@KDemo irk bobble head - get a glimpse and we still have no more info of irk’s leg structure. Conspiracy? I can see not wanting to be seen with a grown man’s hand cough@matthew up your butt, but c’mon clearly it’s not a bobble head without something to bobble on. What say you @irk? Show me some leg.
#trollfootfetish
@RedOak Wait a minute; these are still available on Amazon. I have one under my desk at the office for cooling cans of soda. It runs on 12v; needs a transformer/power supply to use AC.
Meh, I’m planning to live out of my van. Most the stuff you sell is pretty useful for that. This would be to if it had some real power. Find use a 1000W inverter if you’re going to bother with boring plugs. And, follow it up with some solar panels why don’t you!
Bought one, could be helpful if its any decent quality at all, and for $10, I’ll live if it craps out on me (unless it starts a fire or anything!) Let’s hope my fuses can handle it lol, everyone saying it blows fuses left and right
As for the shitty reviews … note that in Amazon’s even shittier “wisdom”, various versions are lumped together.
As for fuses blowing … maybe if folks weren’t overloading the circuit in the first place, things would be fine. Not all 12V accessory outlets in vehicles these days are designed for high amperage draws like a 175w inverter, which requires at least a 15A circuit. If your car has a 10A circuit or lower, guess what happens? Fuse goes pop.
There’s a negative review from someone who bought the 100w version and their iron wouldn’t work. I WONDER WHY!?!
@narfcake One of those dim-bulb “low-information” buyers, like the person who bought the totally crappy $69 “laptop” that actually used some ancient PDA O/S and whined that her kid couldn’t play all the current games and was crying on Christmas morning. Or the countless users of low-spec compact cameras with f/5.6 lenses who complain about “blurry” indoor sports shots. Or Trump supporters.
@narfcake I have an old Belkin one that blows my 20amp fuse every now and then (which is about half the time I use it).
It’s a mystery fuses because it’s not even labeled in the manual, so I don’t know what else is on it.
I should probably figure out how many watts it is so I know what it’s drawing amp wise.
If I’m figuring correctly, here’s a chart that should help:
Amps Watts Volts
5 60 12
10 120 12
15 180 12
20 240 12
25 300 12
30 360 12
Realizing of course you need to account for ALL devices on the same fuse, this one (as per specs) can handle about 15 amps and so you probably want a higher amps fuse than that if you’ve got anywhere near max and/or any thing else on the line.
@narfcake if you do visit harborfreight remember they always have 20% off coupons and their 1 year warrenty come with a lot of lee-way( i got my harbor freight compressor replaced even though it was 2 years out of warrenty)
@narfcake@communistHF is false economy for anything other than very specialized single/few use tools.
Having a compressor fail in the middle of spraying paint or a drill/driver fail in the middle of building a deck places a very low value on getting the job done efficiently/right/in-the-far-more-precious-resource-time-available.
BTW, that HF drill/driver uses NiCd batteries - the scourge of battery technology.
@RedOak@rv617 was looking for a cheap drill; HF fulfills that.
FWIW, the major brands still use NiCad batteries a lot too. It can handle the high-current bursts the motors operate at without destroying itself like NiMH or common Li-ion cells would.
Some things there, you get what you pay for. Others things come out of the same factory in China as a major brand, but with a different paint job, for 30+% less.
Spending more doesn’t guarantee quality anymore these days anyway.
@narfcake Hasn’t been my experience. It isn’t about price - it’s about quality level. Have learned the hard way too many times not to buy junk. Both in terms of them doing the job better and lasting longer.
What respectable brand still uses NiCd batteries in their main product lines? Even homeowner grade Ryobi and HD house brand RIDGID have moved on. Even the cheap solar garden lights use NiMH batteries.
@narfcake@RedOak Actually, I’m perfectly happy spending more for a good drill. It wasn’t so much meh’s price point that prompted me to post as much as the acute need for a new drill since mine literally died a couple of hours earlier after serving me well for over a decade. All that being said, since you two seem to be knowledgable on the subject, any drill recommendations?
@rv617 while I’m partial to Makita, I have friends who swear by Dewalt. Dewalt is part of a monolith that owns, it seems, half the power tool brands available. I also know people who love Bosch. But it seems the trades tend to use Dewalt and Makita for cordless drills.
A key - if you think you might want several cordless tools then buy them in a multi tool kit. Much cheaper that way as long as you need the tools. Watch for deals since they come and go.
Given a choice, strive for larger batteries since the kits often include the smallest (1-2 Ah) capacity batteries.
Don’t go below 18 volt unless all you need is a driver to do occasional around the house stuff.
If you want to save money and do not plan heavy use, then Ryobi is an OK choice. This past summer Home Depot had some amazingly aggressive deals on Ryobi stuff. Home Depot sometimes private labels Ryobi stuff under its RIDGID brand and I think they even give a lifetime warranty on the tools and batteries! (Last time I checked.)
If you can wait, Black Friday typically brings good deals on tools.
As noted above, I’m generally not a fan of Harbor Freight stuff.
@RedOak DeWalt. Their 18V lineup is still NiCad, and are still readily sold. Yes, they have the 20V line too, but the 18V has lasted for many years already; not every one wants to move on.
As for quality level - again, spending more doesn’t guarantee that. Milwaukee had a lot of longevity issues with their earlier li-ion tools; same with Makita with both their NiMH and earlier li-ion lineups. They aren’t “junk” brands.
Yes, Ridgid offers a lifetime warranty. Prepare to wait 6-8 weeks if a tool or battery dies, though.
@rv617 I’ve been pretty happy with my Porter Cable power tools. No, they’re not what they used to be – and their smaller compressors manage to be even less reliable than Harbor Freight compressors – but their cordless tools are a pretty well priced at Lowes. In its family, they err more towards the performance of DeWalt tools but priced towards the household-level Black & Decker.
@narfcake
I wouldn’t touch NiCd unless I already had a stable of healthy compatible NiCd tools. And I think I saw a Dewalt adapter to run new batteries in old NiCd Dewalt tools.
My old (before they were bought by Black & Decker-Dewalt) Porter Cable NiCd drill died too early. And the NiCd batteries had horrible life before that. Buying early-gen anything is a risk.
However, I’ve had amazing performance from my wall power PC routers, biscuit-joiner, RA sanders and belt sander.
Would only buy Lithium Ion tools at this point for cordless. The price step is too reasonable for equivalent grade tools.
If you only occasionally use the tools it is less critical what brand. But as an example, the difference between a consumer Jig Saw and a commercial model like a Bosch is night and day. In terms of smooth operation, noise, power, precision. Not even close.
Like I said, it isn’t about price - it’s about quality level. Everybody has their own quality-cost balance threshold I guess.
The only practical use I can think of for this thing is tail gating. You could use it to power a TV, but if you’re at the game what’s the point of bringing a TV?
I beg to differ. Insurance is not boring. I work in insurance, and the salesmen I work with are not boring…and the crazy calls and claims I hear about are certainly not boring. Sometimes a little crazy, sometimes a little stupid, and sometimes funny…but never boring.
Situation: Boyfriend travels a lot for work. I’ve been trying to figure out a better radio system that he can easily set up in his non-high tech company-owned work truck. My current idea is buying a new Amazon Dot. We could use today’s device to power the Dot, his phone would give him the wifi needed and I believe it could be played through the truck speakers through an old audio port. Any one have any idea if I’m on the right track or have a better idea?
@Avalora For a Dot, no. I believe it’s USB powered, so there’s zero reason to convert from your car’s 12V DC, up to 110V AC, then back down to 5V DC with the added inefficiencies in converting from one to another. A simpler 2A USB charger will do the job better.
@Avalora a Dot is going to need to tether to a smartphone for Internet service.
Why not just pick up a well-reviewed audio port to Bluetooth car adapter for $20-50 (there are several well liked versions available) and get your tunes direct from the smartphone? No Dot needed and the smartphone will be integrated into the truck for hands free calls.
@RedOak I guess I was just stuck mentally on getting the Dot because it could be used in the house or the car, but the Bluetooth adapter probably would be better for his situation. Thank you!
@Avalora understood. Also not sure the Dot would do well in a vehicle environment. Not just from a summer heat or power quality perspective. It might not be well-trained/designed for the different noise profile of a vehicle.
@Avalora am I missing something? why not just connect the phone to the radio using the audio port? why bring the music mangling security issue that is bluetooth into this situation? what function would the dot serve?
Since this thing will only kick out 1A on USB and 1.5A on the AC converter (175W/120V=1.5A), it won’t charge laptops or tablets that tend to need 2A just to initiate charging. Pretty weak tea.
175W should be enough to charge pretty much any laptop. Most laptop power supplies consume 110 watts or less (remember that at higher voltages - 120 in this case - you need less current to get the same amount of power).
Hey folks-- Anyone else have a bum inverter?
We had a power outage yesterday, and after cutting my finger trying to open the damn package, I connected it to my cigar lighter, LED comes on for 1/2 sec and goes out. Didn’t even have a load connected yet.
Battery was charged, Checked all my fuses, 30A fuse on the car, and fuse on the 12V plug, both fine. Plugged it in again, and LED came on for 1/2 sec and quit.
I got screwed on a few of those rope lights that were DOA and didn’t discover in-time for meh to honor the warranty. Makes me wonder if I need to test every product I buy from Meh ASAP, which makes meh gifts a little awkward: “Yeah, I had to open it and test it first, because the site I bought it from sells complete DOA junk most of the time with short return periods”.
@caffeineguy I didn’t buy one of these as the amazon reviews said this was fairly common; 37% one star and 11% two stars there. Try taking the fuse out and putting it back in. That made it work for one person but for the most part the 48% that hated it had trouble making it work or couldn’t get it to work no matter how much they fiddled with how it was plugged in, etc.
Might be worth it for the buyers of the stuff sold here be a bit more selective and make sure the crap at least works… (e.g. read reviews in advance of deciding to buy a trillion of them, especially the negative ones, to see why it is likely being off loaded so cheap)
@Kidsandliz Yeah-- I get that’s part of the deal (dirt cheap refurbished shit, high failure rates, etc.) I suspect for some items we’re just an extension of a company’s quality control department. “Well, Betsy mixed up her 1K and 10K resistors, so half of these won’t work, but they also won’t blow up. Since we don’t have the time to test these 2000 inverters, lets send them off to one of those deal a day sites, where their customers can test them for us.” Same deal with refurbished products; I think half the time, refurbished means “returned and probably works just fine”.
Anyone remember those Stanley “refurbished” battery booster/air compressors sold on Woot once upon a time? My 3 either had a bad compressor, bad light, or were DOA. That time was especially special, they didn’t even want them returned because the lead acid batteries were hazardous waste; would have cost the vendor/mfg/woot several dollars a battery.
Specs
User manual
What’s in the Box?
1x Power inverter
1x Plug
Pictures
Unit
Retail packaging
Car
Unit again
Included
Plug
Price Comparison
$21 at Amazon
Find a relevant price comparison? Please share it in a comment in this thread
Warranty
2 Year CyberPower
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, Jun 15 - Tuesday, Jun 20
Monkey Meh!
Monkey see?
Cuz those are the weirdest pair of binoculars I’ve ever seen
Isn’t pair of binoculars redundant?
@MehnofLaMehncha No more than a pair of pants, pair of glasses, pair shaped, or paradise.
Power for long rangers --another outlet for your meh money
@AttyVette
Saved $10. Instead of buying an inverter, I just turned the plug upside down. Same thing, yeah?
@MehnofLaMehncha No, no. That’s those Meh-branded condoms for cheap fuckers. Use, turn it inside out, and shake the fuck out of it.
Shocking!
/giphy I told him we already got one
Tsk tsk… That guy is on his phone while driving in the last picture! Baaad influence Meh!
@lilsrm123 And he’s on Facebook. Bad influence and bad taste.
@lilsrm123 Speaking of bad taste, a thumb ring? Really?
@lilsrm123 All of the reasons. All of these. Awful.
@shanesny You said it man.
@lilsrm123 And WTF is on his face in the mirror??? looks like a giant tick! NO way would I ever buy one of these.
/giphy big old tick
@abelcm and he’s still using an iPhone 3G or 3GS with its 30-pin connector. So, driving fast while very slowly checking facebook.
@lilsrm123 AND he’s driving like 80mph if the gauges are to be believed
@lilsrm123 EXACTLY! That’s a horrible ad photo; who the hell let that go through??
Irk bobblehead!
@KDemo Now we need an Irk plushie and bobblehead!
@KDemo irk bobble head - get a glimpse and we still have no more info of irk’s leg structure. Conspiracy? I can see not wanting to be seen with a grown man’s hand cough @matthew up your butt, but c’mon clearly it’s not a bobble head without something to bobble on. What say you @irk? Show me some leg.
#trollfootfetish
Irk bobble head not included = meh.
Wow…lots of bad reviews on Amazon. Looked interesting, but I’d throw it into the car and probably never use it.
I would totally buy that Irk bobble-head for my car. SOMEONE SELL ME AN IRK BOBBLE-HEAD FOR MY CAR!!!
1995 called, they need this to power your electric cooler
@somf69 no way man, bag phones came with a hard wired cigarette lighter adapter for charging!!!
@somf69 those sorta-coolers came with car cords. I think we still have one in the garage somewhere.
@RedOak Wait a minute; these are still available on Amazon. I have one under my desk at the office for cooling cans of soda. It runs on 12v; needs a transformer/power supply to use AC.
The Amazon reviews are not encouraging. Anybody here have better luck?
Meh, I’m planning to live out of my van. Most the stuff you sell is pretty useful for that. This would be to if it had some real power. Find use a 1000W inverter if you’re going to bother with boring plugs. And, follow it up with some solar panels why don’t you!
@Starwind that one won’t be ten bucks.
Bought one, could be helpful if its any decent quality at all, and for $10, I’ll live if it craps out on me (unless it starts a fire or anything!) Let’s hope my fuses can handle it lol, everyone saying it blows fuses left and right
@timstm Don’t use it to charge your Galaxy Note and you should be okay.
@stinks
Or washing machine, apparently.
Terrible reviews. Meh.
Staring at a phone while going 135 km/h … yep, that’s a totally safe driver there, right?
@narfcake The word you’re looking for is “CyberDouche”. Thumb ring is the tell.
@narfcake I was motivated to post the same this. Beat me too it.
It’s cyber time!
@awk Hey, Macarena!
As for the shitty reviews … note that in Amazon’s even shittier “wisdom”, various versions are lumped together.
As for fuses blowing … maybe if folks weren’t overloading the circuit in the first place, things would be fine. Not all 12V accessory outlets in vehicles these days are designed for high amperage draws like a 175w inverter, which requires at least a 15A circuit. If your car has a 10A circuit or lower, guess what happens? Fuse goes pop.
There’s a negative review from someone who bought the 100w version and their iron wouldn’t work. I WONDER WHY!?!
@narfcake One of those dim-bulb “low-information” buyers, like the person who bought the totally crappy $69 “laptop” that actually used some ancient PDA O/S and whined that her kid couldn’t play all the current games and was crying on Christmas morning. Or the countless users of low-spec compact cameras with f/5.6 lenses who complain about “blurry” indoor sports shots. Or Trump supporters.
@narfcake I have an old Belkin one that blows my 20amp fuse every now and then (which is about half the time I use it).
It’s a mystery fuses because it’s not even labeled in the manual, so I don’t know what else is on it.
I should probably figure out how many watts it is so I know what it’s drawing amp wise.
If I’m figuring correctly, here’s a chart that should help:
Amps Watts Volts
5 60 12
10 120 12
15 180 12
20 240 12
25 300 12
30 360 12
Realizing of course you need to account for ALL devices on the same fuse, this one (as per specs) can handle about 15 amps and so you probably want a higher amps fuse than that if you’ve got anywhere near max and/or any thing else on the line.
Sorry for the babbling.
@radi0j0hn Yep!
@sflesch Watts = volts x amps. But as long as I can keep plugging things in, it’ll work, right?
/s
Hmmm… I totally would have bought this if only it had been a cordless drill instead of a lousy power inverter.
Did I mention my drill just died?
@rv617 you don’t want a ten buck cordless drill. Not eve a Meh ten buck cordless drill.
@rv617 If all you need is a cheap drill, just buy the sub-$20 one from HF.
http://m.harborfreight.com/power-tools/cordless-drills/18-volt-38-in-cordless-drilldriver-with-keyless-chuck-21-clutch-settings-69651.html
@narfcake if you do visit harborfreight remember they always have 20% off coupons and their 1 year warrenty come with a lot of lee-way( i got my harbor freight compressor replaced even though it was 2 years out of warrenty)
@narfcake @communist HF is false economy for anything other than very specialized single/few use tools.
Having a compressor fail in the middle of spraying paint or a drill/driver fail in the middle of building a deck places a very low value on getting the job done efficiently/right/in-the-far-more-precious-resource-time-available.
BTW, that HF drill/driver uses NiCd batteries - the scourge of battery technology.
One plus to HF junk - no fear of theft.
@RedOak @rv617 was looking for a cheap drill; HF fulfills that.
FWIW, the major brands still use NiCad batteries a lot too. It can handle the high-current bursts the motors operate at without destroying itself like NiMH or common Li-ion cells would.
Some things there, you get what you pay for. Others things come out of the same factory in China as a major brand, but with a different paint job, for 30+% less.
Spending more doesn’t guarantee quality anymore these days anyway.
@narfcake Hasn’t been my experience. It isn’t about price - it’s about quality level. Have learned the hard way too many times not to buy junk. Both in terms of them doing the job better and lasting longer.
What respectable brand still uses NiCd batteries in their main product lines? Even homeowner grade Ryobi and HD house brand RIDGID have moved on. Even the cheap solar garden lights use NiMH batteries.
@narfcake @RedOak Actually, I’m perfectly happy spending more for a good drill. It wasn’t so much meh’s price point that prompted me to post as much as the acute need for a new drill since mine literally died a couple of hours earlier after serving me well for over a decade. All that being said, since you two seem to be knowledgable on the subject, any drill recommendations?
@rv617 while I’m partial to Makita, I have friends who swear by Dewalt. Dewalt is part of a monolith that owns, it seems, half the power tool brands available. I also know people who love Bosch. But it seems the trades tend to use Dewalt and Makita for cordless drills.
A key - if you think you might want several cordless tools then buy them in a multi tool kit. Much cheaper that way as long as you need the tools. Watch for deals since they come and go.
Given a choice, strive for larger batteries since the kits often include the smallest (1-2 Ah) capacity batteries.
Don’t go below 18 volt unless all you need is a driver to do occasional around the house stuff.
If you want to save money and do not plan heavy use, then Ryobi is an OK choice. This past summer Home Depot had some amazingly aggressive deals on Ryobi stuff. Home Depot sometimes private labels Ryobi stuff under its RIDGID brand and I think they even give a lifetime warranty on the tools and batteries! (Last time I checked.)
If you can wait, Black Friday typically brings good deals on tools.
As noted above, I’m generally not a fan of Harbor Freight stuff.
@RedOak Thanks for the suggestions! Very helpful!
@RedOak DeWalt. Their 18V lineup is still NiCad, and are still readily sold. Yes, they have the 20V line too, but the 18V has lasted for many years already; not every one wants to move on.
As for quality level - again, spending more doesn’t guarantee that. Milwaukee had a lot of longevity issues with their earlier li-ion tools; same with Makita with both their NiMH and earlier li-ion lineups. They aren’t “junk” brands.
Yes, Ridgid offers a lifetime warranty. Prepare to wait 6-8 weeks if a tool or battery dies, though.
@rv617 I’ve been pretty happy with my Porter Cable power tools. No, they’re not what they used to be – and their smaller compressors manage to be even less reliable than Harbor Freight compressors – but their cordless tools are a pretty well priced at Lowes. In its family, they err more towards the performance of DeWalt tools but priced towards the household-level Black & Decker.
@narfcake
I wouldn’t touch NiCd unless I already had a stable of healthy compatible NiCd tools. And I think I saw a Dewalt adapter to run new batteries in old NiCd Dewalt tools.
My old (before they were bought by Black & Decker-Dewalt) Porter Cable NiCd drill died too early. And the NiCd batteries had horrible life before that. Buying early-gen anything is a risk.
However, I’ve had amazing performance from my wall power PC routers, biscuit-joiner, RA sanders and belt sander.
Would only buy Lithium Ion tools at this point for cordless. The price step is too reasonable for equivalent grade tools.
If you only occasionally use the tools it is less critical what brand. But as an example, the difference between a consumer Jig Saw and a commercial model like a Bosch is night and day. In terms of smooth operation, noise, power, precision. Not even close.
Like I said, it isn’t about price - it’s about quality level. Everybody has their own quality-cost balance threshold I guess.
It worked!
Your order number is:
/giphy laughable-hideous-kite
@0Wise1 I want the kite.
Would it power my blender so I could make Margaritas while driving 135km/hr, while on the phone AND Facebook?!
@DoodleMom Skip the inverter and just power the blender off the engine.
@narfcake why oh why would he ever taste that…
/giphy gag
@RiotDemon Yeah, that was pretty gross.
(Jeremy didn’t wash his hands before touching all the ingredients!)
@narfcake thanks for that 15 minute diversion into other Top Gear videos.
@RedOak Sorry, not sorry!
/giphy sweet-jolliest-dress
The only practical use I can think of for this thing is tail gating. You could use it to power a TV, but if you’re at the game what’s the point of bringing a TV?
…but can I cook eggs with it?
/giphy egg mess
@paw1682 That egg on the right totally deserved it! What a jerk!
I beg to differ. Insurance is not boring. I work in insurance, and the salesmen I work with are not boring…and the crazy calls and claims I hear about are certainly not boring. Sometimes a little crazy, sometimes a little stupid, and sometimes funny…but never boring.
Your order is: repulsive-capricious-notebook
Nice, feeding the alt-right movement to support texting while driving…
@kerryrae what the fuck are you talking about?
I tend to look askance at products with “cyber” in their name, just as I do with “euro.” Eurochopper, Eurovac, Eurodildo.
@Pavlov: I think @radi0j0hn has found some equipment you may be interested in…
Okay Meh-ians, should I get this?
Situation: Boyfriend travels a lot for work. I’ve been trying to figure out a better radio system that he can easily set up in his non-high tech company-owned work truck. My current idea is buying a new Amazon Dot. We could use today’s device to power the Dot, his phone would give him the wifi needed and I believe it could be played through the truck speakers through an old audio port. Any one have any idea if I’m on the right track or have a better idea?
@Avalora For a Dot, no. I believe it’s USB powered, so there’s zero reason to convert from your car’s 12V DC, up to 110V AC, then back down to 5V DC with the added inefficiencies in converting from one to another. A simpler 2A USB charger will do the job better.
@Avalora a Dot is going to need to tether to a smartphone for Internet service.
Why not just pick up a well-reviewed audio port to Bluetooth car adapter for $20-50 (there are several well liked versions available) and get your tunes direct from the smartphone? No Dot needed and the smartphone will be integrated into the truck for hands free calls.
@narfcake Thank you! That’s exactly what I needed to know.
@RedOak I guess I was just stuck mentally on getting the Dot because it could be used in the house or the car, but the Bluetooth adapter probably would be better for his situation. Thank you!
@Avalora understood. Also not sure the Dot would do well in a vehicle environment. Not just from a summer heat or power quality perspective. It might not be well-trained/designed for the different noise profile of a vehicle.
@Avalora am I missing something? why not just connect the phone to the radio using the audio port? why bring the music mangling security issue that is bluetooth into this situation? what function would the dot serve?
oh… is it an iphone 7?
@thismyusername That sounds far too easy. I prefer to complicate it up a bit more.
Ha, I liked the hands free aspect of using the dot. No messing with his phone while driving to change apps or anything.
@Avalora I can see that… if the phone is an android check out “ok google” and if its iphone check out “hey siri”
https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6031948?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204389
Similar functions, sadly not integrated that well with the amazon apps on iphone though
I know the benefit is the outlet, but I am not buying anything with a 1A USB Port anymore.
Why is that driver in the images texting while driving!? He must be in Maryland or DC.
Bought the previous one last month and worked awesome for a road trip down to Disney
On for another for my car!
@blndfayth ok nvm reading the reviews…no thank u
@blndfayth I bought the one a month or so ago too and it doesn’t work well at all!
Since this thing will only kick out 1A on USB and 1.5A on the AC converter (175W/120V=1.5A), it won’t charge laptops or tablets that tend to need 2A just to initiate charging. Pretty weak tea.
175W should be enough to charge pretty much any laptop. Most laptop power supplies consume 110 watts or less (remember that at higher voltages - 120 in this case - you need less current to get the same amount of power).
No excuse for the low USB amperage, though.
The model pictured is not the model on amazon.
@gillianwander but it is the model posted for that model number at cyberpower…
https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/accessories/power-inverters/cps175su
@gillianwander Amazon lumped multiple models AND the reviews thereof together under one listing.
/giphy grievous-advanced-beggar
Well shit:
I went from not interested at all to slightly considering it after reading the write up. Good job!
Hey folks-- Anyone else have a bum inverter?
We had a power outage yesterday, and after cutting my finger trying to open the damn package, I connected it to my cigar lighter, LED comes on for 1/2 sec and goes out. Didn’t even have a load connected yet.
Battery was charged, Checked all my fuses, 30A fuse on the car, and fuse on the 12V plug, both fine. Plugged it in again, and LED came on for 1/2 sec and quit.
I got screwed on a few of those rope lights that were DOA and didn’t discover in-time for meh to honor the warranty. Makes me wonder if I need to test every product I buy from Meh ASAP, which makes meh gifts a little awkward: “Yeah, I had to open it and test it first, because the site I bought it from sells complete DOA junk most of the time with short return periods”.
@caffeineguy
Yes, yes you do… and you also need to factor shipping costs for warranty service into your value calculations when considering a purchase.
That said, I am still ahead, savings wise, on most things I have purchased here.
@caffeineguy I didn’t buy one of these as the amazon reviews said this was fairly common; 37% one star and 11% two stars there. Try taking the fuse out and putting it back in. That made it work for one person but for the most part the 48% that hated it had trouble making it work or couldn’t get it to work no matter how much they fiddled with how it was plugged in, etc.
Might be worth it for the buyers of the stuff sold here be a bit more selective and make sure the crap at least works… (e.g. read reviews in advance of deciding to buy a trillion of them, especially the negative ones, to see why it is likely being off loaded so cheap)
@Kidsandliz Yeah-- I get that’s part of the deal (dirt cheap refurbished shit, high failure rates, etc.) I suspect for some items we’re just an extension of a company’s quality control department. “Well, Betsy mixed up her 1K and 10K resistors, so half of these won’t work, but they also won’t blow up. Since we don’t have the time to test these 2000 inverters, lets send them off to one of those deal a day sites, where their customers can test them for us.” Same deal with refurbished products; I think half the time, refurbished means “returned and probably works just fine”.
Anyone remember those Stanley “refurbished” battery booster/air compressors sold on Woot once upon a time? My 3 either had a bad compressor, bad light, or were DOA. That time was especially special, they didn’t even want them returned because the lead acid batteries were hazardous waste; would have cost the vendor/mfg/woot several dollars a battery.