter into the 12v outlet and carry it around.

 

[BrianDye]

Unfortunately couldn't find any pictures of the inside, but you can see the outlet on the right side in this pic. I had two outlets, one on each side.

Edit, I lied!

Heres a shot of when I rewired it and threw in a cheaper battery:

The inverter is the flat black thing on the back left. The lid was chrome so I shot it with some flat black primer.

 

[Jacob Linder]

Unfortunately couldn't find any pictures of the inside, but you can see the outlet on the right side in this pic. I had two outlets, one on each side.

Edit, I lied!

Heres a shot of when I rewired it and threw in a cheaper battery:

The inverter is the flat black thing on the back left. The lid was chrome so I shot it with some flat black primer.

Appreciate the input. Making a little more sense now. I can't find the specific outlets you're talking about but I'll keep looking. Would I splice the wires powering the inverter and connect it directly to the battery? Or would I splice them straight into the 12v connector?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

the factory wires running the acc outlet are really limited I would grab an inverter with a minimum of 1000watts and hard wire it to the battery with the proper sized wiring.... plugging a tablet into this outlet is kind of strange since they make 12 usb chargers.... inverters are meant for things that cant run off 12vdc with out an expensive dedicated power supply ..... they have really come down in price since I was running a 1000/2000 inverter for my fog machine and strobe lights but even that inverter when it was loaded down either needed the engine running or extra batterys to even function

 

[Jacob Linder]

I'm wanting to take the wiring the mount it into the car, and mount the outlet/usb ports into my plastics somewhere. so the block itself isn't visible

 

[BrianDye]

Appreciate the input. Making a little more sense now. I can't find the specific outlets you're talking about but I'll keep looking. Would I splice the wires powering the inverter and connect it directly to the battery? Or would I splice them straight into the 12v connector?

No, don't use the 12v outlet. Those are very thin wires, like 16 or 14 gauge. Go straight to the battery, with appropriate gauge wire for whatever wattage inverter you get. I would recommend going bigger than what you might calculate you need, so you aren't using the inverter and maxing it out, but at the same time, don't get one with an extra 1,000 watts of power you won't ever need, lol.

Here are those outlets I mentioned, same thing, but I found them at a local hardware store. (You might find them too. They were in one of those electrical connection areas where they have drawers full of stuff)

http://www.globalindustrial.com/p/e...wSfzBpxUKCOJGlOdQ-74idLWzCQTfo9IN4RoCz_Dw_wcB

 

[Jacob Linder]

Okay, so this is what I've gathered so far. A higher watt inverter. Connect it to the battery. I get that. However how do I get this

disassembled and mounted into the car without having to use my 12v cigarette outlet?
The outlets/usb would be mounted somewhere on the center console

So. Let's figure out how to do this. I know @BrianDye you know electrical, i'm not as savvy with it so lets figure this out. I cannot be the only one wanting to do this

Just an updated picture of the Sploder. Just added 17x8 0 offset steelies.

 

[BrianDye]

Get crafty with your screwdriver lol

It's gonna vary model to model but you're basically gonna unscrew the outer case to get to the inside, snip the leads off for the AC outlet but either mark down the color or remember which wire is which (you'll have 3) then you'll probably have to extend them with proper gauge wiring, connect to your new outlet (cut the hole where you desire) and snap it in place.

Screw the inverter back together leaving the now-excess wiring out of a hole or something and mount the inverter wherever applicable.

I wouldn't worry about the USB ports. You can buy USB ports that run off 12v that you can easily tap into your 12v sockets for and mount to look better.

You need that outlet I linked to, to do this mod.

Another way (that wouldn't look nearly as clean and OEM would be to extend each wire from that front panel that houses the outlets and USB ports, cut a hole big enough to squeeze the back of the outlets/panel in and screw it in place. I have done that as well but like I said, you lose the clean look.

 

[Jacob Linder]

So what wattage would you suggest ? I'm about to start ordering things and getting it all situated. Really excited to start this

 

[BrianDye]

What are you trying to run with it?

 

[Jacob Linder]

Just your basic laptop, Maybe a small tv, and xbox. Nothing to heavy.

 

[Jacob Linder]

Okay okay okay. So I have an idea I've been running through my head the last few days. What about... Taking a small mower battery, kinda like the one in your cooler, building a housing for it, mounting it in the engine bay, and connecting everything through that. Kinda like having it's own independent electrical system in the truck. I could then take more than 1 outlet and place 2-4 inside the truck while still getting max power without killing my truck battery. The only problem is finding the right inverter to take apart. And the kind of wattage I'd be looking at. Is that too crazy of a thought?

 

[BrianDye]

Yeah thats going too far lol. I mean its not outrageous, but its pointless unless you were like camping or something and planned on powering big stuff for long periods of time without starting the Explorer to charge up the battery.

If that IS what you're planning on doing, a lawnmower battery wont cut it. You'll need a deep cycle battery, I would say at least 35+ ah to charge up a laptop, run an xbox for an hour or so, but running an xbox and tv will require a bit more. I have a 122ah in my 150qt cooler, run a 19" LED TV off that and if I were to throw an Xbox in the mix (they are power hogs) I wouldn't expect to get more than an hour or so, but it could be more, could be less. Id have to look up the power consumption on everything to get a better estimate. Also, very unlikely you'll run an Xbox and TV off one inverter unless its a large one.

(Ex. 20" LED TV will use about 25 watts, Xbox One's range from 70-120. If you were to get an inverter that can push 150w, it would work, but it would be struggling. Plus you have the high draw that happens as soon as you turn the device on so you need to compensate for that. For the TV and XB1, I would go no less than 200w, but again, bigger would be better as you can run more/bigger stuff if needed)

If you are looking to run this stuff while on the road like you mentioned in the first post, no extra battery is needed. Would be completely useless, though it wouldn't hurt. I had a second battery in the back of my 06. Could play the stereo or have lights on for hours without worrying about if it would start or not.

 

[BrianDye]

Was at the hardware store yesterday and grabbed a few pics to show you that outlet.

Are you still looking into this project?

 

[Jacob Linder]

Absolutely! Kinda stalled at the moment though. Having to put more back for the holidays, so my fun with the sploder is slowed for the moment. But still researching and looking into a lot. I've find that taking apart a bigger inverter makes it easier but also pulling a lot of unnecessary power. So I'm still unsure of what to use because I'm wanting it to be able to do a little more , than a little less . if that makes sense.