Stanley PC509 500 Watt Inverter

• 500 continuous watts of power
• Contains a 120 volt power outlet and a USB power outlet
• Features 4 position mounting grommets and direct battery mounts
• Includes battery clips and DC plug
• Offers overload protection, battery alarm, short circuit protection and has fault interrupter

First off PRO'sThe unit is a clean design with a nice touch of "screw on" power source nodes so you can create your own power source tap.

CON'sWorthless because of the safety switch.

In a power inverter, you would expect some loss to the output rating based on your power source. The unit is rated as being able to output 500w on a direct 12v battery terminal as the source. I found the unit struggling to keep up with a 200w coffee maker, designed for low wattage usage for camping and diverse applications. Never-mind if you want to run a 75w laptop on the inverter while in 100w mode (using the cigarette lighter as power source). This unit's safety power overload whatever function is too sensitive, it is ridiculous as i try to balance turning on the unit and plugging my devices into the unit to see how it will function.

I bought it, tried it for a weekend and returned it to Lowes. I will not buy another Stanley electronic device because of this unit.

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I use a lot of inverters to power various electronics when on the road. Most often it is for laptops, camera, and various charging units.

The Stanley PC509 is a decent unit. The two sockets are conveniently placed on the front of the unit. Though not quite enough space to accomodate two power bricks, the placement is more convenient than other units. There is also a USB charging plug so that smaller electronics such as cell phones, Point-and-Shoot cameras, iPods, etc., can be charged with just a USB cable. This more than makes up for the spacing of the plugs. The sockets also have covers which is a nice touch.

There are some minor downsides. First, the unit is much larger than comparable rated units. It's too large to fit in the center console of my car so ended up on the floor. Not a big deal, but the other downside is that the fan is quite loud. The fan doesn't run continuously, but when it does, is quite noticeable even when on the highway.

Other things to note:

1) The cigarette adapter will not power the unit to the full capacity. Though rated at 500W, the cigarette adapters on most cars top out at around 120W. Direct battery connect cables are provided, but if you don't anticipate using it attached to the battery, go with a lower rated unit and save $30.

2) Even without load, this thing will pull power from your battery. I'm not certain if this is true for all inverters, but I almost drained my battery when I left the inverter plugged in.

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I've had the unit about one week and have been using it to power a laptop. I have mine tapped directly into a live circuit of my vehicle's wiring. This was a major pain in the butt, but I wasn't sure how well it would run off the cigarette lighter.

Cons: I've been having the same problem as David. Sometimes the unit goes into protect mode when I start my vehicle. Yes, this is annoying. Thankfully, I have the unit installed within easy reach, so I can live with the problem... but still annoying. Sometimes it takes several tries to get the unit running again. The fan is also a little noisy, but it rarely runs when I'm using it, so far.

Pros: Key things I like about the overall design and layout of the inverter:

1. Angled receptacles

2. USB charging port

3. Front mounted rocker / power switch, so I can easily turn off the unit when not in use.

Those were the selling points for me, compared with other products on the market. Also the price... $40 at the local big box home improvement center.

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Manual said to check trouble shooting section if the light blinks. Well, the light blinks after it shuts down and it doesn't work. No mention is made in the trouble shooting section that is of help. Odd, a Black & Decker that has less power works fine though in the same vehicle powering the same items. This is crap

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projects...I bought two of these for my windmill. I have a 24v windmill goes to two batteries thus invert to ac current. My lab top went crazy once in a while and the mouse got really sensitive. So I use them for lighting and radio or hopefully to charge my ev car in the future.