Black & Decker PI400AB 400 Watt Power Inverter

We bought this Inverter for a road trip from New York to Florida to power our laptop, cell phones, and nintendo DS. I read all the other reviews and they were very helpful. It wasn't as loud as some people said. There was a slight noise from the fan but no louder than the heat coming out the vents of your car set on low. I didn't even notice it really. It worked great and the kids were able to watch movies over and over without the laptop or the charging device getting too hot. I would recommend this product. It worked great for us. Just make sure you check the watts on what you want to power so you know it will be compatible with this inverter.

Tried 3 of these inverters and they all failed. At first it was while powering my laptop. the unit beeped 'fail' continuously. Then the exchange unit did the same thing even when NOTHING was plugged in. I know, some of you are saying my battery was dying!!! In three different cars?? I think not. I also did not like the power button had to be pushed each time you restarted the car. Give me a good switch anytime. I did like the USB outlet. Nice touch. I have gone to the Vector. So far so good.

I used this to power my HP Pavillion PC. It worked for about 5 minutes, then the fan ran very loudly (as mentioned in another review) for about 3 minutes, then there was a loud pop and it was dead! There is no reset button or consumer accessible fuse. I had owned it for 4 days. It worked well for an 8 hour trip when it was powering a small DVD player, but I can't recommend it for anything that draws much power at all.

I have a solar panel with this inverter connected to one of my security lights. The best thing about this inverter is the thermal fan that only turns on when needed. Not many if any at this price range can do this. I don't know how much of a power load it will handle, other than the rated 400 watts, my sytem only requires 60 watts for the flourescent flood light. My duration of ownership is only 1 month now, so far so good.

This inverter powered my MacBook Pro which draws 85 watts using the power plug in a box truck I rented. The plug tag and inverter label read up to 80 watts while the manual states up to 100 watts for the plug. The heavier gauge alligator clip cables are for higher wattage applications or you may blow your power port fuse. The alligator clips connect directly to the battery. If you permanently hardwire the inverter buy 6 gauge wire with a 50 amp fuse up to 6 feet long or 4 gauge wire over 6 feet. Both included cables are 3 feet (91 cm) long. Remember, Volts x Amps = Watts. The inverter draws 512 watts when output is 400 watts according to the label. Output is a stepped modified sine wave and NOT sinusoidal.

When the inverter fan comes on it is noticeable like a radio between stations at moderate volume (took me some miles before figuring it was the inverter). The housing stayed cool at 85 watts.

When Black & Decker fixes their dead links the manual may be available at [..] (search for PI400AB). Lowes and Home Depot were [..]for this inverter.