Inverter Question

[Terry G]

I recently installed 12v receptacles in the bed of my 2023 XL truck. The idea was to see if they could power a mini fridge off of a 400 watt inverter. It didn't seem to work but when I tried running the fridge off of the 110v receptacle on the back of the console in the cab, it did work. The question that I have is what would be different about the 400 watt inverter plugged into the bed receptacles and the inverter power in the console? I am now considering running an extension cord from the rear seat console to the truck bed so any ideas of a good way to do that would also be appreciated.

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[Darnon]

The bed 12v power points are only fused for 20 amps @ 12v. So aside from the fact your inverter experiment likely blew the fuse, they'd only support about a 200W inverter (taking into account efficiency and protection margin).

 

[Terry G]

The bed 12v power points are only fused for 20 amps @ 12v. So aside from the fact your inverter experiment likely blew the fuse, they'd only support about a 200W inverter (taking into account efficiency and protection margin).

The inline fuses that came with the receptacles were only 10 amp and obviously they were blown. I replaced them with 20 amp fuses and as you said that didn't solve the problem. So the bed receptacles are out for the fridge purpose but what I don't understand is why the 110 v receptacle on the rear console seems to work with the fridge. Isn't it a 400w inverter too? Does it have a better soft start capability that handles the fridge start up power necessity?

 

[heady]

The built in inverter can supply up to 400w on either AC outlet, the 12v flex ports can supply 12v x 20amps total, or 240w maximum.

 

[Terry G]

The built in inverter can supply up to 400w on either AC outlet, the 12v flex ports can supply 12v x 20amps total, or 240w maximum.

Thanks for the information. I seem to have a problem with the driver's side bed receptacle. The passenger's side seems to be working well and the driver's side did too before I overloaded it. Are the two bed receptacles on the same wiring or is there some sort of fuse that controls them separately and if so where is it? Thanks again!

 

[Tim d]

Di

I recently installed 12v receptacles in the bed of my 2023 XL truck. The idea was to see if they could power a mini fridge off of a 400 watt inverter. It didn't seem to work but when I tried running the fridge off of the 110v receptacle on the back of the console in the cab, it did work. The question that I have is what would be different about the 400 watt inverter plugged into the bed receptacles and the inverter power in the console? I am now considering running an extension cord from the rear seat console to the truck bed so any ideas of a good way to do that would also be appreciated.

Did you try the 110 v receptacle in the bed of the truck? Surprised the one inside the truck could run a minifridge.

 

[BlueSpec1]

Thanks for the information. I seem to have a problem with the driver's side bed receptacle. The passenger's side seems to be working well and the driver's side did too before I overloaded it. Are the two bed receptacles on the same wiring or is there some sort of fuse that controls them separately and if so where is it? Thanks again!

The 2 12V bed outlet are on the same circuit.
Fuse in the BJB at Position #84 = Wiring Diagram F34.

My Maverick 400W Inverter modified square wave:


300W Pure Sine Wave inverter sine wave:

 

[heady]

Just as a point of comparison, the 400w inverter in the truck is powered through a 60amp fuse which is what would be appropriate, even though that is nominally 720w of DC power, it accounts for any voltage drop on the 12V wiring side, extended use, and the inefficiency of the DC to AC conversion.

 

[710-oil-614]

Are you trying to power a camping fridge or an actual....mini fridge?

I have an Alpicool LG 42qt fridge/freezer camping cooler that runs on a max of 45w. Would highly recommend you switch to one of these type of refrigerators.

https://www.amazon.com/Alpicool-CF4...or-Outdoor-12/dp/B0894SJHL6/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1

If not wanting the LG compressor - you can get into a 32 quart version for well under $200:

https://www.amazon.com/Alpicool-Por...oling-Freezer/dp/B09VKW3N4J/ref=sr_1_9?sr=8-9

Best of all? You can go ahead and toss that inverter aside because you can run it directly on DC through the 12v outlet.

 

[Terry G]

Thanks everybody. I know that my mini fridge will run off the console inverter so I will probably try to make a short 110v run from the console to the bed to power it. If I run into problems with that, I will definitely take the other fridge options that were suggested.

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