In-Dash AC Outlet

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Apr 18 2006, 02:15 AM) [snapback]241376[/snapback]</div>

Well, I am an electrical engineer. For 500W you are talking around 40 Amps of 12 DC current draw. So don't plug it into the accessory/cigarette lighter outlet (their fuses are 10 or 15 amps) and be sure you use a circuit with an appropriate 45 or 50 amp fuse. I might suggest a smaller inverter - say 125 W or so. Now you are down near 10 amps and can probably get by with the accessory outlets to supply it.

Of course if you only ever use about 100W of the 500 available, you could get by on just about any circuit in the car, but I wouldn't recomend this - you really want to be sure that turn-on surges or unexpected higher wattage useage doesn't blow a fuse or fry the supply wires. And Toyota does use very light gage wires to the 12V power outlets. There are a few unused fuse positions under the dash (drivers side footwell) that migh be used to put the inverter on its own circuit with an appropriate fuse.

BTW, the 12V accessory outlets are switched. They are off when the car is off. This can be changed with a simple jumper wire (see Coastal Electronics) for the passenger footwell one.

- Tom

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Apr 18 2006, 10:08 AM) [snapback]241444[/snapback]</div>

Another thought on this is that at such a low price you are almost certainly getting what is described as a "modified sine wave" output. That isn't real good for some devices and not good for a lot of appliances for long term use. Look at this site for an explanation:
http://www.partsonsale.com/prosine.html

A company named Statpower used to make some really nice sine wave output small (125W and up) inverters that plugged into a car's accessory outlet and were great for laptops, battery rechargers, etc. They didn't use fans. I have two of the smaller ones I bought 8 or more years ago. The draw back is they were pricey (more than $100). When I tried to look them up, it seems they got absorbed/bought out by Xantrex. The small inverters they sell don't seem to brag about pure sine wave output.

If what you are plugging into the inverter works fine, doesn't make buzzing noises and doesn't overheat, you should be fine.

- Tom

 

This thread reminded me I just came across a site advertising small low wattage pure sine wave inverters.

http://www.batterystuff.com/inverters/

I believe Sigma also offers the JDM 100v/100w outlet.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ilusnforc @ Apr 18 2006, 02:15 AM) [snapback]241376[/snapback]</div>

That bowed panel above the floor hump has about 3 inches of empty space behind it. There should be plenty of room to install an inverter and an outlet.

Plus, it pops off fairly easily without taking any other part of the dash off, and it has the cigarette power adapter in it, so there's your power source.

To remove the panel, first remove the plastic "screw" in the passenger foot well. It's not really a screw, and you just grab the panel behind the "screw" and give it a tug to remove it. Then grab the panel on each side and give a firm, quick tug and it pops right off.

 

Note that you don't want to permanently connect an inverter directly to the battery because it has a parasitic drain even when nothing is plugged in. That will drain your 12V battery pretty quick. You could flip the power switch of the inverter off whenever you left your car. Yeah right.

So it seems to me your options are:

1. Use a low power inverter that you can connect directly to the lighter power so it switches off when the car is off.

2. Install a relay to cut the power to the inverter when the car is turned off.

If you don't know what a relay is or how to install one, I'd go with #1.