So I have a 1200 watt (continuous) inverter mounted under the driver's seat in my Forester. I've run 4 gauge cable from the battery (a dual purpose marine battery, for slightly better engine-off runtime). Used a 36'' cable for this and the inverter is grounded to one of the seat mounting bolts with like an 18'' 4 gauge cable. Have a 100 amp fuse under the hood (where the battery is) for the unit. I used to have 80 amp fuses but they would blow under max load. I've run it at max load for 15 minutes straight (10 amp air compressor) and did not feel any heat buildup in the cables. I've also checked the vehicle's ground cable to the battery and the alternator's positive cable and didn't feel any heat. I've run the inverter at half to 3/4 load for hours without problems (5k BTU, 5 amp window a/c unit, 200 watt flood light, and a 6 amp sawzall on and off). The vehicle's cables seem to be 6 gauge. They could be upgraded to 4 but again I haven't felt any heat buildup so I don't quite see the need.
I want to install one in my mom's '07 2.2L Cobalt of similar capacity. I figured i could mount it in the trunk and connecting it to power would be easy since the battery is in the trunk.
I'm concerned about the length of the cabling from the alternator to the battery, however. I haven't looked at it yet. Anyone know of its gauge? I have a feeling it's too small for its length to sustain the prolonged electrical load unless I run like 2 gauge cable.
Or should I just hook it up and see how it goes? Due to the Cobalt's sealed battery it would be difficult to upgrade it unless I got a yellow top Optima, and they don't give those away. Thanks guys
I want to install one in my mom's '07 2.2L Cobalt of similar capacity. I figured i could mount it in the trunk and connecting it to power would be easy since the battery is in the trunk.
I'm concerned about the length of the cabling from the alternator to the battery, however. I haven't looked at it yet. Anyone know of its gauge? I have a feeling it's too small for its length to sustain the prolonged electrical load unless I run like 2 gauge cable.
Or should I just hook it up and see how it goes? Due to the Cobalt's sealed battery it would be difficult to upgrade it unless I got a yellow top Optima, and they don't give those away. Thanks guys