I bought this Peak Inverter from O'Reillys for $140 plus a 200amp ANL fuse for $30. Well worth the investment if you do not have easy access to an outdoor outlet like me.

I can now use a vacuum, soldering iron, keep my laptop charged on the go and who knows what else.

 

Awesome. I should do that

 

I picked up an almost new 1500W modified sine wave inverter at a thrift store.

I haven"t had much chance to use it, but it ran all the stuff I tried.

If your's is a modified sine wave, you should do some internet research about what all can be run off of it.

For instance a modified sine wave can run a laptop since it has a battery charger to absorb the somewhat harsh power supply.

A desktop computer requires a true sine wave inverter though. A "true sine" can run pretty much anything that runs on house current.

 

Yep very true. This one is a modified sine wave since the true sine wave inverters are typically more expensive and should power everything I need it to. I can't wait to put in a second deep cycle battery and HO alternator when I get a cowl intake.

Should be a good setup to power an inverter, amplifier, KC lights, winch and arb compressor in the future.

 

Anyone got a write up on these? Is it easy to do?

 

It's fairly straightforward. I can take more pictures if necessary.

1) Keep the inverter as close to the battery as possible (i.e. the power wire as short as possible), the farther away you go, the bigger gauge wire you will need. It came with 2ft 6awg, I bought a 4ft 4awg power cable. Also the wattage of the inverter plus the distance from the battery will determine the proper gauge to use.

2) Drill a hole in the passenger side floor board. (this will come in handy for my amp power wire in the future as well), use a rubber grommet to prevent chafing the insulation on the power wire on bare metal.

3) There is a bolt right next to where I mounted it that anchors the dash to the frame. Perfect place for the ground wire. I kept that 6awg since it was short, might upgrade in the future to be safe.

4) I have brass marine terminals on my battery so attaching the power cable was a snap. Go directly to the battery terminal, don't use the PDC as a power terminal.

5) Either use another power cable or cut, splice and put brass ring terminals on the power wire you have so that you can install an ANL fuse inline. The amperage will vary according the wattage of the inverter. 1200w called for a 200amp fuse. They can be found at custom stereo installation shops.

6) Attach the cables to the inverter black to - and red to + and you should be good to go.

7) The mounting screws I used were too short to reach the floorpan, so it is just mounted to the carpet and is surprisingly holding just fine. I will eventually get longer screws though and mount it all the way through to the steel.

 

Here is a good writeup on a cowl intake. I just did mine the other day, & love it.
http://www.ericsxj.com/intake/intake.htm