Cooking And Refrigerators In Your Truck?

CRST will install for you unless your lucky enough to get a Volvo which comes with one.

I wish I took a picture of this guy I was parked next to last month or so. He had his battery cover off laying under the truck and his inverter on the steps with bare wires wraped around the terminals. Running his 27-32inch flat screen and Xbox.

Yes I get why they don't want you to install them... Not everyone is DIY inclined.

Knight did not allow them when i talked to them at MATS, just an fyi

Yes that is true, and as a Knight driver I can tell you that you can use a plug in inverter, but they will not allow you to hard wire a bigger one into the electrical system. They have had several trucks burn to the ground, and decided this would be their policy for now. I have no problem with my crock-pot and plug-in inverter, and I use a Koolatron 12 volt cooler to keep things cold. I use a standard 120 volt crock-pot (the 12 volt ones didn't last long for me) and I cook with it while my truck is going down the road or running. If I am going to shut the truck down for a little while at a shipper , or something like that, I simply unplug the inverter and then plug it back in when I'm ready to run the engine again. The nature of the crock-pot is that the crock will maintain it's heat for a good while if you have to turn off the power for a little while. I once witnessed a truck catch on fire at a truck stop due to a faulty inverter installation. I did what I could to help him with my fire extinguisher, but it took a while until I realized what the source of the fire was, at that point I was able to stop the source with his battery disconnect switch about the time the fire department showed up.

anything over 400 watts will blow fuses..... been there done that.

This is true, and anytime you are purchasing appliances for your truck you need to check them to see what kind of amperage load they are going to put on your system. Keep in mind anything with a heating element or an electric motor is going to have some sort of a surge over the standard amperage that it pulls when you first turn it on.

Werner is another company that doesn't allow you to have an inverter wired directly in. Though there is one exception, if you need a cpap they will wire an inverter in for you.

I have been using Coleman 40Qt Iceless Cooler and RoadPro 12V Portable Stove since I drove a truck for Swift.

The Coleman keeps 40deg F cooler than ambient temperature. But keep in mind that when the truck is in hotter locations, like AZ or SoCal, the ambient temperature can be high up to three digits. It would be better if refrigerator is available.

And the RoadPro stove, I always buy 88c/3pcs loaf pans and distilled water for cooking.

I run a 12v cooler in Texas summers and it cools just fine. I've even had some drinks freezing up. Knock on wood, had it for just over a year without issue.

Even if it's hot out, as long as you keep your truck cool enough inside it will still keep everything cool.

I've had of this trick: since the cooler drops the temp by 40°, get a small flexible air duct and connect an A/C vent direct to the cooler fan.

Not to sound stupid, but can you pretty much run a ice less cooler and the 12 volt lunchbox at the same time without blowing a fuse? I have a Coleman ice less cooler and was just basically wondering if I need to unplug it before I plug in the lunchbox thing?

I too am also curious about the subject. I had no idea there were companies that did not allow inverters. Is it because they are seen as a fire hazard? How well does a 12v cooler work? Do they require ice or anything?

The 12 volt coolers work good. They basically keep the temperature about 45 degrees cooler than the temperature in your truck. They don't work as well as an actual mini fridge but they work fine, they're cheaper, and they're 12 volt so you don't need an inverter. They do not require ice, nor do they have an ice maker the way the mini refrigerators often do.

Almost all companies allow inverters. I know Swift has some sort of a policy against them but I don't know any other companies that do offhand.

Don't know lol, I have a regular power plant functioning in my truck. Have the xm, the gps, phone charger cable and headset charger cable all coming out of a 3 way splitter coming out of one port. Cb is going on its own connection.

My igloo cooler is going 24/7 and then I'll use a 12v tornado fan at night, I'll also use my little water heater pitcher when I need to hot water, or I'll use my 400w 12v inverter when I need to run my laptop. So far so good....

What I have noticed is, they sell many 12v appliances. I'm even starting to see 12v frying pans at the truck stops. So now you can actually fry stuff, which I think is awesom . I've heard, at least on the reefer side, that most of the new trucks at knight are coming with refrigerators, which is awesome! The truck I'm in is the one I trained in, and while it runs great, it is probably the oldest truck in the fleet and due to be retired. Waiting for the day when they call me in to swap trucks..maybe I'll luck out and get one with the fridge in it.

Not to sound stupid, but can you pretty much run a ice less cooler and the 12 volt lunchbox at the same time without blowing a fuse? I have a Coleman ice less cooler and was just basically wondering if I need to unplug it before I plug in the lunchbox thing?

Just use separate 12v sockets. Don't think about using a 3 in 1 plug expander.