grumpin Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 Got the two metal trim pieces painted, the one that goes under the rear window and the slotted one to hold down the caddy. Then I got out the #2 red wire I have and ran it from roughly where the factory aux battery relay is to to the inverter by the previously-discussed route. The route works well and it turns out that I have ~6" more wire than needed - for that run. Here's a shot of the wire going under the add-on "step" so it can get to the other side of the truck where the inverter is. When done there'll be convolute over the wire for protection, but I don't have the right size at the moment. I needed to cut a slot in the caddy to allow both the hot and ground wires to come through. And, while that slot was over one of the holes in the add-on "step", I did have to cut a notch in the hole to ensure clearance. You can see where the wire comes up from the bottom of the caddy, which is where the slot is. And it is connected to the positive terminal of the inverter. (Any ideas on how to insulate that terminal?) Also, I cut the end out of the caddy to give access to the outlets and switch, as well as to let air out when the fan is running. Man, cutting that plastic is slow work! Things left to do on the inverter and caddy install include: Making an opening in the passenger's end of the "step" to let the inverter's ground cable through Finding the right contactor Buying the project box, A/C outlet, fuse, and power points and making that system up Buying the ground and additional positive cable I need as well as the Magnalugs and heat shrink Adding a larger link, inc megafuse, between the aux battery and the factory aux battery relay “(Any ideas on how to insulate that terminal?)” Disclaimer: that’s not me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 25, 2020 Share Posted November 25, 2020 “(Any ideas on how to insulate that terminal?)” Disclaimer: that’s not me! When my liquid electrical tape thickened to jelly I resorted to the dregs of a spray can of plastidip. It hasn't rubbed through and certainly insulates! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 “(Any ideas on how to insulate that terminal?)” Disclaimer: that’s not me! Scott - Can you say that again, differently? I don't understand. But the stud coming out of the inverter is up against the plastic divider. And the terminal on the wire is on the back side of the stud going straight up. And it is against the divider as well. Dan - I think you are right. I believe that a couple of pieces of electrical tape may be the only way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 25, 2020 Author Share Posted November 25, 2020 When my liquid electrical tape thickened to jelly I resorted to the dregs of a spray can of plastidip. It hasn't rubbed through and certainly insulates! Jim - My liquid electrical tape is still usable, although getting thicker as I discovered when I daubed the connections to the dome light and radio. But PlastiDip might be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 Jim - My liquid electrical tape is still usable, although getting thicker as I discovered when I daubed the connections to the dome light and radio. But PlastiDip might be better. I can't say "better" but it seems to be working (for now) Toluene and benzene are harder and harder to find as the screws get tightened on precursors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramttocs Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 Scott - Can you say that again, differently? I don't understand. But the stud coming out of the inverter is up against the plastic divider. And the terminal on the wire is on the back side of the stud going straight up. And it is against the divider as well. Dan - I think you are right. I believe that a couple of pieces of electrical tape may be the only way. Yeah, that was hard with words and my rough sketch may not much better. Between the last two photos I wasn't sure just how close the post was to the plastic but if right up against it, then the thickness of the insulator may be a nonstarter. Dotted line is the insulator. Flipping the magnalug from the back to the front to line up the offset of it Space between lug and post just for visual separation of objects Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 26, 2020 Author Share Posted November 26, 2020 Yeah, that was hard with words and my rough sketch may not much better. Between the last two photos I wasn't sure just how close the post was to the plastic but if right up against it, then the thickness of the insulator may be a nonstarter. Dotted line is the insulator. Flipping the magnalug from the back to the front to line up the offset of it Space between lug and post just for visual separation of objects Scott - Now I understand. But the stud isn't tapped, it just has a hole in it so a bolt goes through and you have to get to both sides. I'm not seeing that working very well with a boot. But I might be able to tap the stud. Still though, with the end of the stud up against the divider there's no way to get the boot in there. And the inverter can't move as its "feet" are up against the caddy on the passenger's side. It literally JUST fits. But, maybe I could cut the side out of the boot? Jim - I think I'll try my liquid electrical tape. But, if I can tap the stud it would make things easier. The bolt head could be on the back side where it isn't vulnerable and it would give fewer nooks and crannies on the front side to get the liquid to cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted November 26, 2020 Share Posted November 26, 2020 Scott - Now I understand. But the stud isn't tapped, it just has a hole in it so a bolt goes through and you have to get to both sides. I'm not seeing that working very well with a boot. But I might be able to tap the stud. Still though, with the end of the stud up against the divider there's no way to get the boot in there. And the inverter can't move as its "feet" are up against the caddy on the passenger's side. It literally JUST fits. But, maybe I could cut the side out of the boot? Jim - I think I'll try my liquid electrical tape. But, if I can tap the stud it would make things easier. The bolt head could be on the back side where it isn't vulnerable and it would give fewer nooks and crannies on the front side to get the liquid to cover. The plastic caddy isn't conductive. I don't really see the point. If it were carbon fibre I'd understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 26, 2020 Author Share Posted November 26, 2020 The plastic caddy isn't conductive. I don't really see the point. If it were carbon fibre I'd understand. I'm not worried about the caddy. I'm worried that someone will have something metal in their hand that will bridge from the positive stud of the inverter to the body of the inverter or the cab of the truck. Granted it is only 12v, but fused at maybe 150 amp that could do a lot of damage. Speaking of fuses and fuse ratings, I'm thinking of going with the Bussman fuse holder shown below. It is supposed to be good up to 500A, which begs the question of what fuse I should use. The compressor specs say 14A and 1.5 HP. As was noted, 1 HP = 746 watts, so doing the math it looks to me like the compressor will pull ~9A when running. If we assume 100% efficiency that means ~90A @ 12V, but we know it won't be 100% efficient. However, I know that the compressor ran fine with the inverter running on the piece of #2 wire that I'm going to use and the wire didn't get even the least bit warm. #2 is rated at 130A max, so I'm thinking of fusing it at 150A slo-blo. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted November 26, 2020 Author Share Posted November 26, 2020 I'm not worried about the caddy. I'm worried that someone will have something metal in their hand that will bridge from the positive stud of the inverter to the body of the inverter or the cab of the truck. Granted it is only 12v, but fused at maybe 150 amp that could do a lot of damage. Speaking of fuses and fuse ratings, I'm thinking of going with the Bussman fuse holder shown below. It is supposed to be good up to 500A, which begs the question of what fuse I should use. The compressor specs say 14A and 1.5 HP. As was noted, 1 HP = 746 watts, so doing the math it looks to me like the compressor will pull ~9A when running. If we assume 100% efficiency that means ~90A @ 12V, but we know it won't be 100% efficient. However, I know that the compressor ran fine with the inverter running on the piece of #2 wire that I'm going to use and the wire didn't get even the least bit warm. #2 is rated at 130A max, so I'm thinking of fusing it at 150A slo-blo. Thoughts? I forgot to mention something I tried today that seems to have worked. I wanted to put studs in to mount the inverter on, so I drilled holes in the back of the caddy and tapped them 8-32. Then I ran flanged button-head screws in after squirting hot-melt glue in there. There was enough glue that it not only got pushed out with the screw, but some was under the screw head. I was able to run a nut down very tightly on the inverter and the screws didn't budge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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