thanks for replys
kamazoo:
connor it isnt that hard to wire it in. doing it properly diffrent thing thats why i asked advice i no it needs to go straight to the battries with fuse on and run cable along the chassie or put anderson plugs on its not rocket science. and yes i dont no what cable to get or fuse but i will find out.
Yeah I’ve heard “it isn’t hard to wire X in” before. I remember one car where someone wired a high intensity brake light in. Easy job. Only problem was they didn’t take care routing the cable to the light and put the screw for the rear light cluster straight through it. Kept blowing fuses so they kept putting bigger ones in until eventually the entire front to rear loom set alight.
As Martin has quite rightly pointed out, you want flexible cable because of the amount of movement that it’ll be doing. Just simply getting some cable, clipping it to the chassis and thinking that’ll do isn’t enough. All cables going into the cab do more flexing than any others other than the electric susies.
Conor:
kamazoo:
im just after some advice in what size cable and mega fuse to use. as to wiring it in im more than capableHeard that one before. The phrase “mega fuse” doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence and you can’t claim to know how to wire it in if you’re asking what size cable to use.
Yours, former auto electrician.
I’ll throw you a bone. You need to know the current draw, the length of the cable run and the voltage drop per metre of the cable. That’ll tell you what diameter to need. To give you an idea of sizes, put it simply you’re looking for a minimum around the same thickness that a hefty set of jump leads for a truck are. I wouldn’t look at anything smaller than 0 AWG/ 70mm square.
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Sorry Mr former auto electrician but megafuse is the brand name of the exact product required for fitting inverters and Anderson connectors.
kamazoo:
connor it isnt that hard to wire it in. doing it properly diffrent thing thats why i asked advice i no it needs to go straight to the battries with fuse on and run cable along the chassie or put anderson plugs on its not rocket science. and yes i dont no what cable to get or fuse but i will find out.
I use a 300A megafuse on most Anderson connectors I fit you need to go quite a bit over to allow for surges. It’s a sensible figure that will go before the insulation starts dripping off the wires.
I would fit an Anderson connector to the batteries and another to the back of the cab to wire the shortest route I wouldn’t bother taking it round the cab loom and that way it will also protect the cab loom if something did go wrong. Try to position the anderson connectors so they will just pull apart if someone tilts the cab without disconnecting them first. The megafuse wants wiring as close to the batteries as possible so between the batteries and the first anderson connector.
It’s a good idea to put the inverter against the bare metal of the cab floor from a heat sink point of view but make sure any internal fans and vents aren’t restricted. This will usually be beneath the bunk and will also be the best point to poke the wire through you may find existing holes though to side lockers etc.
Any decent rated jump leads is the cheapest source of cable as has already been mentioned loads about 800A+ peak draw which will be more than enough.
The Anderson connectors you need are sb175 you’ll need 2 plus a tail-lift lead or 4 if you’re going to need to make up a tail-lift lead as well. Now in a commercial environment I would use an hydraulic crimper on these but you can do them with a nut splitter or a cold chisel and punch just as well you want to fold the stripped wire over. Also commercially I would heatshrink as well but is optional.
Ignore the idiots with their knickers in a twist it’s a straightforward job. If you’re at all uncertain about the set-up connect it all up with the jump lead crocodile clips first and run it for a normal amount of time and check nothing gets unduly warm before fitting it all.
Any questions just ask.
nodding donkey:
On a serious note though, how much juice in an average truck battery today? Using that kind of power on a daily basis is going to knacker your batteriez pretty quick.
If a truck’s used for tramping you’ve just got to look at batteries as a consumable. None of them are great quality these days though even Vartas aren’t what they were and Banners you might as well not bother heaving them in to start with.
It’s not just driver’s overnighting though internal lifts in double deckers and all manner of other kit give the batteries a right old work out too. Running them totally flat is what really polishes them off though.