400W inverter usage?

Looks like I'll be coming to this forum from now on after leaving the good ol' Jeep forum thats done me good for so many years! (Still need to fix the drive line). After spending $1200 rebuilding the front end bearings, upper/lower ball joints and rotors, and the next hit was drive line, I drove right into Toyota's lot and drove out with my 4 Runner!

Just picked up a 2018 TRD Off Road Premium. Super excited!

The first mod will be window tint, 20% rear, legal 50% on the front and strip on windshield.

I was wondering what yall use your power inverter for ? I could see it make good use for campin and using it for various electronics, however most have a 12V connector. I guess I could keep my laptop charged and hunt for a wireless signal in the woods.

Realistically what have you used yours for?

 

My friend and I used it to power an angle grinder for immediately needed mods to drive home.

I've used it personally to power a light to inspect a vehicle out for a friend. A 100W light bulb beats the hell out of a flashlight when checking out a truck in a blizzard. Glad I used it too, found some dents and rust that would have been a lot harder to find with a directed beam flashlight.

 

It also works good to run a small compressor to air up tires.

 

Will use it at our cabin that is off-gride to charge batts for my power tools.

 

Great ways to use it! I like to know it will power a grinder at the least, 3.3 Amps will run lots of things. I was thinking of use case scenarios that would be handy to use out in the back country.

Thank you all!

 

I have only used it to charge batteries for my cameras between locations

 

My plan is to mod the 400 WATT feature to be able to be used when the 4Runner is off, running, in P, D or in any gear position...
Then i can take my dad to the death valley in CA and hookup his telescope and laptop while the truck is off and navigate the telescope to find star clusters..... Pretty interesting stuff but hard to do without a 110V source because his telescope needs that...

That was just a quick thing that i thought about.. am sure there are 1000s more!

 

I have a small air compressor in vehicle when I go on long trip 400wt inverter with clamps to connect to battery .. that is how it will work .. then have a 50ft 14guage 110v extension cord to move the air compressor around .. also a tire plug kit .. 400watts =40amps X 10 volts .. so if the inverter puts out 400 watts that will over load the interior power socket which is why the jumper clamps are required ..

 

- air pump for mattress while camping in the back

- drill for installing mods while parked in the yard without having to run extension cords back to the garage

- charging up DSLR and laptop batteries on a trip

- running Christmas lights on the rack

 

I thought it runs at 100W with it off? A telescope would be nice!

 

If it does then i wont need to mod anything haha.. Ill have to check it out when i get a chance

 

It doesn't work when the truck is off, ignition has to be on. 100W driving, 400W parked.

 

Here is the page in the manual on how it works.

 

It’s divide. 400/120 = 3.3A
Watts/volts

 

400watts ac = 120 volts ac X 3.3amps ac that is the output ..

my comment 400watts DC X 12 volts dc = about 40 amps dc that is the input ,, so the vehicle does not have the power to output 400 watts on the internal power sockets .. no way 40 amps can flow thru those small internal wires to the sockets .. possibly it can pass 20 amps max IMO 15 amps to the inverter so it will not work if you have a compressor or a device that has 180watts required AC or more ..

must use battery 40 amp wires to power up a 400watt inverter ..

 

I’m just referring to standard usage is all. Sorry if we are going down a more technical path.

I’m not an electrician engineer but I would assume Toyota already did the testing and wouldn’t have put a 400w inverter in, if it couldn’t run it. Like anything more amps drawing on the line will overheat the line and cause a fire of no breaker is installed. The inverter does have a safety mechanism.

If your 4Runner is off and you continuously run the appliance drawing the max amps, it will drain your battery. There is another page that talks about keeping your 4Runner on in certain cases this way the alternator keeps the battery charged.

I don’t understand your formula and AC\DC, it’s not going to change the draw on the wire (based on the device your using) Yes if you had another battery to run it great, it saves you from draining your battery and stuck in the middle of no where, at this point just go buy a separate batter/charger/inverter all in one.


I recently bought a amp draw meter and a microwave running on a 20A circuit in your kitchen will pull up to 11A, a boiling water kettle will pull 8+ . These devices are around 1100 watts. Grinders normally have 4-9 Amp motor, not sure the draw it would have on a circuit but someone said they ran one on the inverter. Could you run a large 4 1/2 “ angle grinder for hours? Probably not.

Anyways I can’t wait to try it and will run some appliances, might be a good YouTube video series. On another note what about running a wireless router, broadcasting a WiFi signal from your 4Runner! Of course you would need an internet but could install a wireless camera and view it on your phone if you were concerned about security on your 4Runner. Like a dash cam that you can check while in the office!

 

I just caught what you were saying about the 40amp wire, you mean the gauge of the wire, probably like 10 gauge. Also it doesn’t output 400watts, that’s what your appliance will use to run itself. The amp draw on the line will determine how well your inverter will keep up. The inverter will supply output of 120volts, with a max draw of 3.3 amps (400 watts) for x time before you drain your battery if that makes sense. We’re probably saying the same thing to some degree!

Nothing like beating a dead horse

 

I haven't tried my inverter in my 4Runner, But I do have some experience with them. I haven't looked to see what size the wiring is is our 2018, but 400 watts is not enough for much, lights or chargers etc. You will need to add another battery, to be safe, and a battery separator to keep it charged up to use an inverter with the car off, and to not have a dead battery. I used to run 2 group 27 batteries with a 1750/3000 watt inverter, I used it for power tools, a computer, printer and much more, I had a remote office in my truck. I learned the hard way several times. You will want a separate battery and a 2000 watt inverter to run things like microwave oven. We would only get 3 hours out of a battery when we used it for a CPAP (sleep apnea device) , when dry camping it would be me at 3:00 am, going out to swap batteries. And use the generator the next day to recharge the batteries. The most important thing is never drain the battery below 10 volts, even one time can do damage to the battery that will shorten the life. I would be careful bypassing the inverter to run with the car off. I would think this inverter has a 10 volt shutoff built in like most of them do. I do think it is meant for an emergency power supply some things are hard to find cheaply that will run on 12vdc. I have 2 small solar stations at my home. I have 4 panels that charge 2 group 27 batteries, I have 1.5-2.5 amp draw day and night, from my home security cameras. I have another one that is only one battery, and some smaller panels, I use it for only charging iPads, phones, and I have Led lights in the room. So I am doing a lot of experiments with what you can run on a battery. If you can get 12vdc operated items they will run longer on the same battery there is a loth of loss when you convert to 120v. I originally was using an inverter on my home system, but it would not last. Fortunately my security system is run off of 12vdc, using several power supplies so it was easy to just supply the system with 12vdc. I like the idea about a wifi in the 4runner. but you can use a portable hotspot and connect your cameras to it with a iPhone app. I have an app to connect to my home system. It would be easy to use one like the Lorex system and just have a hotspot wifi.

 

Blender for margaritas at camp.

OK - I've never done that (and probably never will as its so much easier to just open a beer) but it was the first thing that I thought of when I looked at my truck.

 

well there are many that think they can plug in a 400w inverter and power up a 120v ac device that uses more than 100 watts on the interior power holes .. these work for 12volt power sockets to charge a Ipad/phone etc..
not gonna work on any device using more than 100watts ac .. that is about 12 amps running to that socket so the fuse should blow if over 100watt ac power .

if the engine is off and running an air compressor sucking up 300watts ya that will drain the battery pretty good , which is why many that go camping in the outback have 2 batteries in the vehicle with a battery switch.
I am sure this read will help those who have no electrical knowledge..
I have seen these owners over load these 12 volt sockets and they melt. use bigger fuse LOL...

 

What I "hear" when I read this thread...... AMPS, Watts, Volts, Dual Batteries, Dead Batteries, Blown Fuses, Melted Wires... Never really had plans to use that plug, now I am afraid to.

 

rkwfxd,
don't be afraid to use the inverter or the 12v charge socket, as long as you use as the Toyota manual tells you and not bypass it to run when the car is off. As I said it is really meant for an emergency power, like to air up a tire, a light, maybe air up your air mattress using a 120v pump. I am a retired Electrician I have seen a lot. I have wasted a few batteries and burnt up a few inverters camping, life goes on and thats how you learn the best lessens .

 

you can use that 12volt plug to operate low power devices 10amps max should cause no problems .. like I said some will install a bigger fuse then the wiring / sockets melt down and could burn up the vehicle .
you cannot use that socket for air compressor ... uses much more than 100watts ac.....
when camping and you need some power that is why 2 batteries with the battery switch so that the camping battery is only used . boating people have 2 batteries isolation switch .. not good when you out on the water and engine will not start...when using these sockets best to have a fuse mounted in the cable plug to device ..

my 2016 SR5 does not have any AC outlets ..

 

It does.

 

I tested the draw on this inverter and here are some numbers.

65W Dell Laptop power adapter
Booting up from the bios, all fans and hardware surged at 3Amps then stablized at about 1.5


Wireless router about .5 - .6 Amps

I’ll be doing a more comprehensive video on this later in the week.

The manual states the alert buzzer will sound if running devices and or devices and other power accessories in the 4Runner greater than 100W continuously. So a dell power adaptor at 65W, is .59Amps, so running anything more than a laptop for a while may set the alarm/wire protection circuit

An iPad charger is 12W, 2.1A.

 

I'm curious, how do you roll w/ the 2 batteries? meaning have you mounted them somewhere or are you swapping them out as needed?