
CON'sWorthless because of the safety switch.
In a power inverter, you would expect some loss to the output rating based on your power source. The unit is rated as being able to output 500w on a direct 12v battery terminal as the source. I found the unit struggling to keep up with a 200w coffee maker, designed for low wattage usage for camping and diverse applications. Never-mind if you want to run a 75w laptop on the inverter while in 100w mode (using the cigarette lighter as power source). This unit's safety power overload whatever function is too sensitive, it is ridiculous as i try to balance turning on the unit and plugging my devices into the unit to see how it will function.
I bought it, tried it for a weekend and returned it to Lowes. I will not buy another Stanley electronic device because of this unit.I use a lot of inverters to power various electronics when on the road. Most often it is for laptops, camera, and various charging units.
The Stanley PC509 is a decent unit. The two sockets are conveniently placed on the front of the unit. Though not quite enough space to accomodate two power bricks, the placement is more convenient than other units. There is also a USB charging plug so that smaller electronics such as cell phones, Point-and-Shoot cameras, iPods, etc., can be charged with just a USB cable. This more than makes up for the spacing of the plugs. The sockets also have covers which is a nice touch.
There are some minor downsides. First, the unit is much larger than comparable rated units. It's too large to fit in the center console of my car so ended up on the floor. Not a big deal, but the other downside is that the fan is quite loud. The fan doesn't run continuously, but when it does, is quite noticeable even when on the highway.
Other things to note:
1) The cigarette adapter will not power the unit to the full capacity. Though rated at 500W, the cigarette adapters on most cars top out at around 120W. Direct battery connect cables are provided, but if you don't anticipate using it attached to the battery, go with a lower rated unit and save $30.
2) Even without load, this thing will pull power from your battery. I'm not certain if this is true for all inverters, but I almost drained my battery when I left the inverter plugged in.
Buy Stanley PC509 500 Watt Inverter Now
I've had the unit about one week and have been using it to power a laptop. I have mine tapped directly into a live circuit of my vehicle's wiring. This was a major pain in the butt, but I wasn't sure how well it would run off the cigarette lighter.Cons: I've been having the same problem as David. Sometimes the unit goes into protect mode when I start my vehicle. Yes, this is annoying. Thankfully, I have the unit installed within easy reach, so I can live with the problem... but still annoying. Sometimes it takes several tries to get the unit running again. The fan is also a little noisy, but it rarely runs when I'm using it, so far.
Pros: Key things I like about the overall design and layout of the inverter:
1. Angled receptacles
2. USB charging port
3. Front mounted rocker / power switch, so I can easily turn off the unit when not in use.
Those were the selling points for me, compared with other products on the market. Also the price... $40 at the local big box home improvement center.
Read Best Reviews of Stanley PC509 500 Watt Inverter Here
projects...I bought two of these for my windmill. I have a 24v windmill goes to two batteries thus invert to ac current. My lab top went crazy once in a while and the mouse got really sensitive. So I use them for lighting and radio or hopefully to charge my ev car in the future.Want Stanley PC509 500 Watt Inverter Discount?
I used this unit to power various AC devices in a U-Haul truck during a cross-country journey (a small boom-box, laptop PC, camera charger). The total load was less than 200 watts.Every time I cranked the truck, the unit tripped and was dead. I had to turn it off and back on, and about half the time it would not trip again (eventually, after cycling it enough times, the power light would stay green and we were good to go, though sometimes I had to cycle it seven or eight times).
I attached the unit directly to the battery using the (very short) cables provided. That means the unit has to be under the hood if you want to use the provided battery cables. I had a power strip in the cab, and ran the connection to the inverter. So, every time I cranked the truck, I had to get out, raise the hood, and cycle the unit (often multiple times). That got really annoying each time I had to stop for gas, or to grab a meal, or when starting out for the day.
It did not matter if there was any load attached, either when cranking the truck or when cycling the unit with the truck running (I unplugged the power strip no difference).
Also, the mounting for the posts that attach the unit to the power source (either the battery or cigarette lighter) were both broken if you push on them, they would disappear into the unit. I had to be very careful when attaching the power wires so that the posts would not become inaccessible.
When it was working, it was great. But it was hard to get it working.
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