Power Inverters
 

Ok, I am not one of those Hi- Tech junkies. I have never owned a power inverter before. I have always had appliances that plugged directly into the cigarette lighter. Now, I must invest into an inverter. Here is my question, I am wanting to run a TV DVD combo, Xbox, and be able to charge my computer when needed. What would you all recomend for me in terms of size of a power inverter?

If you can hard wire directly to the batteries go ahead and get a 1500 watt inverter. That way if later on you want to put a microwave in you will have the power to do it.

If not then you will need two plug in inverters. Get a pair of 400 watts.

Thanks Uturn! I am not sure if I will use a microwave or not but I think I will go ahead and get one of those 1500 watt ones. Are they hard to hard wire?

Not really.

You will need to drill a hole or two in the floor board of your sleeper to run the cables.

Just be sure to protect the cables where they pass through any metal with rubber grommets and also install a fuse on the positive cable just as it comes off the battery.

A quality 4 ga battery cable will work for your cables. If you can find a 2 ga it would be even better.

You will need a lug end for the battery side and most inverters will take bare end wires on that end.

Go to Walmart and buy a 15' set of jumper cables. The wire is perfect to go between your battery and the inverter. Lift the mat up under the bunk and pick a spot to drill 2 holes. My holes were next to one another and looked like the number 8. There was a little gap so I went to the hardware store and bought some grey string caulking that you push into the gaps with your hand.
Tie wrap the cable to air lines or other electrical lines running the length of the truck then into the battery box in the back with all the other cables. If you want to be a little inventive. Buy a household plug and box and screw it to the bottom of your bed stand on the outside then wire the box to a plug that plugs into the inverter under your bunk.

Keep in mind that even though your not using the inverter, it's using power so shut it off when you park the truck for more than a few days.

Consider a true or pure sine wave inverter, they put out an electrical supply that works better with sensitive electronics,microwaves.(some cellphone,computer chargers need the cleaner electricity to perform, and some microwaves run cooler and more efficiently as well)
I use an RS 3000 from xantrex, it works perfectly, and with a 7500 surge, it easily covers all my electrical needs. You won't need one that big unless you plan to expand your toys.
An 1800 would do what you need to have done.

Thanks all! One more stupid question. Do I just need to use one of the batteries in the box or do I have to use the positive on one and the negative on another? I know these may sound like stupid questions but I have never messed with any of this so I am clueless!

It does not matter. The batteries are wired in series, all positives connected together and all negatives connected together.

I think you meant parallel. Wiring 2 batteries in series would give you 24v using 12v batteries. Plus to plus and minus to minus is parallel and how truck batteries are connected.

Series is when you go from plus on one battery to minus on the other and so on.