Home socket in trunk

[m0nkeyprince]

Is there anyway to install a regular home socket ( the 3 prong ones in the US) in the trunk? It would be nice to able to hook up a TV in the trunk during a BBQ or be able to run my air compressor from the trunk. I have a 400w power converter that hooks up to the cig adapter, but it usually burns the fuse out with anything that draws more power then a laptop or cell phone charger.

[miamiheat3332]

get one of those that hook up directly to the battery, or wire an extra car battery in the back to an inverter, so that you can even drain down the battery in the back, without risking not being able to start your car after, and then have it wired so when you flip a switch, the battery interconnects with the one in the front, and when your driving it;ll get charged back up.

[Pathofinder]

Power Invertor, they get real expensive when you need to run big power items like tvs and crap though.

You can get ones that plug into the cig outlet, but there only good for 450watts or so, which couldnt power much, something for a fair size compressor you need 2k+

Oriellys just had a 3000 watt on sale for $129, was for boxing day though

[Densetsu]

Most cig lighters have a 15A fuse, so running anything around 180+ watts will blow out a fuse -- either the Pathy's fuse, or the fuse on the cig plug for your inverter if it has one.

How often will you be using the 110v power? If it's just for the odd thing, it's probably much easier to pop the hood, hook up your inverter right to the car battery with the clamps, then run an extension cord to the back. Otherwise, you're talking about running a 6-gauge wire from the engine compartment, through the firewall, and back to the cargo area, hiding the wire behind/under various interior body components like panelling and carpet. You can wire it up so the power is only delivered to the inverter when the ignition is on, too, so you don't kill your battery. It's all a simple concept, but involves a lot of work. Add on a 35A or 40A fuse, and hide the inverter in the back. Guys with sound systems will probably have the best ideas and how-to's on doing this.

Miamiheat's idea of installing a second battery in the back is alternative idea -- it'll probably be bulky, but you don't run the risk of having a dead battery after running a TV for too long. You can probably also rig up the aux battery to be charged using the cig lighter in the cargo area.

Also, what kind of air compressor are you talking about -- just a small one that you use to pump up tires and footballs, or one with a reservoir tank that you run an impact wrench or air nailer off of? Because those suckers usually take around 1500W of power to run the compressor, not 400W.

Edit: Nevermind, just read your message above.

[m0nkeyprince]

the compressor is just a portable one, 1 hp, 1 gal air tank. i wanted to run the wires through the firewall and drill a socket for the 3 pron outlets in the back. The inverter i have is a 400w one, so yeah, not gonna be able to run too much with that.

[Chuck Tribolet]

400W at 12V = 400/12 = 33.33 Amps, which means 8 ga wire and a 40 amp fuse.

The cigarette lighter in my '01 is fused 15 Amps. I'm not surprised you blow fuses.


Chuck

[m0nkeyprince]

i googled a bit and found this

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?p=1692994

would be awfully useful in the trunk