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2000w Inverter Install

Discussion in 'Prime Accessories and Modifications' started by Insighter, Mar 29, 2018.

  1. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    This is the most significant modification/install I had performed two days ago (at Streetnoyz in San Diego, CA). They ran oversized 1-gauge cables to the cargo area so that I could easily connect and use an inverter in the cargo area. They installed a heavy duty marine-grade connector on the cables, and a pig tail on the inverter with the other half of the connector, for ease of connection and removal.

    As you can see in the photos below, they ran the cables into the Center Auxiliary Box in the cargo area (that is the compartment directly in front of the bumper that is meant, I believe, for the OEM charging cable for the Prime). The red cable (they are sheathed) goes to the 12v battery (along the driver's side, under the door threshold panels and it was a tight fit) and has an inline 300 amp fuse. The black cable is connected to the chassis under the large battery in the cargo area. See the photos below and their integrated captions for a clearer explanation.

    When the inverter is not in the car, the cable is completely hidden in that Center Auxiliary box. This was important to me because I will only rarely use the inverter.

    I chose an AIMS 2000w Pure Sine Wave inverter. I chose pure sine wave because, from most of what I read, it is recommended if you're powering a sensitive medical device or a motorized device (like a refrigerator) to it. I chose 2000w because that is more than I should need, and it will hopefully run cooler and last longer. I chose this particular inverter because it is ETL/Intertek listed, which is like a UL listing. It means the device has been tested and found to meet safety standards. I couldn't find many that had any listing like this. The photo of the box below shows specifics about the inverter.

    The inverter cost $318.98 on Amazon. The install, parts included, was somewhere around $300.

    Inverter-Connection-Cables.jpg Storage-Compartment.jpg Connector-Close-Up.jpg Inline-Fuse.jpg Inverter-Box-Pic.jpg
     
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    wow! well done, and nice write up. looks like you're ready for anything and everything!(y)

    btw, the price seems very reasonable.
     
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  3. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    Yup, I learned the hard way, I had a cheap battery backup ((square wave approximation of sine wave) blew out my power supply on my desktop computer, the power supply has a lifetime warranty so I got a replacement power supply with a warning from the manufacturer don't use square wave battery backup, pay a little more for a pure sine wave battery back up, it's been three years since I swapped out the battery back up's still running like a champ:D
     
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  4. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    Hi - I'm not sure what you're saying. Are you saying you had a problem with an inverter, or with an Uninterruptible Power Suppply (UPS)? I use UPS units, also, but I had to start buying ones with PFC (can't remember what that stands for) due to the requirements of the power supplies in newer Apple computers.

    Also, how could they tell that a "square wave" killed your power supply?
     
  5. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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  6. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    I told them what kind of UPS I had at the time
     
  7. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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  8. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    the power supply starts intermittently losing power and the computer automatically reboots, works fine for a couple of hours then reboots again.did a event viewer function and found out the power supply was losing voltage. the power supply was working fine until we had a power outage (thus the square wave battery back up kicked in)
     
  9. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    If you experience any electric interference with anything in your Prime, twist the DC cables going to your inverter.


    Rob43
     
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  10. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    I believe the inline 12 volt fuse on the Prius is 100 amp.
    Our measurement guy here @bwilson4web recommends no larger than a 1000 watt inverter to avoid overloading the Prius charging inverter and ECU.
     
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  11. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    I still don't understand. You said that PFC UPS units are "vulnerable" to square wave UPS units. Vulnerable would mean that square wave UPS units are somehow a threat PFC UPS units. But how could they be a threat?
     
  12. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    :confused:
     
  13. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    Well, presuming that is correct, it's still better to have a 2000w unit using 1000w or less than a 1000w unit using the same load, isn't it?
     
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  14. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace Senior Member

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    What protects the car electronics? Perhaps your 300 amp fuse thould be 90 amp.

    Sometimes when the 100 amp fuse blows the inverter still gets fried. The usual problem triggering that is incorrect polarity jump starting.
     
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  15. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    I'll ask my installer when I go in Thursday. He may have been sizing the fuse based on the potential requirements of the inverter I chose. It sounds like I'd rather have it smaller than 100 amps.
     
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  16. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    NOT considering what the Prime is or is not capable of,....a 300 amp fuse is ~about right when it comes to sizing a fuse for a 2000 watt inverter.


    Rob43
     
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  17. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    I don't know how to take that emoji. Maybe I'm being dense here, but I really don't understand what you're saying. By "vulnerable," did you mean something like "inferior" or "superior?" I really want to understand what your meaning is.
     
  18. Insighter

    Insighter Active Member

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    Based on what you and ProdigyPlace are saying, it sounds like I should get a fuse less than 100 amps to protect against me plugging too much into the inverter and creating too heavy a load? I'm presuming, without actually knowing for certain, that it will never be an issue as long as I don't plug too heavy a load into the inverter. Still, it would be good to have a fuse that will protect me if I do overload it.
     
  19. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    All I'm saying is that a ~300 amp fuse is about correct for a 2000 watt inverter, that's all I'm saying.

    I personally don't know enough about the ins & outs of the Primes electrical system to comment one way or another about what it can truly handle.

    I would suggest you look at some 12v inverter "Amp" conversion tables, because if you really ran a Max Load on you inverter it could/would pull 200 + Amps,....which is a lot.


    Rob43
     
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  20. Andyprius1

    Andyprius1 Senior Member

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    In reference to the above, I was wondering why the 300 Amp fuse was protecting the 12 Volt Battery. I always thought the minimum size size fuse was the designed protection.