3000 watt 1/0 inverter wire from cab to bed of 2023 non-hybrid Tundra

I looked in the forum and saw nothing of this topic, so here it is....... I'm familiar with wiring to an extent. The 400w plug in the bed and cab is a joke, so I've spent a small fortune on a solar charging system to fit in the bed of my 2023 non-hybrid SR5 TRD Off-Road. I want to mount the inverter under my seat, so I will need to route the 1/0 wire to the bed. I have 12 feet to play with. It is a 12v 230ah LiTime battery capable of 200 amps continuous, 600 watt solar panel array, LiTime 60 amp, 150 Voc capable MPPT controller. I'll probably never use the full capacity of the 3000 watt Renogy inverter, but if it looks like I'll be getting close, I'll sell my last remaining kidney and buy another battery to run in parallel.

First of all, any of you electrical guys see a problem with the described set up? Second, the answer to my primary question...... What is the best way to get that 1/0 wire from the bed to the cab? Any and all input is greatly appreciated, even if you feel the need to comment on my stupidity in whatever area floats your boat. Thanks and God bless.

 

Setup sounds good to me. You are going to be only charging the battery with solar? You could also put a DC-DC charger and connect it to the battery.
On my 2017, there are gromets in the footwell area under the carpet. Thats where i ran my 0-ga for the stereo.

Good luck with the project. I did a similar setup for our trailer (300ah lithium battery, 60amp charger, 3kw inverter). I'm able to run our espresso machine that pulls 1800w with no problems.

 

400 watt outlet is the saddest thing like why even have it . For the wire routing from bed to cab on my limited there is a seal pass thru for wire under the seats I'll try to get a pic.

Even better. Look at top right corner at 30 secs.

 

In my limited expertise, your setup sounds right.

I'm not much help with routing on your 3rd gen, I'm just curious about the array.

I have 600 watts on my trailer (200 X 3) and it takes up a fair amount of real estate. Where are you gonna' put them on your truck?

Yeah, 3,000 watt inverter is probably overkill, but better too much than not quite enough right?

 

Powerboost owners:

 

Seeing how this is a stand alone solar charging system that doesn't tie in to the trucks charging system with a DC-DC charger from the vehicles DC system I wouldn't be using your chassis ground for this system, so I would suggest running two 1/0's to your inverter in the cab. Purely personal preference there. Probably be fine if you use the chassis ground as long as your solar batteries are tied into the chassis ground too. Almost sounds like you're mounting your battery in the bed of the truck right? I assume this because you said you would be running the 1/0 to the bed and the only reason to do that would be to run to the battery being charged by solar.

If the battery is sufficiently protected in the bed I would imagine an invertor would also be sufficiently protected in the same location. I would mount the inverter as close as possible to the battery and do as short a 1/0 run as you can. Then run your 120v AC wire where ever you need 120v AC using smaller wires for the smaller possibly 25-28 amp max load the 3000w inverter will produce. If you fuse the 12v properly so that the 120v side never sees more than 20 amps you could probably get away with running 12awg stranded for all your 120v loads. Also for the 12v side here a 214 amp load at 13v DC (3000w) with a 15' run would require 4/0 and 1/0 is undersized even if it is a super short run.

• If you run 1/0 at 2', you'll want to fuse your positive no larger than 150 amp which provides a max of 1950 watt load for invertor
• If you run 1/0 at 15' fuse your positive no larger than 125 amp which provides max of 1625 watt load for invertor.

You're 1/0 in the system will limit the amount of current safely carried by the invertor....might be able to get a few more amps more than above but that will keep you safe and not overheat the 1/0.

*edit this all assumes max of 3% voltage drop in system
*second edit none of this considers efficiency of the invertor nor the voltage drop on the batteries under high current draw

 

Make sure you protect your circuits with the proper fusing here because you have components (3000 watt invertor) that are capable of running more current then the wire you are installing. Same goes for your charging set up be mindful of the voltage and power in watts running through each system i.e. solar pre MPPT controller and post mppt controller. Remember any wire is a fuse if you run enough current through it, it just usually comes with an expensive fire too.

 

This guy knows how to party.....

 

200A continuous is not enough for a 3000W inverter. If you actually maxed out the inverter you could figure its going to draw somewhere around 265A. Even 2000W would only be a stones throw from 200A. And that's only if the battery can maintain a decent voltage with that much draw, which I expect it wont.

Im running triple 170Ah(540Ah total) batteries with a combined rated output of 375A in my trailer and when I have pulled 3000W with my inverter their voltage drops down to low 12's. 3000W/90% efficiency of the inverter= 3333W. 3333W/12.3V = 271 Amps.

Also, if you are not planning on using the inverter at 30% or more of its rated power(1000W)then its going to be pretty inefficient. I've considered installing a second 700W inverter in my trailer for when I am only using it to run laptops or other items.

 

I agree with this about the 1/0 cable being light, but I disagree with your estimate on the current draw. No way in hell is a single 230ah battery going to maintain 13V at 3000W output on the inverter. I figure he will be low 12's at best and, with the 90ish % efficiency of the inverter, will be pushing 265-275A.

I ran 2/0 cable for my 3' run and don't see a voltage drop from the battery terminals to the inverter terminals or get any heat build up in the cable. 12' would be questionable though.

 

You're right, I did not state the battery being able to support the draw.. and the voltage dip when it pulls that much amperage is a very valid point. Also didn't consider the power factor and efficiency of the invertor so you're right it has the potential to pull the amps you stated. Probably would have been better to go 1800w to 2000w inverter for efficiency sake.

As far as the 2/0 being sufficient vs 4/0, I'm just going off what southwire's min wire sizing recommends.

 

Also I'll add the disclaimer I'm not an electrical engineer I just play in the electrical world and sounds like @mass-hole has some good advice to share

 

Thank you! That is why I wrote this, looking for such a location!

 

I actually did order 2/0 cable. It was about 25 bucks more, but I consider that a good buy. I'm going to keep the cable as short as possible. It sounds as though another battery wired parallel would be a good idea also. This is the first time I have built such a system. I'm not into "trial and error", so everything that is said here is greatly appreciated. I don't mind dropping the cash to have a solid system. You think two 230 ah batteries capable of 200 amps continuous would be able to produce the voltage and amperage I'm looking for? I seriously doubt that I will use the full 3000w often, if ever at all. I would just like to have that available, rare as it may be that I need it.

 

2/0 at 12' is not big enough to run your 3000 watt inverter. I doubt you'll find anything to run that will be a continuous 3000 watts but hey who knows?? At 12 ft according to southwire you can run 175 amps which is about 2000 watts. @WhiteDevil1978 You'll need to shorten the run of 2/0 considerably.

 

@WhiteDevil1978 Rather than buy a new battery I would buy a smaller invertor if you've just got money burning a hole in your pocket. Better efficiency for the likely loads you'll put on it too. Unless you're powering a 120v welder I don't think you would ever be close to 3000 watts

 

I only get close to 3000 watts when I run the A/C and Microwave in my trailer at the same time.

 

I can likely shorten it down to around 6 feet if I mount the inverter under the back seat and the battery at the front of the bed, right next to the back seat.

 

Well, as I in a previous post, I seriously doubt that I will ever use the full 3000 watts. I am going with that just to help keep system from ever really being pushed too hard. I do make very good money, so money isn't much of an issue. I'll just feel better to know that if I ever need it, I've got it.

 

Update: Upon advice of most of you, I am ditching the 2/0 wire and going with 4/0. Amazon is gonna be pissed for returning the wire, battery connectors AND the crimping tool for 2/0 wire, but I put a LOT of money in Bezos' pocket and turned around and bought all of those things in 4/0, so they can't cry about too much. Crazy how expensive 10 feet of wire is! How does the saying go though? "If you wanna dance, you gotta pay the fiddler." Also adding a 350 amp in line fuse to the mix. I greatly appreciate all the advice. I certainly do not consider myself an overachiever in this field. Everything that everyone has said is appreciated.

 

https://www.batterycablesusa.com/

Great place to buy premade jumpers for pretty good prices.

 

2/0 is what I ran since it was 3', and its huge. There is a lot of metal in there.

Still though, if your battery can only handle 200A output then your 3000W inverter is going to overdo it. IDK what your battery will do but hopefully the BMS will protect the battery if you do exceed 200A.

 

I'm adding another identical battery, along with it's own wire to the inverter. I'm determined to power my jobsite. My company is small (consisting of myself and one employee, so if each of us fire up a 15 amp saw to make a cut at the same time, I'm not wanting to trip a breaker/blow a fuse. I will probably splice the two wires together 6 inches from the inverter and allow them to go to the inverter in one very short wire.

 

You could look into a CIC powerbox and save some time
https://www.cicpowerbox.us/product/crossover/

 

I've already received most of the items. Also, I have always just wanted to build one of these systems from scratch. But thank you for the recommendation!

 

No problem. Good luck with the build. It’s fun. I have a 1200w inverter and it suits most of my needs. Obviously not trying to power a job site. Keep a m18 charger and extra batteries in my toolbox for when I do need to use power tools. I saw one gentleman with a Tacoma who had two of the 6 charger dock things to power his crew. Said he was able to recharge the batteries faster than his crew could burn through them