Wolf Haus Power Plug w/ Bedliner???

[Glocker]

I've got the factory Ford drop-in bedliner in my truck, and I'm considering the Wolf Haus Off Road power point for the bed, for my truck. I use a SmittyBilt 5.65 CFM tire inflator, and I have to pop the hood to hook it to the battery to use it. I'm thinking dropping my tailgate and setting the tire inflator on that, and powering it in the bed might be a better and easier option.

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[Porpoise Hork]

Certainly would be convenient to be able to just connect to an outlet in the bed instead of having to always going to the battery.

 

[daniel3507]

Would that be able to power it? The adapter with that kit is rated at 15amps

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Would that be able to power it? The adapter with that kit is rated at 15amps

That's a good question. Looks like that inflator has a 30 amp fuse, so the 12v cabling would need to be correctly sized for that and possible replacing the fuse in the plug if possible to avoid any issues.

 

[Glocker]

The circuit the Wolf Haus kit uses on the truck is rated at 20 AMP. Hmmmm.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

If you have a volt/amp meter, check the compressor draw both at startup and running amps. If it's under 20 amps then you will be probably be OK provided you use a higher gauge 12v supply line to the battery. In the event that it spikes above 20 amps the plug fuse will obviously blow. If you put the fuse for the plug at the battery, you might also be able to put a small 12v 1-2 farad capacitor on the 12v positive line at the plug. This way it can offset some of the amp draw to prevent the fuse from popping as easily. You can find those for around $40, and find a spot to mount it and should not be hard to seal the connections up with something like liquid electrical tape or silicone if it has a protective cap.

 

[daniel3507]

Keep in mind the main circuit is rated for 20 but the adapter to use it is rated at 15 amps

 

[Glocker]

Keep in mind the main circuit is rated for 20 but the adapter to use it is rated at 15 amps

I found the directions on the Wolf Haus website and it says the connections are all rated to 23 amps, and the whole system is rated at 20 amps.

 

[Glocker]

Well looks like I'm SOL. I can't find solid numbers on the peak amp draw of the SmittyBilt 2781 compressor but it appears to be between 28 to 45 amps!?!?!?

 

[daniel3507]

Looks like the 15amp is just for the V1 that has the marine socket. V2 and V3 are a bit different.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Well looks like I'm SOL. I can't find solid numbers on the peak amp draw of the SmittyBilt 2781 compressor but it appears to be between 28 to 45 amps!?!?!?

The peak amp rating is going to be what the device pulls at initial startup. Once the motor is running the amp load will drop to running amps and will usually be 1/4 or less of the peak amp draw. The peak or startup amperage draw is typically very short lived at 1-2 seconds for most devices. So as long as you can provide a power port that will handle the actual peak load and not blow a fuse you will be fine. This usually means a larger gauge supply line like an 8-10 gauge line instead of 12 that most of these ports come with and possibly a capacitor to provide the initial boost of power the motor needs to start. Adding a cap will prevent the main fuse from taking that hit and popping if it's at the upper end of the device's rated/actual draw.

Your best bet on that is to test it and see what it pulls. Volt/amp meters are fairly inexpensive. They start for around $20 and go up from there. Perhaps a different power plug that is rated for higher amperage may work.

 

[Glocker]

The peak amp rating is going to be what the device pulls at initial startup. Once the motor is running the amp load will drop to running amps and will usually be 1/4 or less of the peak amp draw. The peak or startup amperage draw is typically very short lived at 1-2 seconds for most devices. So as long as you can provide a power port that will handle the actual peak load and not blow a fuse you will be fine. This usually means a larger gauge supply line like an 8-10 gauge line instead of 12 that most of these ports come with and possibly a capacitor to provide the initial boost of power the motor needs to start. Adding a cap will prevent the main fuse from taking that hit and popping if it's at the upper end of the device's rated/actual draw.

Your best bet on that is to test it and see what it pulls. Volt/amp meters are fairly inexpensive. They start for around $20 and go up from there. Perhaps a different power plug that is rated for higher amperage may work.

The problem is the circuit this kit uses in the truck is only rated to 20 amps. So I'd have to wire something dedicated directly to the battery. I don't think I want to screw with that right now. HAHAHA

I have lights and a winch currently directly wired to the battery. If I add anything else I will have to not just wire the truck from front to back for the bed power, but redo everything under the hood with some sort of power distribution block.

I'm about to have a $40K deck/sun room put on my house and I don't want to give my wife anymore reason to consider divorcing me. ? I spend too much!

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Ah. I figured this was going to be wired to the battery with a relay to an accessory hot port.

 

[WLFPIR8]

Yes, the 12V socket adapter is rated "15A" as most are. But the in bed connector and wiring into the OEM connection are 20A.

(I did talk to the OP on Facebook about this already).

For compressors, I'd recommend a direct battery or relay connection. For all other things, the kit works great.

As for the question of using the kit in a bed with a drop in bed liner, here's some more information:

There’s a couple of options from what others have done.

The first is to cut a hole that aligns with the existing hole in the bed and just insert and tighten down the adapter like normal.

The other option is to use the OEM Pigtail variation and wire in (DIY) an adapter (since there’s some spaces behind the liner that can be used).

Here’s a couple post links related to these options:


https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...wer-outlet-option-in-the-bed.2239/post-265834

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...wer-outlet-option-in-the-bed.2239/post-257892

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...wer-outlet-option-in-the-bed.2239/post-160445

 

[Glocker]

Hey! If you guys haven't done so already, check out the above poster's website: whor.us
It's a cool website!

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