Installed 12V Power in Bed (PPoB 2.4KW)

[dysruptor]

I had been wanting 12v power in the bed of my 302A PowerBoost to power various accessories such as a DC air compressor for inflating tires when done off-roading, inflating paddle boards for lake days, charge phones off DC power while camping, etc. When searching the forums, it appeared that a few people have had similar needs with toppers, refrigerators, other accessories, etc, but I wasn't able to find any actual images. Anyways, I went ahead with the install and liked the way it came out so thought I'd post a few pics for other viewers' benefit.

Basic wiring plan was: I have a main battery terminal run of 2/0 quality wire in loom to rear hitch receiver for part-time use of a receiver-mounted winch cradle (separate project inspired by a post from @jeffcrum to get 350a Anderson connectors available for winch use). This is unfused, but normally turned off via a battery switch mounted under the hood since I don't need full-time 12v power. I bought a quality mains wire tap that I used to split off a 10ga wire right behind passenger rear wheel. I loomed the wire and then ran that through a bed-support tube to get it to the driver side. From there, I ran it to a 50a breaker that I mounted to an aluminum rail using self-tapping screws that I found inside the PPoB hole on the right side. The 10ga (from the aux side of the breaker) then went into the 2.4KW PPoB box to my Anderson Power Pole port, which I wired with 45 amp terminals. The goal was to be able to run high-draw accessories such as a 12v tire inflator off of this beafier port. From there, I tapped the 10ga wire to run it to a 15a circuit breaker mounted inside the box so that I wouldn't have an unprotected power draw that would fry the smaller wires used by the non-Power Pole ports. The aux side of that went to power the 12v cigarette lighter port and the USB ports, which includes a voltmeter.

Hopefully that helps someone else who needs another weekend project!

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[jeffcrum]

Thanks for the tag. Oddly enough, I never finished that at this point.

So happy that it gave inspiration though!!!

Duh, eta: Great job!

 

[nikon858]

Good job! Seems like the hardest part is actually running the wires from the battery, did you run them with other wires or just secured to the frame rail?

 

[HammaMan]

Has 20a 120v circuit on hand, but uses 12v air compressor?

7 pin has 40a 12v circuit on it. Unless the truck is running, I wouldn't tap the 12v bus unless you have dedicated aux batt to jump it if voltage gets low. LFP batts continue to drop in price and is good option for camping / extended power usage. 1kwh of 12v storage is as low as $140 now (100ah), and the batt will last a couple decades if taken care of.

 

[mmdpg]

Or just use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Ziciner-AC-C...=1713873221&sprefix=120v+to+12v,aps,96&sr=8-7

 

[dysruptor]

Has 20a 120v circuit on hand, but uses 12v air compressor?

7 pin has 40a 12v circuit on it. Unless the truck is running, I wouldn't tap the 12v bus unless you have dedicated aux batt to jump it if voltage gets low. LFP batts continue to drop in price and is good option for camping / extended power usage. 1kwh of 12v storage is as low as $140 now (100ah), and the batt will last a couple decades if taken care of.

Ya I couldn't find a nice 120v air compressor/tire inflator that was really compact that I can mount to my molle panel and that was simultaneously capable of high volume output? Let me know if you find anything though. Agree on being careful with usage - it would primarily be when the truck is running, but I do have a jump starter on hand too just in case. I also have a portable 1 kWh LiFePO4 battery pack that I got for <$200 shipped, but wanted an option where I didn't HAVE to have that using up bed space. I thought about tapping the trailer wiring, but decided against it since I already had my winch cable available and didn't want to risk throwing codes by tapping something that might be monitored by the BMS.

Good job! Seems like the hardest part is actually running the wires from the battery, did you run them with other wires or just secured to the frame rail?

I followed the orange cables out of the engine bay down through the passenger wheel well, then along the frame to the rear. And for those of you who'll point it out anyways, yes, I know my battery switch is in a questionable location, but I sealed the holes that I drilled in the fuse box cover. There's very little room in the engine bay and I don't have fabrication skills for creating nice brackets to relocate it elsewhere. I just wanted something that would be easy to remove in the future and that should be an easy part to replace. I can still get the fuse cover off with the battery switched attached so it works well enough for now.

 

[PNeWb]

This is exactly what I am looking to do in order have an Anderson sb350 connection for rear winch and 12v bed ports for 12 accessories. I have an ecoboost so only have the 400w AC plug currently.

I may have missed where you ran the lead for winch hook up. Can you share any more about that?

Also looks like you just ran a single hot to the rear and are using the frame as a ground/return? I'm considering another 2/0 return run to the battery terminal myself. I'm somewhat concerned (quite possibly without merit) about passing 100's of amps back to the battery via the frame with all the other electronics tied into it.

Thanks for sharing

 

[HammaMan]

Ya I couldn't find a nice 120v air compressor/tire inflator that was really compact that I can mount to my molle panel and that was simultaneously capable of high volume output? Let me know if you find anything though. Agree on being careful with usage - it would primarily be when the truck is running, but I do have a jump starter on hand too just in case. I also have a portable 1 kWh LiFePO4 battery pack that I got for <$200 shipped, but wanted an option where I didn't HAVE to have that using up bed space. I thought about tapping the trailer wiring, but decided against it since I already had my winch cable available and didn't want to risk throwing codes by tapping something that might be monitored by the BMS.

You can charge that LFP with the truck pretty fast using the HVAC 5 trick, just incorporate 18" or so of 10 gauge wire as a current limiter to not overload the battery's BMS (limits current by voltage droop across the wire). I've got a 280ah 12v w/ 200a BMS that the truck will charge pretty quickly while maxing out the DC/DC converter. If it wasn't water cooled I probably wouldn't do that, but it is.

For a compressor, this is an easy option for PB owners. It's roughly the equivalent to the twin ARB 12v unit but 120v w/ a 2gal tank.

 

[dysruptor]

You can charge that LFP with the truck pretty fast using the HVAC 5 trick, just incorporate 18" or so of 10 gauge wire as a current limiter to not overload the battery's BMS (limits current by voltage droop across the wire). I've got a 280ah 12v w/ 200a BMS that the truck will charge pretty quickly while maxing out the DC/DC converter. If it wasn't water cooled I probably wouldn't do that, but it is.

For a compressor, this is an easy option for PB owners. It's roughly the equivalent to the twin ARB 12v unit but 120v w/ a 2gal tank.

Where/how do you attach your 280ah battery to the DC/DC converter? How hot does your 10ga wire get if it's passing 200a through it? My battery has an advertised 100a BMS so is it safe to assume that if I attached it to the correct place, it would only pull 100a max off the truck?

 

[HammaMan]

Where/how do you attach your 280ah battery to the DC/DC converter? How hot does your 10ga wire get if it's passing 200a through it? My battery has an advertised 100a BMS so is it safe to assume that if I attached it to the correct place, it would only pull 100a max off the truck?

The 10ga wire doesn't get hot as the voltage droops. I've also got an 8ga. For quickly charging the 280ah unit I just connect it to the battery directly w/ jumper cables and then turn on HVAC 5. If you have long jumper cables that will be enough to limit current. The voltage delta isn't that high so you're not heating the wire. Use a DC clamp meter to play around with various configs. The PB's DCDC will happily output its full 220a so long as the truck is in run. To up the voltage driver's door must be closed, key fob in the truck, and hvac on setting 5. That will bump up the voltage enough to charge LFP. My aux batt is an LFP so I'm always in hvac 5.

If your LFP is depleted, don't use hvac 5 until its voltage comes up to the trucks ~12.5 or so. You'll have to use the clamp meter to see what's going on so you can get a feel for how they work. LFP will eat everything you throw at it unlike lead.

 

[dysruptor]

The 10ga wire doesn't get hot as the voltage droops. I've also got an 8ga. For quickly charging the 280ah unit I just connect it to the battery directly w/ jumper cables and then turn on HVAC 5. If you have long jumper cables that will be enough to limit current. The voltage delta isn't that high so you're not heating the wire. Use a DC clamp meter to play around with various configs. The PB's DCDC will happily output its full 220a so long as the truck is in run. To up the voltage driver's door must be closed, key fob in the truck, and hvac on setting 5. That will bump up the voltage enough to charge LFP. My aux batt is an LFP so I'm always in hvac 5.

If your LFP is depleted, don't use hvac 5 until its voltage comes up to the trucks ~12.5 or so. You'll have to use the clamp meter to see what's going on so you can get a feel for how they work. LFP will eat everything you throw at it unlike lead.

Thanks for the tips! I'll have to test that out and throw a meter on there to see what happens with the amps/volts.

This is exactly what I am looking to do in order have an Anderson sb350 connection for rear winch and 12v bed ports for 12 accessories. I have an ecoboost so only have the 400w AC plug currently.

I may have missed where you ran the lead for winch hook up. Can you share any more about that?

Also looks like you just ran a single hot to the rear and are using the frame as a ground/return? I'm considering another 2/0 return run to the battery terminal myself. I'm somewhat concerned (quite possibly without merit) about passing 100's of amps back to the battery via the frame with all the other electronics tied into it.

Thanks for sharing

Here's the connection at the rear. I used a Dremel to sand off the paint around the existing ground and tapped into that. I was hesitant about using the frame as well, but I had read enough online about others doing it without issue that I decided to save myself the hassle of another full cable run, especially considering the planned infrequent use of the winch.

For the SB350 connector, I put it in the dead space right behind the license plate and spare tire and put the plate on a flip-up bracket intended to cover a fairlead. I think I used an 18" cable for the ground, but wish I had gone slightly longer because it won't extend past where it is now. I can still get the winch side connected, but it's a little trickier than I would like.

 

[Mszczewski]

Did you go with the Blue Sea 6007 so that you can add an Anderson Connector to the front bumper in the future and select which connector has power at any given time?

 

[dysruptor]

Did you go with the Blue Sea 6007 so that you can add an Anderson Connector to the front bumper in the future and select which connector has power at any given time?

Yes that's the one I went with for that exact reason. Just haven't tackled a hidden/discrete front receiver yet...

 

[Mszczewski]

Yes that's the one I went with for that exact reason. Just haven't had tackled a hidden/discrete front receiver yet...

Have you seen this thread?

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/thr...onvert-front-tow-hook-to-hitch-receiver.2575/

It might have what you are looking for.

 

[SomebodyInGNV]

You can charge that LFP with the truck pretty fast using the HVAC 5 trick ...

I've seen reference to this but haven't found an in-depth explanation. Is this PB-specific?

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