Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a very small DC > AC inverter than converts 12V DC from your car to 120V AC. The removable power cord is a good idea and it has a handy 5V USB plug on the side for charging small USB devices.
It's smaller than a deck of cards but they've overrated it's power capacity by quite a bit. It doesn't have enough cooling capacity to prevent overheating of it's internal parts with even a small load, so it gets hot and shuts off.
I measured it's output with a quality Fluke TrueRMS voltmeter and the output looks ok at 117V AC which is close to a standard 120V household outlet. This is adequate to run most low power AC devices with no issues.
The 120 Watt load rating is overstated because it heats up to 100`F even before you plug in anything. Then it gets really hot if you connect anything that draws some power such as a laptop computer. I tried a Dell D830 laptop which requires 25 watts to run. The AC Inverter overheated and shutdown within 2 minutes while running a laptop.
I have a variety of test equipment and found that the inverter can handle 15 watts all day but 20 watts is the thermal limit. 25 watts overloads it and it overheated to 190`F and shutdown in 2 minutes. It smelled like hot plastic burning. It's possible another inverter of the same model may perform better but that is not likely.
This design has marginal internal cooling capacity so it appears limited to about 20 watts max. The tiny 3/4" built-in fan is quiet at first and it gets louder as the inverter heats up. The fan has a high pitched whine and is really too small. The fan noise may be ok in a moving automobile as it would be drowned out by road noise.
If they changed the design to include a real aluminum heatsink with some mass to it that would increase the power handling a lot. A bigger 2" fan would have worked also.
There is no "off" button.
It has a power LED to indicate that it's on.
The overtemp shutdown feature works.
The fan is thermally regulated, and ends up running all the time.
The low battery feature works and it will shut off if the input voltage gets below 10.3V DC.
It automatically turns back on when the voltage comes back up to 12V.
Tiny high speeed fans typically don't have a long lifespan.
Technical data:
I measured a 400mA current draw with the unit idling with nothing plugged in. A 25 watt load draws 2 amps on the 12V line which sounds about right. Be aware that if you try to run something that actually draws 120 watts (using an inverter that could handle it) a load that big may blow the fuse in your vehicle 12V outlet since they typically has a 10-15 amps fuse.10 amps X 12V = 120 watts, for example.
Conclusion:
This is a really tiny voltage inverter. If you plan to only run small equipment like a AA battery charger, camera, or MP3 player that needs 5 to 10 watts then it should work ok for you.
I am going to return mine in favor of a physically larger inverter with some mass to keep it cool and one that can really handle 50 watts or more. A quality unit rated for 50 watts would be much better than a tiny, plastic, overrated 120 Watt one.
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Wagan EL2405 100-Watt Smart AC USB Inverter with DC SocketWagan 100-Watt Smart AC USB Inverter with DC Socket is designed to convert 12v DC to 120v AC power source. It charges the electronics in the vehicle through the cigarette lighter socket and is used to power a laptop, DVD player, MP3 player, cell phone, etc. This inverter enables to recharge cell phones and MP3 players that can be recharged from USB power. It is slim as well as portable and features a built-in USB port. This inverter facilitates a auto-reset short-circuit protection, and low battery shutdown and overload protection.
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