I was curious if anyone has added the factory in-dash 115v outlet and what's involved in doing so.

 

only a few things needed. I plan on trying to add one to a 2016 Fusion I have on order.

You need the inverter, and the 115v dash plug and any harness. Might be one or two harness. Not sure if the inverter has the cable as part of it to supply power to the dash plug. You will also need the harness to connect the inverter to the truck dash harness.

Here is the part number of one of the inverters. Lariat and higher interior packages have 2. Not sure if they are the same number or not.


BC3Z-19G317-A

here are a few on eBay

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...+duty&_sacat=0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HYBRID-CONVE...ZRzZhM&vxp=mtr

 

Not sure what you plan to plug into the outlet, but I don't think it puts out much in wattage. Maybe charge a phone/computer or such. There are much stronger aftermarket options available if you need it.

 

Thanks guys. I like the clean look of the OEM install. Maybe that can be accomplished with an aftermarket unit as well.

I'm really only looking to power a laptop and maybe a small air compressor.

 

you would need a large (500 to 1000 watts) inverter to power an air compressor.

 

You could just get the dash outlet and harness for a clean install if you like that location, and run it to a stronger inverter you hide somewhere. Upside is you could also wire in outlets in the back for a compressor or anywhere else they would be handy.

Take a look around the RV sites for some ideas/parts. They would have the correct wiring to run, etc.

 

those are only 150 watts. go to harbor freight with a coupon and you can get 3 times the power for 1/3 of the price.

 

I like this idea. Then I could put an outlet in the back seat area and potentially one in the bed. I could wire it to one of the Upfitter switches to have another level of safety.

 

The stronger inverters can draw a bunch of DC. You may want to connect it directly to your battery with decent sized wire. Not sure an upfitter would power it. There's plenty of info online in the RV sites. Check out some units for sale and look at their input requirements.

 

With a big enough relay, an upfitter should trigger it just fine.

 

I have a small inverter that I plug into my cigarette lighter to charge small electronics that only came with a wall charger. It will charge them but you can't run them on the power it puts off. I have a larger 1500 watt inverter that I run my larger appliances off of. Like mentioned above, it has battery cables that hook directly to the battery and I run them through a hole in the floor. I have multiple batteries and leave my rig running , so no danger of draining my batteries.

 

This is true, but the upfitters are already powering relays, so you'll be using relays to power bigger relays. LOL

 

Thank you for all the input gentlemen. I have been informed that mama's car needs some attention. I won't need the outlets until spring so time to work on the V-Dub.