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Re: Power inverter,12V power socket, What is going on?
He's suggesting you install the inverter under the hood, then run 110V AC wire from the underhood inverter to the cabin for your laptop. That minimized the length of the wire between the battery and the inverter. However, I doubt your inverter is intended for external use so the moisture/water possibility and heat may mean the inverter won't live long, plus there's probably not much extra space under the hood to safely mount the inverter.
What rating is the fuse that's in the inverter? Assuming the inverter is working properly, the inverter will only draw as much current as it needs, using a 25 amp fuse on the power line will not "send too many amps" to the plug. But the inverter probably needs more than 10 amps of current on power on, and the socket/plug that you are using for the inverter may only be rated for 10 amps. If that's the case, you don't want to just go with a larger fuse in the plug/tip. You might consider a slow blow fuse rather than a fast acting which is probably what's in it.
If the inverter only requires 7.5A or something, you could just use a 7.5A fuse in place of the 25 amp fuse, that way the 7.5A fuse will blow before the 10 amp, but I would find it quite hard to believe that the inverter is rated for that low of a current. If you remove the 25 amp fuse that just means that the 10 amp fuse in the plug/tip will still blow but you will no longer have protection between the socket and the battery - that's a bad thing.
I like PaulD's suggestion above of actually measuring how much current the circuit will draw. Try connecting the inverter straight to the battery with a series current meter or a clamp on DC current probe. Set the meter to "MAX" and fire up the inverter. Then plug in the laptop cord and power up the laptop. While the OS is booting is probably the most demand the laptop will put on the circuit during normal operation. What is the maximum current draw the meter saw? Now add a few amps to account for line loss and such and pick the appropriate fuse for the line. I think you're going to need to get rid of the cigarette lighter connection as that's probably your weak link in the circuit currently.
-Rod
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