Best route for #2/0 cable from battery to cargo area?

[ree]

I'm going to mount a 1200W power inverter. I'd like for it to be in the rear cargo area in an easily accessible location like the left storage bin over the wheel well.

So what's the best way to get the cable from the battery back there? I assume I can run them through the door sills. But I haven't poked around enough to see how to route from battery down the back of the front left wheel well and from the rear of the door sills up the front of the rear wheel well. And once you bring the wire up the front of the rear wheel well is it in the void that's immediate below the pop out storage tray, or is there other stuff I have to route through/around?

Any pointers?

[ree]

I'm going to mount a 1200W power inverter. I'd like for it to be in the rear cargo area in an easily accessible location like the left storage bin over the wheel well.

So what's the best way to get the cable from the battery back there? I assume I can run them through the door sills. But I haven't poked around enough to see how to route from battery down the back of the front left wheel well and from the rear of the door sills up the front of the rear wheel well. And once you bring the wire up the front of the rear wheel well is it in the void that's immediate below the pop out storage tray, or is there other stuff I have to route through/around?

Any pointers?

[timgco]

Isn't there a power outlet back there already you can tap into?

[ree]

Yes, but that's probably only good for a 400-500 watt inverter. The wire gauge is too small (i'm not sure what it is, but I can't imaging it's heavier than 12 gauge.

I'm going to be doing a 1200W inverter which can drive tools and appliances. For that big an inverter and the distance from the battery (I'm estimating 12-14 feet) you really need a fused #1/0 or #2/0 gauge cable to be safe. You might be able to get by with something a little bit lighter weight, but I'll err on the heavier side.

[timgco]

Well, to et from the engine bay to the cab, I took the A Pillar route. From under the engine comp, up under the fake air cap, under the A Pillar, through the marker light, down the iniside of the A Pillar and than you can run down through the door sills.

Or you could go up the A Pillar and under the marker light and run thruogh the factory track down through the back hatch. You would just have to see how to run it into theback harch so you don't pinch the wire when you open/ close the rear hatch.

[PARAGON]

I looked at going all the way to the back and although I have yet to install mine, I either read something or was told it was a good idea to make that long of a run. Yeah, the obvious shorts and stuff but the reason was interference. I did some other mods and realized there is some room inside the center console underneath the metal plate.

There seems to be plenty of room for ventilation but, honestly, if you were going to run it much, you could tap a small hole in the duct going to the rear air to have air circulating over the inverter.

To do that I would be coming through the big rubber grommet in the firewall on the driver's side.

[ree]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
I looked at going all the way to the back and although I have yet to install mine, I either read something or was told it was a good idea to make that long of a run. Yeah, the obvious shorts and stuff but the reason was interference. I did some other mods and realized there is some room inside the center console underneath the metal plate.

There seems to be plenty of room for ventilation but, honestly, if you were going to run it much, you could tap a small hole in the duct going to the rear air to have air circulating over the inverter.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm really aprehensive about putting it anywhere other than out in the open. Maybe it's not much of a risk with the latest overload and overbotake protection, but a while back I was in a truck where an inverter being used to play video games. It wasn't being overloaded (we thought) and it caught fire. The cabin filled with nasty smoke immediately at highway speed and my buddy luckily managed to yank it loose and toss it out the window before it created a bigger problem.

So basically, I can't bring myself to mount it in an even marginally inaccessible area, let alone under a couple layers of hardware requiring tools to remove. I want it where I can yank it out and/or shoot it with an extinguisher if need be. I'm probably being overly cautious about this though.


I also have another reason to run cable back to the rear cargo. I'm considering mounting a compressor inside the cargo area and would run the wiring for it at the same time.

I suppose I could do with shipbldr did and mount under the rear seats, but I already store stuff there and really woul dprefer a cargo area mount.

I'll manufacturer how long the cables can be to operate in spec. If it just can't handle the ~14" length to reach the cargo area, I guess I'll mount under the rear seat.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
To do that I would be coming through the big rubber grommet in the firewall on the driver's side. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you come in this way and pass under the center console, is there a route to back under the rear seats from there? Or is this area fed from the sides or above?

I guess there's one last options, mount a second battery somewhere in the rear on an isolator and drive the inverter from that one. This is just more that I was hoping to bite off at the moment.

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ree:
If you come in this way and pass under the center console, is there a route to back under the rear seats from there? Or is this area fed from the sides or above?

I guess there's one last options, mount a second battery somewhere in the rear on an isolator and drive the inverter from that one. This is just more that I was hoping to bite off at the moment. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>If you come in through the firewall you would try to go underneath the driver's side sill to the back. You wouldn't go to the center and then back.

The only problem, and I am not even sure if it's a problem because I haven't thought about #2 wire running through there, is the wire fitting underneath the sill plate.

The remote mount winch from Warn has a kit that runs a "plugin" to the back of the truck. It's run along the framerail but the wires are coated in a thicker durable cover. It might be that it's best and easier and safer to put a heavy continuous duty solenoid inside the engine bay that is switched from inside the cabin. Run your heavy cable from that solenoid down along the frame like the winch leads are run and then come up into the cabin from the bottom. You can switch it from the driver's seat so that the cable won't be hot when you are not using the inverter or compressor.

Again, this is what I WAS planning on doing because I was going to build a custom drawer that filled up the back of the truck and had a void underneath the drawer itself, but was told something about the noise absorbed from the cables on such a long run screwing with the electronics on the inverter. I haven't gotten to the point of installing anything yet, so I haven't researched that comment at all, but I was warned of that.

https://store.venuecom.com//upload/pimages/1110824142.jpg

[NJ H2]

I also have a 1200/2400 max inverter. I've been told that running such a long distance from the battery to the rear cargo area is too long and the inverter will struggle with not enough power and will not run at full capacity. If you or anyone knows different please let me know.
I also thought of mounting it somewhere closer to the battery and then running an extension cord to the back but I can't figure out where to mount it and don't know if that will work better than running a long cable from the battery to the inverter?

[PARAGON]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ree:
I guess there's one last options, mount a second battery somewhere in the rear on an isolator and drive the inverter from that one. This is just more that I was hoping to bite off at the moment. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Actually I think this is the best option anyway. In my experience, I really need another battery and have been wanting to do a dual battery. There is some room under the back and with the Optima style battery it would be easy to re-locate a second battery back there and then come from it.

Of course this still requires running the heavy cable from front to back.

[ree]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by PARAGON:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ree:
I guess there's one last options, mount a second battery somewhere in the rear on an isolator and drive the inverter from that one. This is just more that I was hoping to bite off at the moment. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Actually I think this is the best option anyway. In my experience, I really need another battery and have been wanting to do a dual battery. There is some room under the back and with the Optima style battery it would be easy to re-locate a second battery back there and then come from it.

Of course this still requires running the heavy cable from front to back. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How heavy are we really talking here? 4 gauge?

Regardless, I've seen this option mentioned (by you and others in past posts), but haven't run across any posts by people who've actually pulled it off.

I'd really like to do a dual battery setup primarily as a backup. The wrangler kit looks nice, but if something more customer like this can help solve the inverter mounting problem, maybe it's time to bite the bullet and try to do it.

So what ideas do you have for mounting the battery "in back?" Up under the bumper? Or interior? If the first, do you have any good ideas for a bracket for mounting it?

[NJ H2]

Here is some information that may be helpful when instaling an Inverter:
Installing an Inverter (http://www.cryo-laboratory.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=603&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)

[shipbldr]

I have a 1000 (maybe 1200?) watt Xantrex inverter under the rear passenger seat.

I ran an O-Gauge welding cable (with 150A fuse) through the firewall, under the driver side door sills and into the area under the seats.

It works fine and also gave me a takeoff point for wiring up by backup lights and on-board air system.

O-Guage cable can be found on ebay for about $1.20 foot and is never going to melt on you...

I run a microwave off of my inverter.

Oh yeah... I have the NW dual battery setup too.

I used 26' of welding cable.

If weather is good I'll take pictures.

[NJ H2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I used 26' of welding cable. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Did you use all 26' of welding cable?

[shipbldr]

I had about 18 inches left over.

Oh... Also... my inverter is on the Passenger side of the truck... so I had to run the full width of the truck to cross over... I also hid about 16" of slack under the carpet..."just in case"

I used soldered on battery terminal lugs on all ends of the cable.

[ree]

Shipbldr,
Mine's a Xantrex too. An XPower 1000. Their spec page (http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/23/p/69/pt/7/product.asp) says 1000W continuous, 1200W 5min continuous. I wonder if we have the same one.

Anyhow, I finally got a reply from their tech support saying that a 14' [one way] run would work, but might just provide less clean power. And that it'd more likely be a problem for running computers and monitors than tools.

So if you used all but 18" of the 26' length, that's about a 12-12.5' run one way. So I guess I'll go for it.

When you say through the firewall, did you make a new hole?

I guess I'm going to have to pull the sill covers and the rear storage tray and explore to figure out how to get up to the cargo area.

BTW, I started to pull that driver-rear tray up and discovered that it's going to be a bitch to get it to clip back in. The plastic panel over the wheel well has so much flex that getting all the barbs in the tray that hold it on without having a way to push up on the flexy interior paneling is near impossible.

[Dan]

I just ran an 25' of 1" diameter air hose under my SUT. Dropped it down the corner of the engine compartment and ran it on top of the frame rail. You could do something similar.

[PARAGON]

I am not fond of the NW set up because of the size of the batteries. I didn't like going to the Optima because it was a smaller battery and had less CCAs but I am in the South and fully expected to have a dual setup by now.

There is room to put another Optima on the PS frame rail behind the rear bumper. A univeral battery bracket will fit. I think it's something like 8"x14".

The problem I have with doing it is twofold. It's proximity to the exhaust. My DS has a wire right in the middle for the tag light and it could go there. Second, I have several things "up front" that need to run off the AUX battery and it's starting to defeat the purpose by locating it in the back, but it might be the only place to put it.

[shipbldr]

I totally agree the batteries in the NW kit are too small!

I am going to remove the inside cargo are tray on the passenger side, fab a bracket, install a massive battery in the opening, make a fiberglass cover the battery, and then paint it to match. This should let me run a massive 3rd battery.

I will run more O-Gauge cable to the battery from my inverter. This will give me the reserve capacity I want to the microwave oven.

In short, I think you idea of placing it in the back is good.

Just run nice big wires....

[ree]

So after much self-deliberation, here's my plan:

- Pick up a battery combiner. It looks like this 250A Xantrex Pathmaker (http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/104/p/1/pt/5/product.asp) is about the only one with a relay rated to handle a starting load.
- Mount it between starter/alt and main battery
- Run cable to back from second bank terminal of the combiner to battery mounted in rear
- Mount a fused distribution block and ground block in back to wire up inverter plus other DC accessories.

With the combiner you can mix battery types safely, it's automatic and lets the second battery be a starter backup. So I'd do an Optima yellow top for the second battery in back.

While I haven't yet picked a mount point for the battery (ship's idea of over the wheel well sounds nice if you can fab a cover).

The only things I haven't been able to figure out yet are:

- how heavy a wire to run from the combiner to second battery. Starter current may need to run along this in an emergency and it's going to be about 12-15 feet long!
- what kind of fusing is needed on this wire. Wouldn't this wire need overcurrent protection in both directions, in front for when normally charging, in back for when starting from backup battery?

Any electrical whiz with the answer on this last one? Maybe I'll finally need to break down and get a book.

Time to go buy stuff.

[ree]

Oh yeah, long wire run along top of frame probably and avoid deep water.