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Review on πŸ”Œ POTEK 3000W Power Inverter - 4 AC Outlets, DC 12V to 110V AC Car Inverter with 2 USB Port and Bluetooth Connectivity by Alvaro Delic

Revainrating 3 out of 5

The best value of many tested so far; But unfortunately my search for a true offline solution continues.

Note to buyers of this and other inverters: the dizzying squeak CAN be turned off. This may or may not void your warranty, which is why you have been warned. You need to (carefully) open the inverter when it's not connected to a power source and find (DO NOT touch, they're high voltage batteries or anything) a SMALL black cylinder *no bare metal* that looks like ( β€’ ) from above. It won't be easy to see, but it's less than 1 inch tall and its exterior is made of hard plastic. It's smaller than battery stuff, but usually larger than small - I think they're called capacitors - battery-like things that you should leave alone, but smaller than the larger-looking batteries, which are actually high-voltage (100-200+ volt) batteries, as far as I know they are all soldered to the top of the PCB. Make sure there is only one cylinder like the one you have identified and that it is plastic and not something important that the inverter needs to function. Using needle nose pliers (ideally insulated) or something similar that can grip, turn the little screamer around until the base wiring separates from the solder and board. Pack and set up an annoying POS on a wooden board and hang your other gaming trophies over your fireplace. Switch on the inverter again. It will work great and even the indicator light and auto-off functions will work without any issues; They just don't have the shrill voice to yell at you when your batteries are low. Potek customer service isn't as available as some other reviewers have described, but this thing is MUCH more solid and well built than other models. An inverter I've blown (literally) but the low voltage cutoff kills its usability. I'm thinking of connecting my battery to 18V so I can use this thing with AC power. I'm not sure how this could damage the inverter as it can work fine with 15v charge voltage from the alternator and actually seems to work much better at 13+ volts. If you're only getting 12.5-12.6 volts from your battery pack and the alternator isn't running, this thing will shut down and yell at you (unless you've removed the little screamer) if you plug in any significant current draw, z AC/heater or power tool. To my knowledge it is not possible to disable the low voltage cutoff and customer support is virtually non-existent in 2020, contrary to previous reports which suggest Potek has been very helpful and approachable in the past. .This could be my battery, most of them are newer AGMs and the old ones have been refreshed with distilled water and can normally power a 12v fridge, pet fountain and anything else that uses 12v for days or even a week. after Tropf went on strike due to low voltage. What's frustrating is that this inverter would be more than powerful enough to do everything I need if the low voltage cutoff could be turned off, but many things like compressors will briefly drop the current to 9.8 or even a 7 volt range Time at first start. As a result, I rarely have it, in fact, I think I never understood it, I think you're giving me more than 2000 watts at a time, even in the form of a momentary surge. That's a fifth of the advertised pulse power. Unfortunately, my search for a true standalone power solution continues. :/

Pros
  • nice thing
Cons
  • I don't remember, but there was something