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Grogster

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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9306

Posted: 05:04am 03 Jul 2015

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Hi folks.

You can buy these inverters on eBay for only a few hundred bucks.

Has anyone here tried some of the beefier inverters from eBay?
How good - or bad - are they?

Lower power ones are probably OK, but I am dubious of the more powerful ones considering the price, but I may be wrong.

Does anyone have any comments on the eBay inverters?

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

Downwind

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Joined: 09/09/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2333

Posted: 06:28am 03 Jul 2015

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I would suggest its rubbish and likely to let the smoke out with some serious use.

You will also find at low power demands it is likely to use more power than it supplies.

Perhaps fine for camping so the wife can use the hair dryer, but not for extended use as a main inverter to supply a load 24/7 on demand.

Look up "Power Jack" on the net, as this looks to be same just under a different badge name. (lots of horror stories on the net)

Pete.

Sometimes it just works

M Del
Senior Member

Joined: 09/04/2012
Location: Australia
Posts: 155

Posted: 01:22pm 03 Jul 2015

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Have used similar inverters in the past fitted to the back of various maintenance vehicles to power essential 240 gear like grinders & drills etc, short term use only, and charging various laptops etc.
For tools the 18v battery powered gear has practically made them obsolete.
Most lasted around 2 years before needing repairs, but they are essentially repair by replacement.

Biggest issue is the high amps they draw if you are using a lot of power.
Ok for a drill or an angle grinder type item but we had one clown put an urn on one. The inverter worked fine but the cables from the batteries melted. The inverter died a few days later (wonder why). For high constant power draw supplied cables can not handle the 2-300 amps required, or the 450amps for the very high start up currents.

Some people will inevitably load it up to it's maximum output and let the smoke out.

Mark

Gizmo

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Joined: 05/06/2004
Location: Australia
Posts: 5078

Posted: 02:26pm 03 Jul 2015

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I dont think that one is pure sine wave, so you may want to steer clear anyway.

I guess you get what you pay for. As a backup inverter, a cheap unit would be OK, provided you dont depend on it to power anything important. Ideally you want a well respected make and model as your primary inverter, and a cheapie as a backup. The cheap units wont be as reliable, or efficient, as a well built unit.

If you're up to it, you could build your own, see Oz's thread over at Fieldlines. Its a lot of work, needs a bit of skill, and you'll need to chase up some parts off ebay, but you can build a high power pure sinewave inverter for under a grand. http://www.fieldlines.com/index.php/topic,148717.0.html.

Glenn

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now.
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Grogster

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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9306

Posted: 03:22pm 03 Jul 2015

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Thanks very much, guys, for those comments.

@ Downwind - I will look up "Power Jack" - thanks.

@ M Del - Yeah, the cables supplied in the photo, I was thinking, with an inverter running at 2kW output, they could not possibly handle the low-voltage input current, so that was making me suspicious too.

@ Glenn - Re: Not pure sine-wave - good point. I will check out that link - thanks.

So, I won't buy this one - I was looking for an excuse NOT to buy it cos of the price and other alarms ringing in my head, so thanks for the confirmation guys.

Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!

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