I was wondering how do people power the game console, vcr, etc in the car to make it look clean?

Do run an extension and draw it directly from the battery?

I know you can get those power inverter and use the 12V or cig lighter... but thats not not a clean look.

Those who put game console in thier glove box how they get power there?

 

there are power inverters that you run directly to your battery just like an amplifier instead of going through the cig. lighter....that's how they mostly do it....but the you generally have to have a fuse and everything just like an amp.....I'm not sure on wire sizing though...

 

I am familar with amp install...

So you know where they sell these type of inverters since I never seen them.

Don't tell me your talking about those with the red and black clamps that you hook to your battery post....

 

it would be similar....but no clamping.....it'll hook up and be something you can keep hidden behind the dash or something.....call up a local auto audio/video shop.....I don't have any direct experience with them....i just know they're out there

 

Get one of the ones with the cig lighter adapter and cut it off. Just need to run a power wire from a 12V and you're good.

 

I got mine at Costco. 150 watts max through the cig lighter, or up to 300 watts if you cut the adapter off and hard-wire it to the battery (which I have not done.)

 

You dont want to do this because there is a fuse inside the cig. lighter. Another option is to leave on the cig lighter plug and use speaker wire to make it hard wireable. (I think I made up that word) All you need to do is take the positive end of the speaker wire and stuff it down the end of the cig lighter (nipple) and take the negative speaker wire and put it on the side bars of the cig lighter. Then secure it all with electric tape and you can wire the other end into a 12v source. It should look like a dog terd when you get done with it. We use this method at Best Buy which is where I work when we hard wire a SAT radios.

 

That is why I dont let Best Buy get close to my vehicle....how about you just cut off the cig lighter end then make a fuse holder so if the fuse blows you just take the fuse out and replace it, instead of having to untape a big dog terd looking wad of tape just to get to the fuse. To make the fuse holder all you need to do is use two blue speaker plug terminals, you know the ones that slide onto the speaker terminals also know as female speaker ends. A fuse fits perfect in these and you can replace a fuse easily that way. After you do this you can hook to a good ignition source that way when you turn the key off the inverter turns off. Oh and I work at a stereo shop.

 

I was thinking the same when someone said cutting off the cig. lighter portion of the power inverter. I thought what about the fuse??

They are usually glass type fuse, so if I cut it off and look at the fuse and get a blade fuse with the same AMP rating then I should be okay right?

So its going to be like an amp install where I fuse the power wiring going to the battery. What about the other wire? I connect that to the neg. battery terminal right?

 

power wire from battery to fuse box....fuse box has 1-5 outputs....and there you go. pretty simple

or, if you HAVE to have the standard wall plug (i.e. for playstation), you'll have to get a voltage converter which you can attach to the fuse box

 

ummmm.....way to go dog turd theory.....hope you don't give up your day job.....if anything....i'd go with wiring an actual fuse holder into the the positive cut-off end and runnin to the battery or fuse box....and find a chassis/body ground for the negative....

 

exactly, I suggest not going to the fuse box but actually to an ingnition wire from the column due to the fact that they can handle a little more amperage. Also if you go straight to the battery you have to turn the inverter on and off every time where as with the ignition you can hide the inverter and leave it switch on so when you turn the car on its on when the car is off its off.....I'm just happy that somebody else is on the same page I am....

 

moved....

 

dam

 

How is that done? Not familar with the method your talking about. I guess I don't mind turning it off and on, but I like the idea that it turns off when not in ignition though since sometimes I might forget to turn it off and I don't want it to drain my battery.

 

Wire to the back of your cigarette lighter. You can get adaptors to do this--i.e. have a second cigarette lighter permently plugged in behind your 'usable' one--or you could run an in-line fuse.

 

Doesn't that little sticker by the power adapter in the car say no more that 120 watts? if so why buy a power inverter thats more than that? I assume you will also be running a system, so if you run an amp wire, just run another small gauge for the inverter and hook it up just like an amp? but def. add fuses... wouldn't be good to burn your tc down

 

By doing it this way... if you use both of them at the same time will it over load?

 

Was it 120 or 140 Max?

 

140 i think, haven't looked at it in a while. my bad