Whistler PI-400W 400 Watt Power Inverter
by Whistler
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List Price: Category: Lawn & Patio See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Whistler PI-400W 400 Watt Power Inverter
Customer Review: The Unit I Had Wasn't Up To Snuf
Summary: 2 Stars
I had previously purchased a Xantrex 851-400 inverter to run in conjunction with a marine battery so as to power lights for my jewelry booth at Art Fairs. I was very happy with it but when I decided to expand my use of lights, necessitating a second battery and a second inverter, for whatever reason I decided to try the Whistler PI-400W and save a whopping $7.55. Big mistake. The Xantrex will operate flawlessly for 2 days sucking enough juice out of that marine battery to operate 75 watts of CFL bulbs for 8-10 hours each day. The Whistler worked well for the first day but kick off after 2 hours of the second. The first time that it happened I rationalized that perhaps I hadn't fully charged the second marine battery but after making sure to test it again with both batteries on successive weekends, I got the same result both times. The moral of the story is that Amazon does a great job of refunding your money during the first 30 days and don't get cheap when making your purchase. If you find a product that does the job well that you need it to do, pay the man!Customer Review: Great while it lasts.
Summary: 3 Stars
I must say I really liked this inverter from Whistler. It performed very well in daily use. I used in My street sweeper that I drive in NYC for 8 hour work days. It worked awesomely to power my desk radio and Hamilton Beach air purifier. I started using June 1st 2009 and it lasted until just after Christmas. I loved the whistle it gave if my battery was low however it was the same whistle that would announce its death followed by horrible electrical smoke and smell. I was going to attempt to submit a warranty request but I have since lost the inverter altogether. I would have put five stars if it never burnt out yet I won't put one star because I never found out the warranty experience. So it's three stars.
10/31/10 An update: Around back in 5/2010 I found the inverter and sent the inverter back. It's under 2 or 3 year warranty. They sent a fixed or new one back super fast! Good company! Since it was purchased on Amazon I had all the proof of purchase I needed. Good experience overall.
Customer Review: Must-Have for long trips
Summary: 5 Stars
We purchased the Whistler PI-400W from Amazon and received it just in time for our vacation/road trip from CT to Florida (Round trip of over 48 hours on the road). The unit comes with a lighter adapter and also 3 ft cables to run to the battery. We opted to connect directly to the battery of our our 1999 Honda Civic in order to get the full power of the unit (lighter adapter has a max output of 180 watts - different for each vehicle). We were able to connect our laptop and charge our Digital Camera & Camcorder off this unit. The unit never ran hot or drained our vehicle's battery. Granted, we only used this unit while the car was running. But, at one point we had the laptop running for over 3 hours and had no problems at all. I highly recommend this for anyone needing regular home power on the road!Customer Review: The terminal heads are hollow
Summary: 1 Stars
I used this inverter on our camping trip and was very disappointed in the materials they used. The terminal head (black) was accidental hit and was bent. I looked closer to find that the terminal black head connection is made of a light metal and was broken half way and was only attached to both ends by a cork screw thread. I managed to get it working by pushing back the bolt end and was able to get a connection. To prevent this from happening again you would need to protect this unit with a padded case. 400 watts power is enough for camera or cell chargers or to pump up an air mattress, don't expect this unit to do much more then that. Because of the terminal heads and how delicate they are, I would not recommend this product.Customer Review: Manufacturer has some quality control issues
Summary: 1 Stars
This unit comes with a car cigarette lighter adapter which connects to the unit via ring terminals at the end of its 2 + and - cables. Well, I connected the adapter ring terminals to the unit, and both adapter cables detached from their ring terminals at the same time. Looks like the ring terminals were not crimped to their cables properly. Easy to just get new ring terminals and re-crimp, but this sort of thing should not happen to brand-new stuff.
The vent holes on the side of the unit are not in a straight line, they look like they were drilled by someone holding a drill rather than on an assembly line machine. I bet this product is manufactured by hand with very basic tools rather than on a modern assembly line.