Verified answer

Technically it will work depending on the watts consumption of the TV. TV normally work with very high voltage, kaezoo is right when he talks about the current and the wires, you should wire it directly to the battery , even you could set a switch and a fuse to protect the TV and your electrical system.

My old 20" Sony TV shows a wattage rating of 120 watts, so if yours is similar, then a 500-watt inverter should be fine.

The other question is whether it could be plugged into the DC power outlet in the truck. Using 120 watts as a guide, then if the supply voltage was 12 volts, 120 watts would require a 10-amp current capacity through the outlet. The inverter won't be 100% efficient, however, so you'll have to factor in a little extra current; call it a 12-amp load. That's borderline for a continuous load on a vehicle's DC outlet; usually they're wired with 16-gauge wiring. Also, most tube TV's required much more power when they're first turned on; a high current draw through the outlet will result in a voltage drop that might shut down the inverter.

So the answer is that while the inverter is big enough, the truck's power outlet might not be. You'd be better off connecting the inverter directly to the battery with at least a 12-gauge power wire; and I'd use a larger wire if there's any chance the inverter will be used with other devices that use more power.

Check the back of your TV for a wattage rating; if it's much higher or lower than the 120 watts I used, the answer might be different.

There're 2 parts to your question.

Firstly, is your TV an LCD "flat panel TV" or a conventional CRT "tube TV"? LCD would draw less power.

Secondly, your power outlet would typically have a max current of 10A. You did not mention if you have a 12V system or a 24V system in your truck.

Here's a handy equation:

Power (watts) = Current (Amps) x Volts

If you have a 12V system,

Power = 10 x 12... you can only use 120Watts of power before your power outlet fuse blows. If you have a 24V system, then you'll have 240Watts before the same thing happens.

***DO NOT upgrade your fuse to a higher amp rating in order to run higher currents. Fuses are there to protect you. You could end up melting the wires and cause a fire!***

Here's the thing, it is okay to plug in a 500w inverter to your power outlet if you are NOT drawing more than the max power as listed above. And, if you accidentally draw too much power from it, the fuse would simply blow, and you would just need to buy a new fuse to put in.

If you need more power than that, then you would need to do what the other guys said... wire it directly to your battery with an in-line fuse ***at the battery end***. And make sure to use a suitably thick cable.

500 watts will be too much draw from a 10amp cig. lighter plug. the inverter should handle the tv, but i would recommend hard wiring the inverter to the battery with an in line fuse using 10 or 8 gauge shielded wire

I am a certified installer, and this is what I would recommend to my customers.

You'll need to check the wattage requirements on the 20" TV. This can be easily found on the back of the TV set and is typically moded right into the plastic. It tells you the wattage rating and requirements right on the set.

yes that is good for a tv they take from 100 to 300 watts

yep