I want to listen to music with the truck off. I don't want to drown out sweet Sarah with valve clatter. It'd also be cool to turn off the truck and use the pressure washer to wash the truck.

The inverter can draw 200+ amps in peaks, it's rated for 170 amps constant. The alternator is only good for 120 amps, so a battery is going to need to be drained no matter what and this isn't going to be a constant-use thing. I'd be tickled pink with 10 minutes, but all I really need the pressure washer for is about 15 seconds.

The reason that I'm not running it off of the starting battery is that I didn't want to run/ buy 40 feet of 00 and it'd be cool to have a deep cycle anyways.

Yikes! What a mess....They make a gizmo--sorry I cant come up with the proper term--just for this situation. It seperates your two batteries into two systems, and uses your alternator to charge them individually. In essence, if your deep cycle is dead, full power from the alternator goes to that battery, while not overcharging your starting battery. They set this up on semis that run two batteries to start the engine, and two deep cycles to run the inverter. By the way, at peak output that 2000 watt inverter will draw something like 220-250 amps. Good luck! Just a thought, your inverter won't last long at peak power..... If I expect to run 1500 watts, I look for a 2500 watt inverter. Runs cooler that way, and doesn't stress out the circuitry.

The "Gizmo" is called a battery isolator.
I think he's better off with something simple like a switch with constant duty rated solenoids, myself... Whole lot less to go wrong that you can fix yourself.

What are you up to, Cassidy? :humm:

Lemme guess... You are using the pressure washer motor for Water Meth injection on your Honda Vtech, Yo..

I'm thinking your 20' of 4 guage wire is going to become something similar to a heater grid, or a glow plug under the conditions you listed...

Can you connect the batteries with a heavyer guage cable, then just run a 4 guage from your 2nd battery to your amp?

The length of the cable is what is killin ya, I'd go with a 2 or an 0 cable between the batteries, and maybe some extra insulation...

4 guage might work, but it's gonna get hot carrying alt current and whatever the charged battery wants to dump on top, 20 feet...

I ended up with a battery isolator, found one in a junkyard believe it or not. Only 95 amp though, but it was free.

So I got the stock 6-gauge going from the alternator to the isolator, than 4 gauge connecting the isolator to each battery. Which makes all kinds of sense, right?

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