I have a 240 watt device that is a battery charger for a cordless drill. It trips the inverter every time I plug it in. Anyone else have issues with the in truck.

 

Ran a laptop on mine this past weekend and didn't have any trouble.

 

My inverter only works when I sit in the driver's seat. If I get up, it goes out.

 

ya, the laptop works good on mine too. Just can get much else to work on the inverter with out tripping it.

 

I never would have thought.

 

I have an inverter that I bought that I plug into a cigarette lighter in the arm rest storage/center console. I use it to charge things like a wireless drill battery etc.

 

I figured I could plug one into the cig lighter, but wanted to use the built in one in my truck, only to find out it really can handle even 300 watts of draw. Was looking for other peoples experience with the built in one and what they have run, it sounds like mine is not right.

 

I've run this Kobalt air compressor on mine...worked fine.

 

Different year truck, but the label on the AC inverter outlet in my truck is labeled "140 watts max." There should be a label on yours or info in the owner's manual.

Rob

 

I doubt it makes a difference but were you using the front or rear access points? Was the indicator light flashing?

The inverter should be able to handle cordless chargers. I'll test mine this week, I have not used mine yet but would like to know it's limits. Hopefully my chargers are close to 240 W like yours so we can compare.

The manual says the inverter is good for 300W in Drive and 400W in Park, engine must be running. It also mentions an extension cord can cause an overload.

 

I hear ya, I only use the trucks plug for laptops or random things that need to be plugged in to an outlet. I dont like having plugs hanging from the dashboard so its easy for me to not have a problem with this. I doubt anything is wrong with yours. Lots of people have expressed their concern with the plugs in our trucks.

 

So, of the 3 different cordless drill battery chargers that I have, it's only the Makita that will not work in the inverter outlet even though it say it draws 240 watts. It must have a surge at start up and blows the reset every time, even with no battery attached. Owe well. No Makita, use the Milwaukee.

 

I did have a 2015 f350 and all of my charger's worked fine.

I up graded to a 2019 f350 and None of my 18V chargers work from any brand. I called my Milwaukee tech support to verify the wattage and they said that my charger would only use 252 watt. I had the truck into 2 different dealers and both said everything checked out fine but agreed that it would not support my charges but sent in an inquiry to the factory as to why. The long story short is that the Newer ford trucks are not capable of putting out the amount of wattage that they claim. So if you want to charge batteries you had better buy a different inverter.

 

The factory inverter is a cheap POS modified square wave inverter. It works for some loads, but not for others.

If you want a dependable true sine wave inverter, you need to get one from Exeltech, Morningstar, or Samlex.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post17813657

HTH,
Jim crewzer

 

I have been able to charge a Hitachi 18 v battery in my truck. Also works on the Sonicare toothbrush.