Replacing Factory Inverter with Pure Sine Wave Inverter

ccw

ccw

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Current Rides #1
2022 F-350 Tremor 7.3L
Current Rides #2
1980 Mazda RX-7
Goal of this modification: replace the factory, modified sine wave inverter with a pure sine wave inverter while reusing and not modifying the existing wiring. Both outlets should continue to work and, since the wiring is unmodified, the OEM inverter should be able to be dropped back in easily.

I'm referencing this F-150 post for the idea, but the connectors and wiring is different so this will still be somewhat new: https://www.f150forum.com/f118/direct-replacement-inverter-434039/index11/#post6228151

I've got an inverter arriving tomorrow. It's 400 watts, matching the OEM inverter to allow me to reuse the wiring. Size-wise it will fit in the same spot, though without the plastic case. I may end up making my own case to contain all the wiring. Here's the inverter (I got it from Home Depot): https://wagan.com/collections/pure-sine-inverters-psw/products/pureline-400

When it comes to wiring, the factory inverter has two plugs going to it: one for power from the battery, one for power to the outlets and some other wires I'll need to figure out (likely the outlet LEDs and a signal wire from the computer for whether the inverter should be powered up or not).

To retain the factory wiring, I need to retain the factory connectors. I could do what the person in the F-150 post did and just use spade connectors shoved into the OEM connectors, but I want to go one step further and create my own harness with proper connections on it.

Here's a couple of pics of the connectors (grey one is battery power, brown one serves the outlets and any other wires):

IMG_2650.webp

IMG_2652.webp

IMG_2653.webp

While the brown connector is clearly labeled as being made by Molex and has a part number on it, unfortunately the grey connector has no such markings. The only marking I could find (shown in the picture) indicates the type of plastic it's made out of. So that leads to my first question for y'all:

Can anyone help me identify and find the male half of the grey connector? Even if you can't find the male half, if you can identify the female half shown in the pictures that would be super helpful to me.

As for the brown connector, I've worked out that this is the male counterpart: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/molex/0347720140/4279252

Unfortunately, the whole connector is designed to adapt from wires to a circuit board, so the male version has pins on it intended for thru-hole soldering. Makes sense for the OEM inverter, but I need to adapt to a wire so I can plug into the outlets of the new inverter. This leads to my second question for y'all:

Does anyone know of a good way to adapt pins intended for soldering to a wire? Would a Dupont connector like the following work? I'm not afraid of doing some soldering if that's the right approach. https://www.amazon.com/CynKen-500PC...ds=pin+header+connector&qid=1634588348&sr=8-5

And my final question for y'all: Is there a better way to go about the wiring, keeping in mind the goal of a high quality job with the ability to revert to factory?

Thanks for the help! And I plan on documenting everything, including the wiring, the steps I take, and the final result. No promises on how quickly this will get done as I wait for parts and life happens, but I'm going to make it happen.
 
Do not solder wires that carry current, a lose connection will heat up melt the solder then you can have some real problems. Crimp or mechanical connectors only. Can you see what size wires attach to each side?
 
Latandatt said:
Do not solder wires that carry current, a lose connection will heat up melt the solder then you can have some real problems. Crimp or mechanical connectors only. Can you see what size wires attach to each side?
Click to expand...
Ok, good to know. In that case the Dupont connectors may work since they're designed as a friction fit. Just a question of whether they will have a good connection to the pins that are technically designed for being soldered to. Might just order some and try it out.

As you can see from the pictures there isn't much in the way of wire visible. I can measure the wire including insulation, but obviously that won't tell what gauge it is. I'll check this evening to see if I can see a wire gauge printed on the wire.

For reference, both yourself and anyone else, here's the Molex application guide for the brown connector:

 
I understand the nature of a pure sine power supply, my UPS solutions always provide this, but if you have a minute, could you touch on the problems with the OEM solution that led to this mod?

I've never had an issue with stepped power in the limited applications where I've applied it.
 
Jericho said:
I understand the nature of a pure sine power supply, my UPS solutions always provide this, but if you have a minute, could you touch on the problems with the OEM solution that led to this mod?

I've never had an issue with stepped power in the limited applications where I've applied it.
Click to expand...
In my case it's that it didn't work with my laptop's charger. Despite it being well under 400W, it resulted in a whole bunch of clicking and some buzzing, with the laptop rapidly showing it was connected and disconnected from power.

While I suppose I can't guarantee that a pure sine wave inverter will fix that, I'm pretty confident it will.

I also know it's a common occurrence for battery chargers for tools to not like a modified sine wave (particularly one as horrendous as the OEM inverter puts out), so hoping to give folks hitting that issue an OEM-like alternative if they want.
 
Latandatt said:
Do not solder wires that carry current, a lose connection will heat up melt the solder then you can have some real problems. Crimp or mechanical connectors only. Can you see what size wires attach to each side?
Click to expand...
Where did you get that idea? All wires carry current. If there was no current there would be no voltage. If your solder has a chance of melting then you have not sized your connector properly. If you haven't looked lately, the battery terminals of your truck are made of tin/lead. Same thing solder it made of.

What you don't want to do is try to pass more current through the wire than it is designed for. That is when things start to heat up and cause problems.
 
SomethingRandom said:
This is a newer edition, though It doesn't appear to be wildly updated: https://parts.ford.com/content/dam/ford-parts/catalog/sub-category/desktop/Pigtail Final.pdf

What I've never been able to find is a cross index where you can look for one connector and it'll tell you the mate. @Fordseniormaster I'm sorry to bug you man. Have you seen anything like that in your time?
Click to expand...
To add to the complication of the finding the mate, this mate is soldered onto the board of the inverter. I highly doubt Ford sells (and therefore lists) it as a separate part. If the connector on the board is damaged, you get a new inverter is my guess.

I’m hoping it’s a generic plug like the brown Molex one and I can reference it from there.
 
maxspongebob said:
Where did you get that idea? All wires carry current. If there was no current there would be no voltage. If your solder has a chance of melting then you have not sized your connector properly. If you haven't looked lately, the battery terminals of your truck are made of tin/lead. Same thing solder it made of.

What you don't want to do is try to pass more current through the wire than it is designed for. That is when things start to heat up and cause problems.
Click to expand...
I get the idea as I have been working in the electrical and electronics fields for well over 30 years, from maritime, defense department and aero space. You can have voltage and not current such as data and signals wires.

As for your battery terminals solders are made up of combining metals so that they will melt and flow and are designed for applications. All of your battery terminals are crimped on to the wires. All off the connections in your car are crimped and use a mechanical connection.

How many of your house hold connections are soldered? None
But you can do what you want to. Soldering wires can work it just not the correct way to do it.
 
ccw said:
To add to the complication of the finding the mate, this mate is soldered onto the board of the inverter. I highly doubt Ford sells (and therefore lists) it as a separate part. If the connector on the board is damaged, you get a new inverter is my guess.

I’m hoping it’s a generic plug like the brown Molex one and I can reference it from there.
Click to expand...

If not cut the existing connector off the wire and rig up what you need for the inverter. You now know what you need to go back to stock. Spending hours to prevent cutting in this case might not be the best use of your time. I say this with long personal history of similar WMD hunts 😬
 
maxspongebob said:
Where did you get that idea? All wires carry current. If there was no current there would be no voltage. If your solder has a chance of melting then you have not sized your connector properly. If you haven't looked lately, the battery terminals of your truck are made of tin/lead. Same thing solder it made of.

What you don't want to do is try to pass more current through the wire than it is designed for. That is when things start to heat up and cause problems.
Click to expand...
When creating wiring looms it’s considered best practice not to solder. with movement or vibration, the solder can crack and the current flow stops. When I built new circuits for my WRX when I bought a new ecu, I used Deutsche connectors. The wires are crimped into place, very effective
 
SomethingRandom said:
If not cut the existing connector off the wire and rig up what you need for the inverter. You now know what you need to go back to stock. Spending hours to prevent cutting in this case might not be the best use of your time. I say this with long personal history of similar WMD hunts 😬
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I'm starting to lean more and more towards cutting and putting on my own connectors directly.
 
Inverter arrived today! Validated with it sitting in the engine bay with the hood open that it both works in general and works well with my laptop charger. No weird noises!

Also a pleasant surprise: it looks like it will fit in the factory box! Might need to modify the box slightly, but it’s definitely not a throwaway.

C3782414-C231-468D-82A2-4AD443F125DC.webp
 
Hopsferdays said:
@ccw did it fix the problem?
Click to expand...
Inverter isn’t installed yet, but it will fix the problem when I do the swap. As I noted in my latest post I just tried the inverter out hooked directly to the battery under the hood to validate it.
 
ccw said:
Inverter isn’t installed yet, but it will fix the problem when I do the swap. As I noted in my latest post I just tried the inverter out hooked directly to the battery under the hood to validate it.
Click to expand...
Gotcha musta missed that one. I’m gonna have to test mine to see if I have the same issue with my chargers. Then may have to do the same thing
 
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