Adding an Auxiliary Cigarette Lighter/Power Point

[Icey1174]

My 14 year old son and I are going on a 10 hour road trip in a few weeks. Although he has plenty of things to do on the way (laptop, DVD Player, iPod...), he asked if there were jacks on the in dash DVD Player. There are jacks and now he is real interested in playing his X-Box in the car on the way.

The in dash DVD does have the jacks for the X-Box to plug into. We do have an inverter. What I would like to do is install an auxiliary cigarette lighter outlet to plug the inverter into. Is it possible to run it straight from the battery with heavier gauge wire and an inline fuse? I am interested in running this auxiliary outlet so I do not add too much stress to the 22 year old system already in place. The original outlet was never designed for an inverter and running the auxiliary outlet will allow me to beef it up enough not to have any problems with older lighter gauge wires and prevent any other problems with that circuit from the extra draw. I was going to install it somewhere under the dash in the passenger foot well. I would like it to be hidden, yet accessible if needed for things like this.

Is there a better way to hard wire the inverter?

Any info on this topic would be great! I understand it is not needed, but it is fun to be able to use all the toys (in dash DVD) in the car sometimes.

[Turbo_ZA]

You might want to check this out if you plan on a permanent solution to extra power requirements.
ftp://arakis.gotdns.com/Porsche%20Projects/Porsche%20944%20Additional%20Wiring%20Upgrade.pdf

[Icey1174]

Wow Turbo! That is exactly what I want to do! That is perfect! Fresh, heavy wires with good terminations will keep it cool and not add stress to the rest of the system. My alt and battery are good working order. We will be traveling during the day so there will be minimal draw on the electrical system.

[Turbo_ZA]

The whole build is actually over-specced, but "overkill" is my middle name.

[Icey1174]

The heavier gauge wire and the bigger it is the less heat and less stress. I will decide on the exact gauge to use, but it is a great set-up, very neat and very clean.

[Turbo_ZA]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.