500W PSW Inverter - Good Deal?

Submitted: Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006 at 23:21

ThreadID: 40139 Views:4388 Replies:4 FollowUps:9

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Member - Alex K (NSW)

Hi All,

I found a 500W pure sineware inverter on the JayCar website which looks to be a very good deal...

https://secure4.vivid-design.com.au/jaycar2005/productView.asp?ID=JM5085&CATID=&keywords=inverter&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=

Let me know what you electro guys think... worth the cash?

Alex

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Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006 at 23:23

Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006 at 23:23

are they the factory seconds? I got one of the non seconds, yet to fit.

AnswerID: 209080

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006 at 23:43

Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006 at 23:43

Techstore Special Only
- Ex-Repaired Stock -
$179.00

I asked about this exact same item in the past - there is a thread on this with a bleep load of answers.

FollowupID: 469085

Follow Up By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 00:20

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 00:20

If they have enough returns to have a "repaired" supply of them I would be a bit wary. If the design was initially flawed then repairing it isn't going to repair the design flaws....

I would ask what the flaw was in the initial design was, and what they did to redesign it so the flaw does not happen again.

FollowupID: 469095

Follow Up By: Member - Alex K (NSW) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 07:15

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 07:15

Not sure if it's a manufacturing flaw as they still sell them new (non-ex-), unless it's a different production batch...

I was thinking it was more likely returned or damaged stock which has undergone after manufacture repairs. The discount was substantial so I guess it depends 'if you feel lucky'... it could be the best or worst buy ever made.

FollowupID: 469106

Follow Up By: Truckster (Vic) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 07:41

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 07:41

>> If they have enough returns to have a "repaired" supply of them I would be a bit wary

this was the original discussion

FollowupID: 469107

Reply By: Member - Drew T (Melbourne) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 08:31

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 08:31

A post ages ago by Mike Harding put me onto these & i subsequently bought one. Works fine & is quiet because the fan never comes on with the smallish loads i put on it. The old 150w inverter i had was noisy & frequently cut-out because it ran too hot (no internal fan) even when just powering a notebook. I have the 500w one mounted on the cargo barrier with heavy cable (6g) running direct to the aux bty (through a fuse box of course). Not the best position but i wanted it relatively high up & with good airflow around it

Note that this 500w inverter comes with a pair of 1.5m leads (4g) with soldered connections ... i intend to fit HD aligator clips to one end of these so i can temporarily hookup the inverter in the engine bay if for some reason i have a need to power anything near 500W (nothing i take camping comes anywhere near that !!)

DrewT

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AnswerID: 209106

Follow Up By: Member - Alex K (NSW) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 09:19

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 09:19

Thanks Drew,
The 1.5m leads that you say come with the inverter, are they meant to be used to hook it up to the battery? Are they just not heavy enough? Does it come with cig lighter connection (or the other similar looking one that provides a better connection offroad, I forget the name but I have one installed)? Does it have its own fuse box?

FollowupID: 469120

Follow Up By: Grungle - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 21:39

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 21:39

Hi Alex,

You will find that 500W would be too big for a lighter connection as it would draw around 50A at its full load of 500W (even more at its surge limit).

I would suggest running at least 16mm² cable for a 500W unit.

Regards
David

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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 21:57

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 21:57

and cig lighters are really only good for less than 10 amps

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Follow Up By: Member - Drew T (Melbourne) - Friday, Dec 08, 2006 at 08:41

Friday, Dec 08, 2006 at 08:41

the leads that come with it are for when using the inverter at its maximum load & should be connected directly to the battery. remember that you're talking just over 40amps for a 500w load.
i am using 6g wire & anderson plugs because my loads are much smaller than that & i have that appropriately fused anyway

re fuse box .. i dont believe the inverter itself has a fuse but i will check & get back to you. it definitely has a thermal cutout

DrewT

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FollowupID: 469229

Reply By: TerraFirma - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 16:32

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 16:32

If you intend to use it a lot buy something better, what has Mike Harding suggested..? I bought one from Supercheap, only used it twice so can't comment on reliability but looks similar to this one.

AnswerID: 209164

Follow Up By: Member - Alex K (NSW) - Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 22:35

Thursday, Dec 07, 2006 at 22:35

Honestly, I don't think it'll get used much. I can't think of that many applications yet but i'm sure when it's installed i'll use it for more than i can think of. Thanks guys for your advise. We'll see what the misses says...

FollowupID: 469210

Reply By: smileyfella - Saturday, Dec 09, 2006 at 19:13

Saturday, Dec 09, 2006 at 19:13

I bought a jaycar/electus 1000W pure sinewave and permanently
installed / mounted it in my fourby.

Very happy with it.
As long as the "factory" seconds deal includes some sort of warrany, am sure will be a good purchase.

AnswerID: 209496