Do pos and neg matter on an inverter?

Naio wrote:
So I got this old actual-metal tripplite inverter at a garage sale, with a broken 12v plug. I was gonna patch on a plug to it to test it out (or I could just pin the wire ends to terminals) but the input wires are both black.

Does it natter which is which? IOW, how hard should I try to ID these wires?

YES!!

Polarity for pretty much ANY DC (DIRECT CURRENT) powered item (like 12V battery) is extremely important!

The only real exception would be old school incadescent light bulbs..

Sorry to say this, but perhaps this is something you should take to a professional electronics tech..

But if you feel brave, post the MODEL NUMBER of the inverter and someone may be able to find the information (although you CAN do an internet search yourself).. I find DOGPILE.COM often works better than Google and other search engines..

I am providing a link to DOGPILE to make this easier for you..

DOGPILE.COM

HINT, use tripplite and manual in your search along with the MODEL NUMBER..

And for goodness sake, FUSE THE 12V WIRE CLOSE TO THE BATTERY!