Inverters - WARNING - Ramblings of a ****ed off purchaser

**Homestar** · 4th May 2015, 10:36 AM

Well, had a second inverter die in as many months. First one was a cheap arse 1000 watt pure sine wave thing, so that didn't bother me too much, but now an expensive 400 watt pure sine wave unit has died. Both were mounted in my caravan. First one I didn't even bother to try a warranty claim on, but this second one I did and it was rejected. Their reason was that it was used in an unsuitable application! WTF? Why is a caravan an unsuitable application? Total load if I turned everything on in the van is under 180 watts - and is pretty much a fully resistive load, so no heavy start up currents, etc. unit was mounted in a dry, well ventilated area.

I'm ****ing sick of this sort of **** from manufacturers. This second unit was a so called quality product, but that's obviously bull****.

So, where the **** can I buy a decent inverter from that will last longer than a few weeks of intermittent light work!

Rant over - sorry about that...

EDIT - just realised I have a cheap Dick Smith unit I used to keep in my car to charge the laptop - it's been wet, dusty and treated like **** and it still works. Maybe another one of those is the go or I'm treating the new ones too well....

**Mick_Marsh** · 4th May 2015, 10:40 AM

I bought a cheap, crappy one from Supercheap years ago.
It still works.

What are you doing with them? Using then in submersible applications?

**Homestar** · 4th May 2015, 11:01 AM

I thought they'd stay cooler if I ran them while they were in a bucket of cold water... Is that wrong...

But seriously, it have been under the seat in the caravan - dry, and with ventilation. I checked while travelling and running the fridge off it (drawing 135 watts) and it wasn't getting hot even after a full day on the road. At night it ran 2 or 3 x 4 watt LED globes and some nights the TV (35 watts) so it's not like it's been doing any hard work. I think I'll crack it open now and see if I can see anything obvious. I'm not holding my breath, I think it's just a case of not being able to buy good quality stuff any more. I would imagine your cheap version, built years ago would have better parts and construction than a cheap version you get these days.

**Redback** · 4th May 2015, 11:06 AM

I still have my 2 cheap Dick Smith jobbies, 300w modified wave and 300w pure wave both are at least 12yrs old, still work, one (modified wave) is used with a 240v charger and the other is for a Nebuliser and Laptop if needed.

I'd stick with the Dick Smith Inverter.

Baz.

**Homestar** · 4th May 2015, 11:12 AM

Yeah, starting to think I'll go that way Baz. I'm just turning the garage upside down for my old Dick Smith unit to see if that still works. It's only small but it will get me out of trouble.

**Eevo** · 4th May 2015, 11:15 AM

the one i got from jaycar failed after a few months. about 20hours of use
couldnt find the recipt

Tombie · 4th May 2015, 11:19 AM

What brand / Model mate? I'm shopping at the moment.

If you want to keep it off this medium, please PM me

**Homestar** · 4th May 2015, 11:37 AM

Originally Posted by Tombie

What brand / Model mate? I'm shopping at the moment.

If you want to keep it off this medium, please PM me

I'll send you a PM mate, don't want to name and shame here.

**goingbush** · 4th May 2015, 12:24 PM

I have a 600 watt psw inverter (chinese ebay) in the caravan, 3 years old & no issues,

I also have one of these (link below) under the seat in the truck, 20 months old works like a charm, even run an extension cord from it into the caravan input to run 240v appliances.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pure-Sine...item3a8b8937a7

I actually mistakenly left the Suburbain Hot water service switched on in the Caravan and it heated from the inverter, I only realised after noticing the Truck aux battery was running lower than expected.

with Inverters I suggest get double the capacity that you need.

**Mick_Marsh** · 4th May 2015, 12:34 PM

Could vibration have been the problem?
Let us know what you find when you open it up.

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