Ok, I know I post alot , but you guys are helpful, and as far as I'm Concerned, Know what the Heck yuns are talking about!
Anyways:
I'm looking into the power inverter market, the kind that you plug into your cig lighter.
I'm going to be getting one off of eBay, and i need to know what to look for, and what to stay away from?
Are these things dangerous to your battery/charging system/wiring?
Thanks.
Josh

 

Well, they can kill your battery fast under any real load. You should beware using them if the truck isn't running.

Off of the cigarette lighter socket you're really limited to 350 watts or less, depending on the wiring and how it's fused.

Here's how it works: if an inverter was 100 percent efficient, it draws 10 times the amount of amps from the battery it produces at the outlet. For instance, a 350 watt inverter produces about 3 amps at 120 volts. It takes a whopping 30 amps at 12 volts. In fact it's more because the inverter is not 100% efficient.

So you can't run really big loads off the power point or cigarette lighter. When you get into bigger inverters you have to start thinking of wiring gauges like that you would use with a big audio amp.

 

Well See, Im going to be running a Tiger saw for cutting up bodys(lol).....nah, just portable dvd will it overload?

 

The inverter I run hardwired in my truck, I can run sawzalls off of it. I also have a small lighter one that I use in other cars to use it on trips and stuff when the passenger wants to watch a movie.

 

I have a similar setup to run an electric impact wrench for trail repairs.

However, my son-in-law took my small one to run stuff for the kids (VCR/DVD player) when traveling in the family van and I doubt it's coming back, lol.