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Cobra CPI 480 400-Watt 12-Volt DC to 120-Volt AC Power Inverter with 5-Volt USB Output

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736 ratings

| 83 answered questions

400 W Continuous Power Handling
5v USB output
2 Grounded AC Receptacles
Thermal Shutdown and Reverse Polarity Protection

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		Cobra CPI500W Portable Power Inverter – 500 Watt Car Charger, 2 Grounded AC Outlets, Remote (CPIALCDG1) Compatible and Fast Charge USB Port	Cobra CPI 880 800 Watt 12 Volt DC to 120 Volt AC Power Inverter with 5 Volt USB output	BESTEK 300W Power Inverter DC 12V to 110V AC Car Inverter with 4.2A Dual USB Car Adapter

Customer Rating	(736)	(43)	(384)	(19119)
Price	From $24.99	$59.95	$99.99	$35.99
Sold By	Available from these sellers	Amazon.com	myh international	BESTEK.
Color	One Color	Black	One Color	Red
Item Dimensions	6.45 x 4.17 x 2.59 inches	7.01 x 5.39 x 2.83 inches	9 x 3 x 5.5 inches	6.7 x 2.4 x 6 inches
Model Year	2011	—	2011	2014

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Product description

This inverter provides household power on the go! It converts battery power to 120 V AC household power, allowing you to power up office equipment and household appliances from your vehicle. It also has a USB output, ideal for using/charging most small video games, an IPod®, a Blackberry®, mobile phones, and many more USB devices. Cigarette lighter cord and direct-to-battery cables are included. This unit is ideal for laptops, 13" TVs, video games, CD players, DVD players, cellular phone chargers, and much more!

Product information

Technical Details

Item Weight

2 pounds

Product Dimensions

6.45 x 4.17 x 2.59 inches

Item model number

CPI480

Is Discontinued By Manufacturer

Warranty

One year

Height (inches)

5 inches

Width (inches)

5 inches

Weight

2 Pounds

Additional Information

ASIN

B001RNOHBC

Customer Reviews

736 ratings

4.2 out of 5 stars

Best Sellers Rank

#411,527 in Automotive (See Top 100 in Automotive)
#696 in Power Inverters

Date First Available

February 28, 2009

Warranty & Support

Product Warranty: For warranty information about this product, please click here. [PDF ]

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Product Documentation (PDF)

User Manual (PDF)

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Customer reviews

5 star		60%
4 star		20%
3 star		7%
2 star		7%
1 star		7%

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Amazon Customer

Will fry with accidental reverse polarity, and is not refined current like house...

Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Oh boy, here goes. I have 40 acres playground in Arizona, an amazing Sony portable stereo they don't make anymore, got 2 they are so good. I take a green milk crate, set the Cobra in there, a Power Sonic battery, Sony stereo on top, and hook up the Cobra + & - terminals, have done that 3 years on hundreds of outings. At first was a little concerned what if I accidentally reversed battery polarity one time? No problem, says 'reverse polarity protection' So a while back it happened, reversed polarity and a big spark and loud pop. Corrected polarity, but dead. Out side of Cobra I looked for breaker reset, or outside fuse, none. OK, take it home, took it apart and saw what looks like 2 20 amp fuses, great, pull them out and replace. Nope, the plastic covering make them look like 20 amp fuses, same yellow color, but found they are only covers, fuses are actually soldered into the circuit board! Reverse polarity protection? Only prevents it from blowing up or starting on fire! Thought about soldering in new 20 amp fuses, but called Cobra tech and he said it's likely other things are fried in there. Then I found out about the difference from 'modified sine wave' and 'pure sine wave' electric currents. Electronics like my Sony stereo will run on modified, but it's not good for it, won't last as long, current is not a pure a pure sine wave like from refined household current. My Sony stereo is amazing, but discontinued, I want to take the best care of it. I ordered a pure sine wave inverter, more expensive but not that much, about $90 and I can actually hear the Sony stereo sounds better, more refined sound, and I know it will last longer with pure sine wave current. I'm now glad I blew the Cobra, but wired in 15 amp fuses on + &- alligator clips on the new inverter, not taking anymore chances with accidental reverse polarity. These smaller 12v inverters should come with replaceable fuses just in case, glad I added some to mine.

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David S.

2 Years Old Now

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

It does what I need it to do, run my satellite Internet and a few lights on my solar. My sat takes 46 watts and usually I use one 13 watt fluorescent after dark. I have also run my computer with it, 65 watts simultaneously, but I have never approached the maximum wattage. The unit has a variable speed fan, and my only complaint is that it is loud. It sounds nearly like an airplane taking of when the unit is a few feet away in my place. Of course, you would not notice this as much when using it in a vehicle. The weird thing is that when just the sat is plugged in, 46 w, the fan does not turn on, unless it is really hot, like above 80. (West Texas Desert Here.) However, when I use just the 13 watt fluorescent, the fan runs at about medium speed at all times. I guess it has something to do with the ballast peculiarities of the bulb. I like the fact that this unit, unlike many other inverters, has about 2 inches between the positive and negative power inputs. On my other inverter, these are close enough that if I were to slip with my multimeter probe when checking voltages in my solar system, I could easily short positive to negative with the half-inch probe needle. Overall it is a good value, though I may pony up a bit of money to replace the loud fan with a good quiet ball bearing model. (I believe this is a sleeve fan.) I just ordered a second one for backup, so if the fan noise is particular to the first unit, I will update this.

Update 2/24/14 - New One

I received the second unit Friday, and this is Monday. I moved the old one to my second system, and set this one up in its place. Out of the packaging I noticed a couple changes to the model. First, the gray portion of the body is now plastic, not aluminum like the previous model. Still seems sturdy enough, but it probably does not shed heat as well as the first.

Second, the USB charging port has been moved from between the AC outlets to above the right outlet. This is a good thing, because a few weeks ago with the first unit, I was watching a movie near dusk. After the movie finished, I decided to plug in my light to do some things. The light seemed to be acting funny, low power and a flicker. I figured it was the ballast warming up. I did not unplug the light when I went to sleep, just turned off the inverter.

The next morning, when I went to turn on the inverter, I noticed that during my fumbling in the dark to plug the light in, I had plugged one prong into the AC outlet, and the other was in the USB port! Surprisingly, it did not kill the inverter, the USB port or burn the house down, so moving the port to the position above the outlet is a good change.

The fan on this one is just as loud, but with just the satellite plugged in, the fan cycles on for 3 seconds, off for 10, then repeats. By far this is more annoying than a constant noise that fades into the background after a while. With just the fluorescent plugged in, the fan does not come on at all, opposite of the first. I think I may swap the two inverters, so that the new one is running from the system with more draw, allowing the fan to run constantly instead of the constant cycling.

I have not opened either unit, but from what others have said in their reviews, the fuses are soldered in. Had I known that, I would not have bought either one, as I use them for my main power source, and having to break out a soldering Iron when a fuse blows is ridiculous. My generic inverter has to be taken apart to change the fuses, but once there, it is a simple swap, and takes only a few minutes.

Update 2/28/15

I have had 2 of these Cobra inverters, one for over a year and, the second, exactly a year. With, the newer one I did something really stupid and killed it, totally my fault (don't tap the inverter to get the fan to quiet down on a cool morning, the inverter may break and stop producing power :) ) . The first one is still chugging along nicely. I use it to power my computer and, sometimes, a set of computer speakers and lights off my solar system. It is still a bit loud, being that it is 5 feet away, but it has performed flawlessly. It has experienced numerous low voltaqe incidents, and, thanks to my cheap charge controller that does not shut off power when the batteries are full, even more high-voltage cutoffs. I have to say that it's a trooper, and, so far, the desert dust has not managed to kill the fan.

Update 2/28/16

Changed to 5 stars. The first Cobra has been running for 2 full years now, with at least a 100 watt load, for at least 8 hours a day, every day. Tough little thing. The noise is a bit loud, and the fuse is internal, but the point is that it provides the power I need to live. Good deal.

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