2kW outlet in box has less capacity?

[EcoBeastCA]

We recently had (yet another) power outage and to keep the fridge cool, I ran an extension cord to my truck which has the 2kW onboard.

I first ran the cord to the outlet in the box, but when I plugged it in and hit the button it immediately shut off, and the dash said the system was overloaded. So I tried the outlet in the back seat area, and it worked just fine.

Obviously the box outlet wasn't able to handle the inrush current of the fridge compressor starting, but why? They're all rated at 20A. I would think the box outlet would be the heartiest of them all as that's where you'd expect to be drawing most of your power, given you don't need to leave doors open that way.

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[minirx7]

Trust me it is complete garbage. I regret getting this, and woudl have spent the money and payload to get a rechargeable battery pack instead of this.

Unless you ahve the hybrid, the 2kw system is horrible. Same issue with you, cannot get anyhing even if the load is lower than 2000Watts.

 

[EcoBeastCA]

Trust me it is complete garbage. I regret getting this, and woudl have spent the money and payload to get a rechargeable battery pack instead of this.

Unless you ahve the hybrid, the 2kw system is horrible. Same issue with you, cannot get anyhing even if the load is lower than 2000Watts.

I don't agree that it's garbage. The 400W is pretty useless yes, but I've run 15A heat guns off the box outlet so it's definitely not as bad as you say. Like I said, the fridge ran fine when I plugged it into the cab outlet. Sounds like you may have something wrong with yours.

I just don't understand why mine would run the fridge from the cab outlet but not from the box. I can't imagine the voltage drop from the inverter battery to the box outlet is high enough to have caused this, unless the wiring is grossly substandard (should be 12 ga for 120VAC 20A).

 

[minirx7]

I don't agree that it's garbage. The 400W is pretty useless yes, but I've run 15A heat guns off the box outlet so it's definitely not as bad as you say. Like I said, the fridge ran fine when I plugged it into the cab outlet. Sounds like you may have something wrong with yours.

I just don't understand why mine would run the fridge from the cab outlet but not from the box. I can't imagine the voltage drop from the inverter battery to the box outlet is high enough to have caused this, unless the wiring is grossly substandard (should be 12 ga for 120VAC 20A).

Oh it isnt just mine, as many threads have indicated the lacking output of this inverter setup. There was a thread awhile ago that did some testing on the stabilty of the voltage. I recall it was showing that even the voltage output was unstable which could be very problematic for electronic devices. Leaf Blower, surprisingly did work.

I got mine in teh hopes of running my RV AC, which i purchsed a soft start (and it powers up easily with 1500watts). I tested with microwave, no go. Hair dryer no go. TV's and laptop charging, no problem

But for the weight and complexity, its way better iwth a battery pack like an ANKER 737 and charge it DC while driving. At least you can use it both in your truck and at home.

 

[HammaMan]

Still want to see someone try and hookup a 24 inverter to its power cables and see if they can't actually turn it into something useful. It's got a dedicated 130a 24v alternator / battery. It should be able to hit 3kW surge (the additional 24v inverter, not the cheap shit they included with it)

 

[fordtruckman2003]

There are numerous posts on here where the 2kw inverter is proven to be useless and well under it's rated capacity. Sorry to say you are not alone. Some people put in an aftermarket 2kw with better results. There was a whole thread where a guy was going to sue Ford or something silly.

 

[dafish]

Obviosly these aren't the same, but my 2.4 happily powered a refrigerator and a microwave at the same time. Of course fridge age is a big deal, and a runnin fridge doesn't take more than 300-400 watts.

For a 2KW I suppose I'd just buy a plug in soft start module. Heck, I may look for one for my upgraded to 7200w PB.

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