20 Most Recent Black & Decker Power Inverter PI400AB Questions & Answers

If your not getting enough voltage to the inverter it will beep to let you know you don't have enough power. Most common cause is a lose connection thru your cigarette lighter. Also if you turn your key off it might be shutting down power to your plug.
Make sure you have a good connection with your battery or plug adapter. You also need a good battery so you don't go into a low voltage condition which will make your inverter beep.

Question does not seem to match this inverters capability.

INFO:
This Power Inverter converts vehicle’s 12-volt DC power into household 115-volt AC power. AC and USB outlets power and/or recharge personal electronics.

We have owned one of these Power inverters for over a year now and have run a great deal with it, from TV to drill press PC and any thing that was small and that could run from my car. Very nice product.

SET UP: Connect wires. ensure correct polarity, push button on top. Plug in 110 volt appliance.

Hope this tip was of some use.

R/
David

The output of this inverter (and most others) is a modified sine wave, which isn't quite the same as a true sine wave - like you get from a wall outlet. Unfortunately, most transformers (which is essentially what your laptop power-supply is) require a true sine-wave. Your inverter will work fine for many other 110V applications. You can buy an inverter with a true sine-wave output, but they are more expensive.

There are two possibilites: the first is the over 400W power draw, the other is how you have the inverter connected. Do you have the inverter connected directly to the battery terminals (the clips) not the outlet plug (cigaretter lighter)? This is needed for any load over 80W and under 400W. (the inverter can handle a load demand over the 400W limit but only for short periods (800W).)

What is the load that your PC pulls (Is it a laptop or a desktop)? The laptop in my home has either a 65W or a 90W load (depending on the battery and the AC adapter we are using). Desktops take much more power (usually).

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

The issue is the newer inverter probably has more advanced protective circuits. It's most likely reading the phase differential in your voltage multiplier as a ground fault or short circuit but it's also possible the multiplier is causing it to draw to much current.
Since you said the muliplier is home made I'll assume you have a fair understanding of Ohm's Law and the other related rules. Check the actual amperage draw of the motor when your running off the house circuit. If it's within the inverters limits then you can try to balance the power factor (phase differential). Depending on how you built your multiplier you'll need to add either chokes or capacitors to balance your phase differences. "ELI the ICEman" voltage lead amps by 90 degrees in an inductor and amps lead voltage by 90 degrees in a capacitor.
Let me know if you need more help.

Check fuses

The problem of your inverter is from
your battery .your laptop and dvd
player requires little current to
operate.But you tv requires more power
to run, if your battery is low you it will
not last for 3 minutes. If your battery
has a low current rating, it will also be a
cause, for example, if it is below
100ampere hour. Lastly if your battery
is bad i.e. if it reads below the
stipulated dc voltage Require by your
inverter to operate.

This inverter is a good Walmart inverter.
I had one that worked for about 6 months.

There really is no affordable fix.

RECOMENDATION:
Take it back if you can as soon as you can, dont fix it..

Hope this Tip Helps.

r/
David

I can't answer your question but I strongly suggest you urgently contact the manufacturer or dealer in order to clarify this most important point as a 3kw inverter isn't cheap and shouldn't need replacing very often.

Sure, you can find it on amazon... here: Amazon com Husky jump start adapter . I hope I have helped. Cheers

well the yellow light indicates a fault, the 5 volt USB is independent of the invert-er function, you kneed your unit serviced or possibly you have a low voltage cutout or high voltage protect ,check you manual for led fault indicator descriptions, battery voltages should be between 10.9 volts and 13.8 volts this can cause a fault if outside this range.best regards Falco

Most power inverters supply a modified sine wave output. This is different from the true sine wave you get at home. It's close enough for many applications, but not close enough for many transformers, which is what your laptop power supply is. So the problem is that your laptop's power supply does not work with a modified sine wave input. Some will, some won't. Very common problem.