120V in the dash AND the box!
03-08-2013, 12:45 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
120V in the dash AND the box!
Alright, I've had this running for a year now with no problems, time to do a writeup.
My truck, being an XLT, did not come with a 120v power plug.
This irritated me.
I kicked around a few different ideas on how to remedy the situation, leaning towards getting a very small inverter (100 watts) and hiding it in the dash in a small place I found, and cutting a hole in the dash somewhere for a plug-in. Quick, easy, simple.
But I knew I wouldn't be happy with just that. It would work, it just wouldn't be something that pretty much nobody has. So... I ended up with a sketch with a 1000w inverter behind the seat, 2 plugs in the dash, 2 plugs in the back seat (this didn't happen, couldn't find a good spot), and... for the grand finale, a weatherproof plug in the box!
I did this concurrently with my stereo install, so I already had everything torn apart, which made it much easier (still not easy though).
Here's the basic steps:
1. Bought 1000w true sine power inverter
2. Mounted it to the rack I built behind the rear seat (planned this rack out with all the stereo equip and inverter beforehand, it's pretty full now)
3. Ran a 16/3 from the inverter to the dash along the centerline of the truck (inside the cab, but along the center so it wasn't running parallel to speaker wires or RCA's that I have in both outer channels)
4. Took out the little stock "pocket" on the passenger side dash trim. Cut a piece of clear plexi to fit in the spot. Sprayed the back of the plexi black. Drilled 3 3mm holes, glued in LED's to side light the piece, plastic welded the plexi into the dash trim. Actually, plastic welded the 3rd piece into the dash trim, I messed up the first two. Of this whole mod, this is the part I'm not happy with. I don't like how the side-lighting works, and I didn't have enough room to completely hide the LED's, so you can still see one of them from the front. Might re-do this out of brushed aluminum if I get bored enough one day.
5. Purchased 2 drop-in 120v sockets from digikey. Cut a hole in the plexi for each and glued them in.
6. Took the inverter apart and pulled the on/off button out. This had multiple wires. One was a ground, one was a trigger (ie: a + pulse through the wire turns the inverter off if it's already on, and vice versa). There was also a contant power, and then another ground for the LED (actually two for the different colors, but I only used one).
7. Ran the on/off wiring to my custom swtich panel on the bottom left of the dash. This gives the inverter a pulse by flipping the switch either direction.
8. Ran the inveter LED wiring (lights up if it's on) to the plug-in panel in the dash. The side-lit LED's now light up blue when the inverter is turned on.
9. Went and bought some 12/3 shielded cable from home depot. Ran this outside the cab through the hold in the rear of the back door sill, along the frame, to the back bumper, into the tail light pocket, and then into the space above the rear tire.
10. Took my boxliner out, marked out dimensions for a weatherproof outlet, and got my sawzall. I drilled the pilot hole and *just* started to cut a hole in the box of my truck when my wife walked in and saw me cutting apart the truck we just bought less than year ago. She shook her head, didn't say a word, and walked back into the house, hahaha.
11. Put some paint on the hole I just cut to prevent rusting.
12. Pulled the shielded wire through the hole, connected it to the weatherproof outlet box, sealed everything up, and then drilled/screwed it into the box of the truck.
13. Cut a hole in the boxliner so that the outlet could be accessed.
There you have it. 13 easy steps that took me forever to do.
However, I'm extremely glad I did it. I use the outlet in the truck a lot, and the one in the box gets good use while we are camping or on a job site. I've used it for lighting, blenders, microwave, charging stuff, power tools, radios, fish cameras, etc etc. I even used it for a small heater blanket when I put my dog in the back to go somewhere if it's cold outside. Definitely worth the effort, and I have yet to see anyone with 120v in the back of the truck, so I'm happy it's pretty unique.
My truck, being an XLT, did not come with a 120v power plug.
This irritated me.
I kicked around a few different ideas on how to remedy the situation, leaning towards getting a very small inverter (100 watts) and hiding it in the dash in a small place I found, and cutting a hole in the dash somewhere for a plug-in. Quick, easy, simple.
But I knew I wouldn't be happy with just that. It would work, it just wouldn't be something that pretty much nobody has. So... I ended up with a sketch with a 1000w inverter behind the seat, 2 plugs in the dash, 2 plugs in the back seat (this didn't happen, couldn't find a good spot), and... for the grand finale, a weatherproof plug in the box!
I did this concurrently with my stereo install, so I already had everything torn apart, which made it much easier (still not easy though).
Here's the basic steps:
1. Bought 1000w true sine power inverter
2. Mounted it to the rack I built behind the rear seat (planned this rack out with all the stereo equip and inverter beforehand, it's pretty full now)
3. Ran a 16/3 from the inverter to the dash along the centerline of the truck (inside the cab, but along the center so it wasn't running parallel to speaker wires or RCA's that I have in both outer channels)
4. Took out the little stock "pocket" on the passenger side dash trim. Cut a piece of clear plexi to fit in the spot. Sprayed the back of the plexi black. Drilled 3 3mm holes, glued in LED's to side light the piece, plastic welded the plexi into the dash trim. Actually, plastic welded the 3rd piece into the dash trim, I messed up the first two. Of this whole mod, this is the part I'm not happy with. I don't like how the side-lighting works, and I didn't have enough room to completely hide the LED's, so you can still see one of them from the front. Might re-do this out of brushed aluminum if I get bored enough one day.
5. Purchased 2 drop-in 120v sockets from digikey. Cut a hole in the plexi for each and glued them in.
6. Took the inverter apart and pulled the on/off button out. This had multiple wires. One was a ground, one was a trigger (ie: a + pulse through the wire turns the inverter off if it's already on, and vice versa). There was also a contant power, and then another ground for the LED (actually two for the different colors, but I only used one).
7. Ran the on/off wiring to my custom swtich panel on the bottom left of the dash. This gives the inverter a pulse by flipping the switch either direction.
8. Ran the inveter LED wiring (lights up if it's on) to the plug-in panel in the dash. The side-lit LED's now light up blue when the inverter is turned on.
9. Went and bought some 12/3 shielded cable from home depot. Ran this outside the cab through the hold in the rear of the back door sill, along the frame, to the back bumper, into the tail light pocket, and then into the space above the rear tire.
10. Took my boxliner out, marked out dimensions for a weatherproof outlet, and got my sawzall. I drilled the pilot hole and *just* started to cut a hole in the box of my truck when my wife walked in and saw me cutting apart the truck we just bought less than year ago. She shook her head, didn't say a word, and walked back into the house, hahaha.
11. Put some paint on the hole I just cut to prevent rusting.
12. Pulled the shielded wire through the hole, connected it to the weatherproof outlet box, sealed everything up, and then drilled/screwed it into the box of the truck.
13. Cut a hole in the boxliner so that the outlet could be accessed.
There you have it. 13 easy steps that took me forever to do.
However, I'm extremely glad I did it. I use the outlet in the truck a lot, and the one in the box gets good use while we are camping or on a job site. I've used it for lighting, blenders, microwave, charging stuff, power tools, radios, fish cameras, etc etc. I even used it for a small heater blanket when I put my dog in the back to go somewhere if it's cold outside. Definitely worth the effort, and I have yet to see anyone with 120v in the back of the truck, so I'm happy it's pretty unique.
03-08-2013, 01:29 PM
#2
Very very cool
I love the bed outlets.
I have a 120 outlet in the rear of my center console. I've thought about tracking down the source of power, probably a small inverter tucked underneath the console and swapping it out with a more powerful one. 1000 watt would be awesome, but likely quite a bit bigger.
I love the bed outlets.I have a 120 outlet in the rear of my center console. I've thought about tracking down the source of power, probably a small inverter tucked underneath the console and swapping it out with a more powerful one. 1000 watt would be awesome, but likely quite a bit bigger.
03-08-2013, 01:42 PM
#3
Meaner than ymeski56
Very neat, I've been wanting to do something like this except I think I'd mount one in my toolbox and one in my toolbox facing out. Still not sure about in the cab though as I don't want cables hanging around.
03-08-2013, 01:46 PM
#4
Senior Member
cool variation
i mounted mine above the glove box and used a metal strap to clamp it to the metal bracing, then ran a short cord from it to an escape dash 120 volt plug
now i have to cut a small plate to mount the plug in the dash
there is a rubber plug in the firewall just below the large three connectors on the pass side.
the pic is the plug in my F350, before i sold it
good job
i mounted mine above the glove box and used a metal strap to clamp it to the metal bracing, then ran a short cord from it to an escape dash 120 volt plug
now i have to cut a small plate to mount the plug in the dash
there is a rubber plug in the firewall just below the large three connectors on the pass side.
the pic is the plug in my F350, before i sold it
good job
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03-09-2013, 02:02 AM
#9
Heat Miser
