- 400 W Continuous Power Handling
- 5v USB output
- 2 Grounded AC Receptacles
- Thermal Shutdown and Reverse Polarity Protection
Buy Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter with 5-Volt USB Output Now
I just opened the package and haven't used this thing yet so I can't comment on functionality but I wanted to let others know that this unit DOES come with a cigarette lighter plug (as well as a set of alligator clips) that you can attach to the screw posts.I wasted a couple bucks on a separate cigarette lighter plug when I ordered because the product information says nothing about coming with the cigarette lighter plug.
Oh There is also a sticker on the cigarette lighter cable warning not to draw more than 150 watts when using it plugged into a lighter socket (use the alligator clips or your own custom wires to connect straight to the battery for full power)The power inverter works great. I used it on a 5000 mile road trip powering a PS3 and iPhone and another cell phone along the way, in addition to other small electronics. To get the most power out of the unit, you need to hard wire it directly to the battery. I mounted it under the passenger seat and ran some 8 gauge wire. Very easy installation. I looked at several inverters before purchasing this one. The usb connection was what sold me on the unit. I now have an easy way to charge my iPhone without having to buy a car charger or taking up one of the regular power outlet slots. Well worth the money. The only thing to note for Amazon is that the product listing advertises that it comes with a carry case. It does not. No problem for me because I don't really care, but it may matter to you. I believe the CPI 475 does include the case.Power ratings are grossly over-stated. I have owned this product for about 1 year. It has worked great for powering my laptop while in the car. I have not been able to get it to supply power any greater than 100W without it shutting off however. With the inverter connected directly to clean battery terminals with the included battery clamps, vehicle running (14+ volts at clamps), I have unsuccessfully tried powering two different TV's rated at 140W. In both instances the inverter shut off when the TV's where powered on. I next tried turning on a 150W halogen flood lamp. The inverter shut down before the lamp lit. This inverter is rated at 400W RMS/800W peak. It should be able to supply these loads without any issues. Keep in mind I tried these loads with the inverter connected directly to my (dual) truck battery, engine running. The test where run on multiple occasions. There was no lack of supply current/voltage.
Upgraded from 1 to 3 stars: I have since "hardwired" the inverter to my vehicle battery with an Anderson Power Pole 50amp connector in between. With this configuration I have been able to get a full 400 watts realiabley from it. I have been running this setup for about 2 years now. I use it about an hour continous once a month.
Save 50% Off
I just received my Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt unit today.The lighter cable option allows taking this unit in a different vehicle. My unit came with both lighter plug and jumper cable type power connectors. The lighter plug has a 15A fuse in the tip, limiting output to a continuous 165W (hence the 150W mentioned in the manual). Higher power levels will require direct connection to the battery terminals, or the fuse will blow.
The lighter plug, as noted in other reviews has trouble staying electrically connected in my Cadillac Seville lighter socket, but doesn't fall out. The rear passenger lighter sockets have the same mechanical connection issue.
[The following comments were made from a unit sent back for repair. Addendum comments made against a new unit are at the bottom of this review, and new scope image replaces the old one in customer images.]
With the unit connected to a car battery with the engine running for high power checking, a Hoover 110V hand vacuum runs just fine. I grabbed a 500W halogen contractors light to see what happens on overload. The lamp starts to light and about 200mS later (~1/5 sec) the units starts shrieking and turns off output. [This behavior changed in the new unit (below) which now powers the 500W lamp for a minute] This unit does not recover from this condition automatically. The front panel switch must be turned off, then back on for the unit to recover. This also implies that any motor load with high startup currents has to be substantially started in 200mS or the overload condition will trip on this inverter. 200mS is short, most motor type equipment can take 500mS-1Second to start, which means many motor driven appliances may not work well with this inverter. Think about how long your lights "dim" when your freezer starts. If it's longer than the tiniest of "flickers", then it's probably longer than 200mS.
Since my use is to recharge two electric bike batteries from 120VAC and my cell phone from USB and each bike charger draws 170W peak @ 120VAC during the charge cycle (340W peak for two), this unit should meet my needs.
The battery direct connect cables are about 2.5 feet long and made of 12AWG wire. Something heavier (6 or 4AWG or two parallel sets of 10AWG) should get me from my battery under the hood past the firewall and into the car with little enough voltage drop to get that 400W capability without burning up 20A lighter fuses or having so much voltage drop due to wiring that the unit shuts off with a low voltage sensing error.
A nice addition is a contractors "pig tail" [8" extension cord and three plugs] to extend the 110V outlets for wall-wart type chargers. Target also has 8-inch "adapter cords" to extend the outlets if you have something physically large to plug-in (Amazon solution:Power Extension Cord, Perfect for Transformers, 1 ft). If I have a lot of wall-wart type chargers (up to 6). GE has a nice widely spaced 6-outlet solution meant to physically cover a wall outlet GE 50759 6-Grounded Outlet In-Wall Adapter, White. This plugs into the pig-tail which plugs into the inverter for running a pile of low power chargers (like cell phones, kids game-boys, camera battery, and a laptop).
I put the CPI480 on the bench to answer a few more basic questions about this unit. See my uploaded "Modified Sinewave" scope photo of CPI 480 output under "customer images".
First, when the power switch is first turned on, the fan runs for 14 seconds, then turns off. This concerned me after reading several reviews saying their fan stays off. [The new unit doesn't do this]
Will the 5V USB output stay on even when the switch is off? In fact the 5VDC output turns off with the front power switch as does the 110VAC. This unit draws no power when the front switch is off, so it doesn't need to be physically disconnected from the battery.
During startup (turn the front power switch on) at 13.5 VDC input with fan running, my unit draws 800mA (0.8A). After the fan turns off, my unit settles down to 650mA (0.65A) for "standby", not running anything. The box says
0 comments:
Post a Comment