Reliable Inverters?

Submitted: Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 11:08

ThreadID: 4547 Views:3150 Replies:4 FollowUps:4

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joc45

I have just stuffed my 3rd Altronics 380w inverter. 1st one didn't work at all, 2nd one died running a coffee grinder, latest one died running a coffee grinder - jeez we were bleep off - no fresh coffee for the rest of Easter.
With another big trip coming up, I have to decide whether to get it replaced/fixed, or go to another brand. Has anyone else had bad experiences with particular brands (I have heard several stories of unreliable inverters) and any good stories of reliability?
I use the thing to recharge digital camera batteries, friends' laptops and run small motor devices such as coffee grinders and bamix (no more than 130w motors), so it's not being overworked. I reckoned that as this one had a 1200w surge capablility, it should have handled a small motor like the coffee grinder (stall current about 2A/500w). My old home-made inverter ran for years, but I may now have to resurrect it.
Gerry

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Reply By: Member - Moggs - Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 15:20

Reply By: Member - Moggs - Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 15:22

Reply By: raybates - Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 18:58

Reply By: William - Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 19:32

Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 19:32

A 380w inverter does not sound sufficient for a coffee grinder.

What wattage is the motor or what amperage does the appliance plate state?

I would expect a 500w minimum inverter would be needed.

AnswerID: 18305

Follow Up By: William - Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 19:55

Thursday, Apr 24, 2003 at 19:55

The small domestic coffee grinders I can find on the net are 250w. That would mean you would need a minimum 600w inverter.

There is probably nothing wrong with the Altronics inverter. You are overloading it and burning it out. The large majority of these up to 1,000w inverters are made by the same company in Taiwan. They are different colours and labels and even some cosmetic construction changes. Generally they are very reliable if used within the designed limits.

FollowupID: 11484

Follow Up By: joc45 - Friday, Apr 25, 2003 at 00:17

Friday, Apr 25, 2003 at 00:17

Nah! The coffee grinder is a Braun marked at 135w. DC resistance is 120 ohms, which means that the ablolute max stall current is about 2A, or roughly 500w. Given that the inverter is supposed to take a 1200w surge, with 380w continous, then it's well within the design limits. It even is supposed to have all sorts of overload protection to stop this sort of thing.
I used to use a home-made low-tech 150w inverter for the coffee grinder, etc, which went well for years till I stuffed it on something else. It just appears that the Altronics unit is fragile. It works fine on 350w of continuous resistive load, but seems to crash out on inductive loads. My old low-tech inverter handled the inductive spikes of motors fine.
To be fair, Altronics have given me a fourth unit today, no quibbles, so we'll see how this one pans out on the next trip. I'll just pack some pre-ground coffee just in case.
Might even fix the old inverter and carry it as a spare. (As an aside, the new inverter doesn't appear to be user-repairable, as the part id's have been ground off most of the components inside)

FollowupID: 11491