Customer Reviews

Power Bright XR400-12 Power Inverter 400 Watt 12 Volt DC To 110 Volt AC

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an excellent product. I used it to power a Dell netbook on a recent trip from New York to Toronto and back. It stayed cool to the touch and was completely silent, in fact the fan never even came on that I could tell.

The casing looks amazing, it looks like carbon fiber (not real carbon just some kind of film on the plastic)

I purchased the Power Bright XR400 power inverter. It never worked new out of the box. When I called Power Bright for help they gave me the run around, said they would mail me return documents and I'm still waiting. They want me to pay for shipping, but the thing that bothers me the most is THEY WOULD ONLY OFFER ME A REFURBISHED UNIT TO REPLACE MY BRAND NEW ONE!

Works just as advertised, no issues so far running a 13" TV and Nintendo in our RV, combined use about 50 watts.

Bought it for use in a field truck for research, it made it through almost daily use for about 10 weeks before it stopped working properly. Fan does not turn on and it doesn't charge consistently any more, disappointed.

I bought this to power a small emergency water pump, which I tested beforehand at 80 watts when pumping. With the inverter plugged into the lighter socket and the engine not running, the pump won't start, in spite of the inverter's claimed 800 watt peak surge output. With the engine running, the pump does start, though the inverter briefly buzzes in protest.

A second problem: The pump has built-in circuitry to turn itself off after a few seconds if there's no water present, and then cycle itself back on three minutes later to check again for water. This circuitry doesn't work when the pump is powered by the inverter. It just runs dry continuously (which would quickly destroy the pump). The circuitry works fine when plugged into normal AC or into an inexpensive gasoline-powered generator. There must be something about the waveform generated by the inverter that the pump's electronic circuitry doesn't like.

I did quite a bit of reading ahead of time, including the owner's manual from the manufacturer's website, and nothing indicated that it wouldn't work to power this type of device. The owner's manual says only that it doesn't work with (and could damage) two types of devices: "1. Small battery-operated appliances like rechargeable flashlights, some rechargeable shavers, and night lights that are plugged directly into an AC receptacle to recharge. 2. Battery chargers used in hand power tools. These chargers display a warning label stating that dangerous voltages are present at the charger battery terminals."

I do like the design a lot. It's attractive, lightweight, and sturdy. It may well work perfectly for other applications. But some electronic devices might not work properly with it. Not to mention pumps or other motorized devices.