well I plan to get a laptop pretty soon, and I want to be able to run it in my car without killing the laptop'* battery...obviously I need a power inverter, but I dont want to just plug it in the cig lighter and have it just sitting there, id like to mount it semi-permanently somewhere..

If I can find one small enough, I think theres a good location in my glovebox to mount one...now obviously im going to have to hardwire the thing to get it to work.

Right now im looking at something like this http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=4965458

Now on the pics of that one it looks like it already has terminals to hardwire it, but it says "cigarette light adapter" under the power connection, I think im going to have to go look at the thing in person to see whats going on,

Now if I get one thats already set up to be hardwire, positive would go to the battery....and negative would be......grounded to the frame of the car? im not exactly an electronics expert here.

sams club sells one that is 500Watts for only $28. might want to get that insted.

ooo also walmart sells one thats even smaller then that one..

are u just going to use it for a laptop or something?

this



150watts $17

ok i got tired of editing my first post cuz i ketp finding more things...

as far as wireing...

if you want it to be on at any time... than just ground it to the chassis somewhere and then run a power wire (with a fuse in it) to the Bat or some other Good power location.

yeah the main function would be to power a laptop, but it would be nice to have an extra outlet just in case, which is why i like the one i linked too.

also bandit, it looks like the one you posted would be difficult to hardwire, because the 12 volt plug seems to be built into the unit itself....if the plug was on the end of a wire it would be a different story...because you could just cut the plug off, figure out which wire was + and which was - and then go from there, but on one where the plug is built into it like that it would be a PITA to get it hardwired, I dont want to just plug it into the lighter, I want it mounted somewhere in the car and hardwired.

it woudn't be to hard to take that one aparts... but anyway, the one you got might fit in the glove box... also if you plan on powering anthing bigger then a laptop you might need something around the 350Watt + range.. also check out the AMP out put on them, some have vary low amps..

Im thinkin a car amp wiring kit would work very good for that would it not? because most have the built in fuse and stuff, and then just find somewhere to ground it.

I just went and looked at my glovebox, and the opening that I thought was there to fit one isnt...but theres a couple other places I could stash one fairly easily.

Thanks for the help

I have a B&D that'* just up from the one Bandit has...it'* got the option and comes with wiring for battery or cig lighter. Fan built in and all. Maybe mount under the hush panel ...so it has airflow to cool and can still be easy access and semi hidden?

you could remote mount the inverter....

mount it in the trunk, and then buy an extension cored for the wire and then cleanly mount 1-2 plugs up in the front somwhere.

You could use an amp wire kit, but I dont know if they come in a smaller ga than 8, which is very excessive if you are just running a few hundred watts. 10/12ga should be more than enough power for it.

the problem with an extension cored is that the amps on the power inverters are already low, if oyu use an extension cored then they will be enven lower and my even have problems powering a Laptop... :?

get a stronger inverter. The voltage drop over 10feet with a quality extension cord will be VERY minimal. Or it means that your laptop is a power hog.