Aldi 600 watt inverter

[KraftyPg]

I know some people hate admitting they buy Aldi stuff and some claim it's cheap shit but given their no questions asked return policy I don't mind spending a few bucks and trying out their toys so I brought one of these.

Given it's cheaper price I was willing to accept that it's specs might not be all that well rated and that the 600W was more a selling point than anything else but having been stuffing around with the thing for a week or so now I'm still happy with the $59 outlay.

I haven't opened it up to check what's inside it yet but it works, it happily charges my drill batteries (which is what I brought it for not for any weird idea about needing 240V battery chargers to charge a battery that is charged by the alternator). It has two AC outlets which means I can use both drill battery chargers at once if needed and although I haven't fully tested it I was able to charge two batteries at once for their full flat to charged cycle (as indicated by their chargers) without killing the Aux battery.

Given that it's only ever going to charge the likes of drill batteries, phone batteries and other short term appliances I'm not overly worried about how long it would take to kill the Aux and I doubt I'll test it to find out. Still not sure the USB port will come in handy for anything I want but USB ports are all the rage these days and I guess someone could find a use for it.

Some time soon I am going to permanently mount it on the outside of my battery/tool box and wire it directly to the fuse block. It doesn't really need it's own fuse as it's protected internally by two 35A fuses but my fuse panel will provide a means of disconnecting it when I don't need it running.

So the 300W inverter which I probably paid more than $59 for about 8 years ago when I thought I needed to replace the inverter in the fridge is once again on the shelf and this bigger and probably overkill for I want inverter takes it's place. Now to get off my arse and build the mounts.

 

[qqc d22]

Yeah I choked, was gonna buy one was standing there looking at them thinking hmm I wish I knew what 600watts would run lol. I also wanted it for drill batt chargers for work, pissed off I tight arsed out and don't buy it now

 

[KraftyPg]

That's one of the issues with this or any product of it's like, 600W really means SFA to most people.

I've charged drill batteries on the 300W inverter and had no issues, I've charged the Sat phones on the fridge inverter and had no issues but that's not to say there wont ever be issues. All it takes is for the Aux battery to be down a bit, or for the user to charge the drill batteries more times today than they did yesterday and there can be problems. 600W isn't an assurance that you can do anything and everything but it also doesn't mean you can't.

I did a bit of research before I brought this thing and although Aldi products are hard to research at times I did find the manual online and I was able to get the full spec sheet which helped me prove that on paper this inverter was almost identical to one of the ones I'd seen advertised online from a larger retailer and the claims of what it 'could' run were also identical, laptops, battery chargers, and small appliances. (although this one did suggest I could run a large LCD HD TV too which I'm just not interested in trying)

 

[terryc]

I looked at that and thought, that you don't get reliable 600w inverters for that price.
Also, a quick number crunch says that is 50Amps from a 12V battery, which means heavy cables needed.

Krafty; does it have binding terminals on the back so you could use a pair of battery terminal cables on it?

In practical terms, 600 Watts is a light standard drill, provided that the 600Watts is not the peak/surge rating(the usual con-job by scammers).

Things like laptops (25W) and LED (1-5W) lights are a fraction of 600Watts.

Hmm, that would be a way to test it, plug in a power board with 4x150watt flood lights. Only trouble is that I don't have a battery bank that I want to damage doing it as it is double the maximum recommended discharge rate for either of my battery banks.

FWIW, Jaycar MSW Inverters have RRP of $49.95 for 150Watt(450watt surge), $69.95 for 300W(1000Watt surge) and so on.
I know my ancient laptop runs okay on Jaycar MSW inverters. YMMV

The USB power port would be aimed at campers, etc who want to charge mobile phones, ipods, gps, etc.

What do Aldi do after the cash back period is over if you take it back?
Just ask questions then refund anyway?

 

[KraftyPg]

It comes with cables that are about the same size as the cable I run from the front battery and when I wire it up I'll be using an off cut of that wire to wire it to the fuse block.

At $69 for 300W this thing only needs to be 50% efficient to be comparable to the Jaycar unit and although my testing hasn't been definitive it's definitely proven to be better than the 300W inverter which I did have in the car.

Aldi's warranty is 12 months. If it breaks at any time because they don't keep regular stock of any of these items they refund or refurbish just like any other supplier does.

 

[Dion]

I bought one. I haven't taken it out of the box yet, but I know it'll be handy for doing something stupid.

 

[KraftyPg]

Stick it in the front of the ute and you can shave on your way to work

 

[Old.Tony]

I bought one quite some time ago - the previous model to this one, in fact. Mine doesn't have a USB port.

Mine appears to be electrically isolated but has substantially inferior cabling for something that could draw 1200W peak = 100A.

As for what it could run - being modified sine wave, you're safe running things with switchmode power supplies (computers, laptops, netbooks etc). I wouldn't try running a bar fridge from it - although they're rated at fairly low currents for normal operation, their compressors don't "soft-start" so their startup current is phenomenal. Yes, I tried. The battery loses voltage in a big hurry and triggers the inverter's low voltage alarm, shutting everything down.

Still, out in the field, you can charge your phone, camera batteries and other things you could spend hours scouring eBay to find 12V-supplied chargers.

Would I buy it again? Yep. But heavier cables are absolutely essential unless you're within half a metre of the battery.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

I bought a 600W "pure sine wave" inverter from ebay recently, for the exact same reason, charge the battery drill.
The cables that came with it went streight to the bin, I put battery leads (35mm flex) on mine, and I binned the knurled thumb screws straight away and put a good old locknut on, with a bunch of sikaflex on too

 

[FatBoy89]

My eBay 600w pure sine wave has been workin flawlessly for over a year, only use it for charging batteries in the drill, using the soldering iron, and charging the go pro an such.
Mrs Has even used it for her "Hair iron thingy"
When we were running late for a bday.

 

[Krankin]

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Sine-Wav...AU_Boat_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae9a25ef9




I got this one not too long ago...no worries

 

[KraftyPg]

Finally got around to installing the inverter today. Thankfully I realised before it was permanently mounted that mounting the flat surface against the battery box would in fact make it difficult to plug in anything other than standard plugs which meant phone charges and other such power packs would never work.

Kind of a stupid design when you consider that even sitting flat and upright (as it's supposed to) on the work bench it's impossible to use a plug pack, but 5 mins with a screwdriver fixed that and now the 240V sockets have been turned 180 degrees to the way the maker intended.

For anyone concerned about the supplied leads not being enough to handle the 600W/1200 peak current, open the unit, look at whats inside them, then open a Jaycar one of the same rating and check what's inside. They are nearly identical. It doesn't take much to realise even the cheap shit Aldi products are over engineered and worrying about the cables from the unit to the battery is pointless.

 

[nathand22]

I bought one of these last weekend, are these "modified sine wave" or "pure sine wave" and can someone explain what the heck all that actually means as far as what i can and cant run with the two?

 

[KraftyPg]

For the price they are modified, you'll never get a pure sine wave for the price Aldi are chucking them out for.

Wiki is good enough for a description of the difference between pure and modified and it saves me typing it. As for what you can run with either that is entirely subjective, once upon a time it was said you shouldn't run sensitive equipment like laptops off a modified sine wave but that theory has been well rooted, booted and disputed by all but the purists.

The short answer is that most things you'll need to run from a phone charger to a laptop to a drill battery charger to an electric shaver will run fine providing you don't exceed the power ratings. (you could run a dc-dc charger too but that would just be silly)

 

[happy john]

Ive had one of these for a few years runs my camping washing machine bar fridge and laptops ect even a small hairdryer the wife has in the van brilliant for the price.

 

[nathand22]

so will this thing run things like an Aldi coffee machine, sandwich maker/jaffle iron, or electric jug or toaster??, the Mrs wants to put some of that crap in the camp trailer.

 

[KraftyPg]

Well maybe not all at once!

You'd have to know the power ratings of your items to get an accurate indication. When you see how dirty and filthy the power coming into your house is you realise just about nothing we use in day to day life is sensitive enough to be worried by the inverter, but your battery and the power consumption are the main factors you have to look at before you can say what will run or for how long.

If the instruction booklet for the inverter is still the same as when I brought it it actually says you can run a 50inch LCD off it. Of course it doesn't say for how long or what kind of battery you should use but it can do it!

 

[nathand22]

ok i just flipped the coffee machine over and the label says 240v , 50Hz , 1455w
does that mean it actually draws 1455 watt?? is that right??

 

[happy john]

Nathan most of that stuff will draw more than it's capable of the 1200wt peak is for a short time 600wt is continuous.Any 240 volt thing that needs heat will draw major current and is best left to gas but my 700wt grinder will run for a while even though it's beyond the inverters specs.

 

[nathand22]

thanks HJ, so basically if we want to run that coffee machine from the 130ah agm we will need to get a MUCH bigger inverter.
I didnt even bother to check as i never would of thought that thing would need so much power to bloody electrics,,, i hate the stuff.