I'm looking to get a small cheap power inverter for use in my Prius and am wondering if I should have any concerns? I will be running the car during use. Only going to be using it for my laptop and maybe some speakers.
none at all, as long as you're in ready, the car will keep the 12v charged. just don't pull too many watts if you're using the power outlet, or you'll blow the fuse. in that case, you should be tapping the 12v.
I seem to recall a 10 amp fuse for the lighter socket, so unless you want to wire direct to the battery you want less than 10 amps. Which is plenty for a laptop. Depending on the laptop, you may find a charger that already plugs in the lighter socket? Here is a "universal" model. (but read the reviews) amazon.com/Pawtec-Universal-Charger-High-Speed-Adapters/dp/B00PMM3CBA
So I've been looking at a lot of these live in your Prius videos and might someday want to do it. With that in mind I'm a PC gamer and would take my PC with me and would want that to be powered. So how many watts is too many? I know I'll be getting a 1000 watt power supply for said computer so I'm guessing I'd need as high as 1200 watts to power everything. Just curious to know for later.
i think you're right around the max for tapping off the battery. see the inverter threads for more info.
Will try to find some. Also I've seen some devices that connect straight to my 12v battery. Would this be a bad idea in a Prius?
no, that's what i'm talking about. then you bypass the power outlet fuse. people even power their homes during outages. i think you need heavy cables from the 12v to the inverter. pretty sure bwilson4web has a thread with pics.
12 volts * 10 amps = 120 watts If you need more than that, the lighter socket is not a good choice. The entire output of the 12 volt inverter (some is needed by the car) is 125 amps 12 volts * 125 amps = 1500 watts so a 12 volt inverter attached to the battery must use less. (never run it except in READY) The 201 volt battery is much larger, I hear of 6500 watt devices wired to the HV Battery. (much more dangerous)
The inverter tops out at about 80A. However you need about 20A just to run all of the car's ECUs and electronics when the car is on. This gives you 60A to run an inverter if you're not driving the car or about 800W. Assuming about 80% efficiency of the inverter, you could draw about 650W continuously without draining your 12V battery. That's a lot of power for a PC to draw. I think you'd need a top of the line processor and two graphics cards in SLI to draw that much. You can use tools like this to calculate the expected max power draw. As far as the cigarette lighters go, IIRC the plug in the center bottom of the dash has 15A fuse, and the one in the center arm rest has a 10A fuse. I have a little 150W inverter that I plug into the dash occasionally for use. I also added a cigarette lighter in my trunk with this kit and a 15A fuse. I hate fan noise, so I bought a passive power inverter. Something to consider in your purchase.
