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Truck bed plug

6K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  loufish 
#1 ·
Is it possible to use power wood working tools using the truck bed plug? What size inverter/converter do I need and if it will not work what is it good for?
 
#2 ·
It's for charging your cell phone while you're drinking your beer on your tailgate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



J/K
 
#4 ·
It's only 20 amps, 20 times 12.5 gives you about 250 watts...not even close to running power tools...
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
isnt that why you would use a capacitor? such as one found in an inverter?
Doesn't make any difference, 250 watts in, 250 watts out, that's all you get.
Need more?, then hook straight to the battery...
 
#8 ·
Bmaez said:
Is it possible to use power wood working tools using the truck bed plug?
A better option would be to use cordless tools from Makita, DeWalt, etc. The new generation of cordless tools include, circular saws, reciprocating saws as well as all kinds of drills, etc. You could then use the inverter to recharge your tools if you were away from a power source.
 
#9 ·
Yup. See 54's link, we just went over this same discussion.
 
#11 ·
textitan13 said:
Then how do you propose an inverter would get over 250 watts?

And the answer is.....

A capacitor!
No, the answer is ohm's law. Do the math man. I just installed a 3kW inverter in my work truck. After the math, I figured I could get away with parallel runs of 1/0 multi stranded welding cable. And that's only good for a light load. To truely utilize the entire 3kW, I would have to use 500 mcm!!! There's no way I could run that to the bins of the truck. It was hard enough running 4 cables of 1/0!!!
 
#12 ·
It might be more useful to use battery operated tools and use the power outlet for charging your batteries. I believe the wire feeding the power outlet is 16ga wire and if memory serves me right, it is a 10 amp circuit. The other option is a portable generator, which would be the best option for heavy use.
 
#13 ·
Then how do you propose an inverter would get over 250 watts?

And the answer is.....

A capacitor!
You don't understand how a inverter works...If want to run a 1000 watt (1KW) inverter from a 12 dc battery, it's going to take....1000 watts to do so! You can't get something from nothing!!
Watts are Voltage times Amperage, simple...

1000 watt 110 v a/c inverter...divide 1000 by the voltage 110 and you have the amperage = about 9 amps.
If you want 1000 watts out of a inverter then you have to put in 1000 watts...To get 1000 watts of DC power, then you need 80 amps...that's a lot of juice!
 
#14 ·
textitan13 said:
Then how do you propose an inverter would get over 250 watts?

And the answer is.....

A capacitor!
A capacitor is just another type of battery, so to speak. It's big plus is it's ability to dump it's entire charge VERY quickly. Given that a power tool uses a huge amount of energy over a long duration, a capacitor wouldn't do anything at all. Caps can supplement voltage drops that are very brief in duration, such as a woofer hitting, but not to cover a power tool.
 
#15 ·
It is too early to do the math, but IAAEE, and this nonsense is not going to work. Capacitors only help you with infrequent demand. You would need a huge bank of them to run a drill for 1 sec. And if you drain it in 1 sec, it is going to take 1 sec to replenish.
Look at this article on stiffening caps: Stiffening_capacitor

Then note that the time demand in the example is 1/35 sec.
Hopefully the hole you are drilling is really, really shallow.
 
#16 ·
everyone says it can't be done so why not just give it a try and see what happens...

I would honestly say the generator route is probabally the best option for running any power tools in remote areas. Inverters are good for running small electronics like tvs and DVD players or charging batteries.
 
#18 ·
#19 ·
Bmaez said:
Is it possible to use power wood working tools using the truck bed plug? What size inverter/converter do I need and if it will not work what is it good for?

So far what I got is I can use the truck bed plug to charge my cell phone while drinking beer on the tailgate and charging cordless power tools.
 
#20 ·
everyone says it can't be done so why not just give it a try and see what happens...
Bring plenty of fuses...Of course I could be wrong, and wasted months of full time DC electronic/electrical training I attended to get my FAA Mechanic's License (A&P)...:eeeek:
 
#21 ·
loufish said:
Bring plenty of fuses...Of course I could be wrong, and wasted months of full time DC electronic/electrical training I attended to get my FAA Mechanic's License (A&P)...:eeeek:

my comment was pure sarcasm if you didn't catch that :clap:
 
#22 ·
my comment was pure sarcasm if you didn't catch that
No I didn't...:fktardxpl

It would been fine around the campfire, but posting can be so single dimensional, that's why I hate Texting so much!
Sorry...
 
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