I have not tried it with a draw near its max of 175W but at lower draws it is fine and always runs cool, thanks to the built in fan. That is also the only negative I have after a month with the unit -- fan noise. It is loud enough to be noticeable over normal road noise, although the car radio drowns it out at normal volume. I think I can put up with the fan because otherwise it seems a very good unit. Maybe they could hook the fan to a sensor and only have it run when the unit gets hot. The shape is good for my pickup's dash arrangement and being all-in-one it doesn't slide around or need securing. Overall, a good unit that has done the job. Xantrex Technologies 851-0178 XPower 175-Watt Micro Inverter
This little inverter is perfect because there are no bulky boxes or wires running all over the floor of the car. Perfect for my laptop and for my cell phone charger. It has it's own little fan built in that keeps it from overheating. So far so good!
I am a traveling sales guy , and I use this thing everyday, I purchased this one after I recieved 2 broken Wagon tech ones from amazon, This brand is BY FAR the most well put together, built very solid, and works well. I usually never write reviews, but I had to for this one.
I fly American Airlines coast to coast. Most American planes have DC outlets under the seats. I was able to plug the converter in the DC socket, plug my computer into the AC outlet and work and use the internet service without running out of battery power....Highly recommend for this application. Just make sure you purchase the correct wattage rating. I use a Dell laptop and the 175Watt rating worked well.
I bought this device trying to eliminate endless number of car chargers for cell phones, PDAs and DAPs used in a car.
What is good for this inverter
1. small size
2. a good fit in cig lighter that provides AC feed without interruption at bumpy ride
What is bad for it
1. relatively tall, so it can't fit in some cig lighter when not enough vertical clearance
2. noisy, because it has fan, so it can be a problem for listening music not so loud
3. no on/off switch so it needs be unplugged if a car doesn't support of automatic switch off of cig lighter
4. fan moving parts make me think that it can break
Overall it's a good device and I'm mostly satisfied with it.
The cooling fan was making noise on initial use. After a few hours of use the cooling fan stopped working causing the unit to overheat. It could have been an isolated occurance. I sent it in for exchange. Otherwise it's a nice design.
I read a lot of the reviews before purchasing and thought that this looked like a pretty good deal. Worked great for the few times we traveled, but stopped working in November. I contacted Amazon and was told I would have to contact Xantrex for help since it was past their thirty day return policy. Fair enough. Started with my first contact with them on 11/11. Took until the 26th to get an answer after two more emails. Said they needed serial # and proof of purchase to start an RMA. I even tried the inverter again and had to pull it as smoke began to pour out of it. I supplied the required material on three different occasions (as well as telling them about the smoke) and finally let them know I would be contacting Amazon about their poor response. Still nothing. I suspect that they'll probably get around to answering around January 15th to tell me I'm too late, as the warranty expires on the 14th. I will not be buying from this company again, and would definitely not encourage anybody else to buy their products.
The product works as advertised. However, it occasionally emits a high pitched sound which I identified as a hardware issue with the mini fan which resides in the unit. Something is loose: either the case that holds the unit together or the mini fan inside. After I fumble around with the unit for a minute I get the sound to go away. But it's annoying to have to do this. I have only used the unit a few times so far. Perhaps the noise will go away entirely...or it might come back and never go away. So I remain concerned. When the unit isn't hissing at me, it's great. - Automotive - Inverter - Ac-dc Converter - Micro Inverter'
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