toxicity_27

Had a thought the other day and was wondering what the general consensus was here. Are any of you running power inverters? Do you have them hard wired? How big of an inverter are you running? Where have you mounted them? And last but not least, what are you running off of them?

UKCRD

The guy who changed my last battery managed to blow up my Sterling Power 600w inverter so yesterday I installed a 700w Waeco SP700. I bought it used from a fleet van that got dismantled. I would highly recommend hard wiring one as generally speaking the ones that plug into the 12v slots aren't up to much.

Then you need to consider what you'll be running off it, how powerful you need it to be and if you'll need a second dedicated battery for running all your needs off. I don't use mine for multiple devices or accessories that draw a lot of power so I just use one heavy duty, high quality battery and hardwire straight to that. I do, however, charge my MacBook, iPad and other sensitive devices from it and for that reason I always go with a pure sine wave inverter. They're more expensive and some say unnecessary but personally I take no chances with thousands of dollars worth of kit attached.

Realistically, I probably need 400w max for my needs. The Macbook needs about 300w to run and charge simultaneously and I rarely run more than one device at a time. A Sterling 600w pure sine costs about $400 over here. The Waeco SP700 is about $1600 bucks as it's a commercial grade inverter and I'd not have plumped for such an expensive one but I got it for $150 used off the 'Bay.

As for mounting in the Jeep, I always place mine under the passenger seat where it fits perfectly. I tend to not bother hard mounting it but instead leave it loose as it's much easier to use when you encounter some of those weirdly shaped charger plugs. Hard mounting it under the seat is easy, though, if you'd rather go that route. I used a couple of straps to strap the Sterling up under the seat which worked well but they don't move around under there anyways so I'll just leave this one as is.

Here's mine in situ:

Mark Doiron

This is a really good question, but I wanted to include a bit more than just the inverter in my response because with so much electronic gadgetry these days, power is really an issue. First, my baseline: An '07 X (now would be called a Sport). No OEM power inverter. No OEM USB port. Cigarette lighter and power port on the front, center console (cigarette lighter is ignition switched, power port is always powered). Also, what I've created came over the process of using what I had, finding it didn't work, then adding more. So, it's not one nice, seamless design. Rather, it's a cobbling of various parts to get things to work. It would be nice if some enterprising individual were to create a USB multi-port that would provide some serious power to Apple and non-Apple devices--something that would really handle 10-15 amps (IOW, not an eBay/Chinese-made piece of junk), and would be designed for integration into the Jeep.

I'll start with the inverter: An old, 350-watt Radio Shack inverter I've had for years. I strapped it beneath the passenger seat (which area on the '07s has some OEM air bag weight sensors that they either left off or made smaller in later years). I hard-wired it directly to the auxiliary battery (dual batteries in my Jeep) using #12 gauge wire. The inverter has two power ports, but where it's mounted would have been awkward to use. So, I found a six-inch, dual outlet extension cord with neon lit plugs. I keep that plugged in, and everything gets plugged into it. "Everything" includes chargers for camera gear, laptop, projector (for showing movies while on the trail), etc. Basically anything that requires 115 VAC and that I don't have a 12 volt adapter for.



Next was powering the Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 (I have the 2012 version) requires 2.1 amps to charge and use at the same time. Anything less and it will slowly, but continuously, discharge. In fact, I've even seen where if I use it heavily, it can discharge faster than it's charging. For rock crawlers, it would last a day. But, when you're gone for a week or ten days, and you're depending on that Nexus 7 for primary navigation aid, that is unusable. I did a lot of playing around with various chargers and configurations, and what I came up with is reboot the Nexus 7 each day (I turn it off at night) to ensure that any power demands are only what you've recently used. And use this power adapter, with the Nexus 7 plugged into the NA port: amazon.com/PowerGen-4-2Amps-charger-Designed-Android/dp/B0088U4YAG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top



As described, one of the cables is routed behind the center console bezel to the other side where it can be plugged into my Nexus 7 ...



The other port, because I'm demanding 2.1 amps from the NA port, will only provide 1 amp max (sometimes less, depending on what's plugged into it). This can be reversed for Apple products, but again, the charging rate for the NA port (in the case of Apple products) may not be the full 1 amp. Without getting technical, I'll just say this is Apple's fault. They have not complied with the USB spec for powering devices, and the way they do it has made devices usable across all USB charging needs mostly incompatible. This one is the best compromise out there. Some of the more recent Android devices have workarounds in the OS that actually make this a bit better. Bottom line is if you run two Apple devices or two Android devices, you may not get full charging. This device works best if you run one of each plugged into each port. Having said that, I have had good results with the Nexus 7 plugged into the NA port and my Nexus 5 plugged into the A port (and a Galaxy Nexus before that worked fine as well). The worst that will happen is the charging rate on the incompatible port will be reduced from 1 amp to about 0.5 amps. If you're not using your phone a lot, that should be sufficient to still charge the device over time. And who out in the middle of the Mojave Trail is able to get a signal to use their device? LOL Anyway, I routed that other (A) port to a micro USB connector coming out of the back of a hole I drilled in a Daystar dash tray. I use that to keep my phone charged ...



You will also notice in the above image a mini USB connector. That connector is hard-wired to the cigarette lighter wiring behind the dash (ignition switched, IOW) with a USB power device designed for motorcycles. I use it to charge the GoPro that's not mounted to the windshield (more on that momentarily). This is the device: amazon.com/gp/product/B002ALTKBM/ref=wms_ohs_product?ie=UTF8&psc=1

CONTINUED BELOW ...

Mark Doiron

... CONTINUED FROM ABOVE

Next, I run a GoPro on the windshield most of the time. I learned (I plugged it in and it worked!) that the power adapter for my Garmin Nuvi 550 would not only charge my GoPro, but let me leave the GoPro on at all times and keep me from having to turn it on and off to save it's stamina-deficient battery. Turning it on was really a nuisance because a lot of times after the GoPro's ridiculously lengthy boot time, whatever I wanted to capture was over. And leaving it on meant the battery dying in a couple hours, even if I never recorded. So, I plug the Garmin Nuvi adapter into the power port (always on, even with Jeep off), and use it's mini-USB connector to power the GoPro with a Skeleton Housing (allows connecting things to the GoPro, unlike the water-resistant housings that come with a GoPro kit). This is what that looks like ...





Finally, not having a power port in the back of the Jeep, I found it necessary to wire one in myself for the refrigerator. Again, Used #12 wire directly from the aux battery, to a cigarette lighter cable adapter I bought from Radio Shack, which is hidden under the rear seat. The cord for the ARB fridge then plugs into that, with enough extra to allow it to slide out on the Tembo Tusk slide (brand new mod, still in work) ...



And that's it! I've found that this Rube Goldberg solution provides me the power I need to the places I need it.

Vladimer

That raises a good question I've been pondering for the last while. Do you have any worry with water crossings or rain when doors off damaging the inverter? I've been meaning to put on under the passenger seat and route one of the outlets by the glovebox for ease of access and leave the other underneath for things that would be plugged in for the length of the drive. Since it would be hard wired in I would have it year round, so even in the summer when I might get caught with the top and doors off in the rain. If I have switch for it and have no power going to the unit, is it generally safe from moisture damage?

Mark Doiron

I do sorry that if it got wet, that could be dangerous. In fact, it took me forever to install it permanently because of that concern. However, since I don't ford creeks doors off anymore, and the doors have proven effective keeping water out, I worry far less about it. Also, I normally don't have the inverter turned on. So, while there is still a small concern, it is mitigated because it would take several things happening that normally don't to cause a problem. If anyone has a suitable marine inverter with GFI protection to recommend, I would give swapping out serious consideration.

Vladimer

Would running it via relay close to the battery mitigate the hazard at all? As long as the relay does not fail, with the switch off the line going through the Jeep to the inverter would essentially be dead. (Learning, not trying to actually circumvent your knowledge or safety)

toxicity_27

Thanks for your responses! This definitely gives me a lot to think about. I'm lucky enough to have a USB port and a 12v outlet in the back, though when it's time for me to get a fridge I will be running cable back there.

Omar Brannstrom

Hi

I could run my smaller fridge Waeco cdf 25 on the stock battery and stock 12v oulet in the back. With my bigger fridge Waeco CF 40 it did not work.

I changed my stock battery (6 months old) to a ODYSSEY Extreme Series Battery PC1220 and now the bigger fridge Waeco CF 40 works on the stock 12v outlet in the back. This works both with my former 2012 2 door Wrangler sahara and my new 2013 10th anniversary Rubicon 4 door with the ODYSSEY battery.

I usually only do 1 to 3 days trips, and offen shutoff my fridge at night.

I now that real dual bettery setup and better cables is better, but trying the easier and cheaper way



For more extended trips, (have not done that yet) I bought a batterybox with a secondary battery. A batterybox is cheap with all the connections or you can build Your own, like in this movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tf3fngKA-c Waeco CF 40 to the left of me

crusaderJK

You can plug your fridge into the outlet in the center console. Works better than the outlet in the back.
Cheap improvement