brand new installed Inverter

[Dragonknell 10+ year member]

Hey everyone, i just installed a 700 watt continous inverter, its installed and partialy works. This inverter is not meant to be left hooked up to the battery, as it will drain power even when off. But i ran some 8 gauge cable and installed the thing, and put a switch in the + power cable, all works fine except for it sometimes either wont turn on, or shuts off immedilty after turning on //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smash.gif.499e08a4a35ffaf54f4c8194fb8fe8ed.gif. I just assumed it was the ground on the switch, and switched it twice, but it still doesnt exactly work great, and ideas on what the problem could be ?

and is 8 gauge enough for the 700 watt continous? i only have a laptop hooked up, which uses prolly less than 200 watts max, but i dont know if the inverter puts out 700 all the time, wether or not anyything uses it. Thanks !

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[pavengmike6 10+ year member]

A few questions. did you install a fuse with the power wire? If not you need too. Next about it shutting of mine only shuts off when I pull more than the output can handle. It almost sounds like the ground (not the switch ground) is not getting good contact. I would think that 8 Ga wire would be just fine. Granted mine is only a 500 watt one and it plugged into the Cig lighter prior to me making a few changes. The wire running to the Cig lighter is around a 16 ga and I never had any problems. Recheck the Main ground for the unit, and to answer the question about a constant 700 watt. I am not really sure. It is not the same thing you may be thinking about with stereo amps. Your elec devices run more off AMPS than watts. I had an x-box, 19 inch TV/DVD combo to mine and not a bit of problem.

 

[Dragonknell 10+ year member]

well there is no "main ground" because it has to directly connect to the battery, which is connected fine and will not come loose. the positive cable has a 60 amp car fuse under the hood. (the + and - connect directly to the battery)