The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 12V Power Inverter

I wanted to install a more permanent power inverter and would like to hardwire it into my fusebox if possible. I have one that plugs into the lighter right now but I wanted to get a 500W and mount it under the dash or on the firewall. Not running anything major, just would like it to be out of the way when I plug in accessories I use sometimes in the cab. Again 63 Chevy pickup. When I re-wired everything the new harness I got with the new fuse box has some extra plugs that allow for more things to be plugged in. Is it possible to just snip off the battery clamps on that set of wires that comes wth the inverter and plug the red and black directly into the fusebox? When I follow the wires from my lighter they go pretty easily into the fuse box and there seems to be another plug there to use. If the 500W inverter can be run off the lighter am I wrong to assume it could also run to the fusebox like the lighter does? Maybe one of you can tell me if, and how, to wire it. Thank you.

If you're wanting to hard wire it, why not wire it to the battery with its own fuse? That way it's a stand alone unit and won't put too much draw on the fuse panel. I understand that running it by means of the cigarette lighter utilizes the fuse panel, but if you're wanting a more reliable setup, perhaps wiring it to the battery would be better. Just follow the fuse size it recommends with the inverter and you should be fine. There are a lot of different ways to run a separate circuit like that with the various fuse types on the market. Just a thought.

I had considered that, and may do it, but just thought it would be a lot less wire to run if I mounted it on the firewall near the fuse box and just ran shorter wires right there to the fuse box. My thinking was if they (inverters of this size) are already designed to run off the cigarette lighter then they must now draw more than what the cigarette lighter can handle?

True, the cigarette lighter circuit can probably handle it just fine. What amp alternator are you running? Just need to make sure the whole system can handle everything you need/want to run. That's why wiring the inverter as its own circuit would be beneficial. Could even run it with a switch to a relay so you can turn off the power to it when not in use.

I'm not sure on the alternator because it's old. Would that be marked on it, or how would I tell? I don't see any markings. The inverter I'm looking at has it's own on/off switch so that's why I thought it would be nice to have it hard wired and just flip the switch when I wanted to use it