Glad I caught this thread, this time around. Even more supprised our local recycler had a Matrix !!!!!
The inverter is under the driver's seat, and the switches are in the center of the dash. Two tabs on the top: center & right, two tabs on the bottom; center & left.
I am puzzled by the wiring. Seems to me less than helpful to have two switches on this circuit. The ignition circuit is switched with the key, then the switch on the dash for the plug? Seems to me if the motor is running there is no concern about draining the battery, and no need to switch the plug. Is there a way to wire this to have the plug "hot" if the motor is running or ACC no matter what (just like the sig lighter). But to be able to switch it "hot", if the key is off and you make the purposeful decision to keep draining the battery.
yeah, i was lucky to find one in my local yard as well. just for additional fyi, i found out today while riding in my buddies wife's car (she drives the pontiac vibe, which is the same thing) that the factory relay to switch power to the inverter is located behind the glove compartment area. i did not get the specific location of it, but i could hear it clicking on and off in the car while i was messing with it today...if one wanted to do a complete oem install you could grab it from the donor vehicle as well.
the reason for the two switches (ignition and 115v illuminated) is to eliminate surge. basically if you had a load connected to it without the second switch and start the car, it would immediately see a large surge during the inverter start up. not good for inverter or equipment.
you could wire it to have the ac plug "hot" if the engine is running simply by plumbing the 12 volts from the ignition switch into the signal wire of the inverter relay. then, car runs, relay closes, power to plug. car off, relay opens, no power to plug. you could run a secondary switch from the battery in parallel with the signal wire circuit to be able to power the inverter relay when the car is off and you make the conscious decision to do so.
but, to me, why have that thing run if its not powering anything? its just useless draw on your battery, unless you plan to leave whatever your powering plugged in all the time. then, in that case, you should wire it in permanently anyway.
to me, putting the 115v power switch right by the plug is the way to go. no load on system when not in use, and when you go to plug something in, bam the switch is 2" away from it. not like you have to run to the other side of the truck or anything.
