i want to make my new tC a little more travel friendly (laptop, etc) so i thought i'd get a decent inverter and perform a clean, permanent install, either under the dash or passengers seat. i'm not big on automotive ice/electrical, so i'll throw a few questions out.

can i wire the inverter straight to my battery? i'd like to keep the whole setup out of sight and mind when i'm not using it.

some people complain of hum and buzz when it's in use. would grounding the inverter to the body help? how does a sine wave inverter take care of it, and how much do they cost? i know that earth-grounding AC takes care of hum and buzz, but i don't really know much about all of this ac/dc car stuff.

and lastly, i noticed that when i searched for this topic i saw a bunch of threads on cold cathode installs. can someone point me in the direction of a cold cathode (or any other install that calls for an inverter) that covers the inverter portion?

feel free to throw out solutions, corrections, theories, and questions. i'd like this to be a thread we can all learn from

by the way, i'm john, scion tC owner for about 30 hours now

 

yeah you can wire it straight to the battery. go pick urself up a cheap amp kit like 10 gauge and do it that way.

 

John, do I know you from somewhere?

Anyway APC has a nice hefty one that should fit nicely under your passenger seat. http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=13 It's the 350w one. I was thinking of getting that one, but no need for it anymore...

 

why would you think that, <mikochu>?

the manual says that nothing running on the car's battery should exceed 12 volts / 120 watts. should i find an inverter that's rated somewhere in that neighborhood?

 

Be sure to use an inline fuse.

The inverters for cold cathodes are tiny little inverters, not the kind you're wanting

 

you mean the fuse on the inverter itself? whatever i choose will come with one i think.

and i guess it makes sense for the cold cathodes, they don't draw much i'd assume.

 

also, can anyone point out the easiest way to run wiring to the battery in the tC?

 

DJ X knows a guy that sells these. Ground Fusion, I think.

http://www.groundfusion.com/

The easiest way to run wire is off the fuse block. If you want to go all the way to the battery you'll need to find the whole where all the wires are going through the firewall and fish your wire through there. (usually easier to poke it in from the engine compartment and find it under the dash)

 

no, no apc........

 

What's wrong with APC? Mind you, we are talking about DC to AC power inverters by American Power Conversion...not the car accessory company. I have 4 1000VA APC Smart UPSs at home that work like champs. I've had other APC products as well, never had a problem... They are all server-grade, none of those desktop units you find at Best Buy and CompUSA...

 

:oops:

 

The easiest way to put a laptop into a car now is to pick up a converter from Rat Shack that goes on the end of your cord and then just plugs into the lighter. I know it's not permanent but it's so small that it takes away the hassle factor. But if you wanted to run more than just a laptop, then you'd want to put in a bigger inverter. You wire them up just about like you would any amplifier. In fact some of the bigger ones look like an amp.
Here are some links, you decide.
http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F009%5F001%5F008%5F000&Page=1&find=inverter(keyword)&hp=search
Do a search for inverter here and you'll find them anywhere from $20-400.
http://www.harborfreight.com/
If you decide on a permanent one and need help installing it maybe we can get together one week end and you could come down!

 

I got my inverter from Wal-Mart, it’s under the Driver seat, it doesn’t hake any sound, except when you first turn it on and hear the little fan start up. I ran it straight to the battery. I’m not sure how to do it for the tC, but I went through the Firewall up under the driver side. I put a barrel fuse on mine, just to make sure nothing happens. Pull off the panels, pull up the carpet, and run the wires. Then put it all back together again. You could use one of the seat belt buckles things to ground it