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newsGiandel 300W Pure Sine Wave inverter mini-review
I have owned a modified-sinewave 150W inverter for a very long time,
probably about 15 years, and it has been taken on camping trips.
However, has seen very little use, as it does not have enough grunt.
On a recent trip, I tried to use it to drive my LCD/LED TV (an old
55cm 1080p TV that I usually use as a monitor) and (not at the same time) my
"big" laptop, without success. The TV for example, the power-LED just
kept flickering on and off and the screen stayed dark -- it must be the
startup current is too high. So, time for a higher-capacity inverter,
and also one with "pure" sinewave output, more suited to driving
electronic equipment.
Actually, I do have a DC-DC converter for my "big" laptop, 12V in,
18V out, that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, and that works
well. Also, the TV is capable of running directly off 12V -- it would be
just a matter of making up a suitable cable.
So, there is no immediate need for an inverter, but I got the itch...
After some research, I settled on a 300W inverter. That suits the
maximum current that my powerbox is designed to handle, and is enough
for TV and laptop and something else running together. Or an electric
drill.
Prices vary from AU$78 to over $350 -- for what seems like the same thing. At the top-end, there is this Redarc 350W inverter:
https://www.mygenerator.com.au/redarc-350w-12v-pure-sine-wave-inverter.html
...I studied the specs in a PDF, and the no-load input current is
stated to be <0.9A. If the input voltage is 13V, then it is consuming
<11.7 watts. Efficiency is stated as 89%. Redarc is an Australian
company with local manufacturing, which these days is a rarity. It does
mean more expensive than Chinese products, however the quality is
top-notch.
https://www.redarc.com.au/australianmade
Fast forward to what I ended up purchasing, this Giandel 350W Pure Sine Wave inverter, for just AU$78.96, including delivery:
Note, this does look like a generic Chinese product. I have seen other brands on eBay and YouTube that look the same.
Before ordering, I contacted the vendor and they confirmed that they
ship by Australia Post -- some eBay vendors use Fastway Couriers (now
renamed to Aramex), but after they lost my parcel earlier this year, and
reading about them on productreview.com.au, I vowed never to buy from
any eBay vendor that uses them.
So, the Giandel inverter came by Australia Post, and it came fast, very pleased.
Here it is, setup, running off the lithium powerbox, powering my big laptop:
Now here is something very interesting: the online specifications
state that the no-load input current is 1 ampere. However, I measured
it: 13.3V input, at 0.47A. Only 0.47 amperes!
Most of the other 300W cheapies claim around 0.9A standby current.
Except I did find one that claims <0.4A, the Elinz INTPW300:
The Elinz inverter claims over 90% efficiency, and something
important, Australian "C-Tick" EMC compliance. I didn't give that much
thought at time, but the importance became obvious later, when I tested
the Giandel.
There is no C-Tick shown anywhere on the Giandel or the
documentation, nor can I find it on their website, giandel.com.au -- except that it does state "Australian standard design". Which
means that it is illegal to use in Australia, I think. It is probably
one of those legal-grey areas.
Anyway, the importance of EMC became apparent to me when I powered up
the laptop, and the USB mouse was very erratic. It would freeze
momentarily, work a bit, freeze again.
I did some searching with google, and found that this interference from inverters is
common with laptop touchpads, but I eventually found someone who had it
happening with their USB mouse.
Look at the above photo, where the mouse cable is draped!
Simple solution, moved the cable further away, and less interference.
At about 2 feet away, no interference. This is RF, high frequency radio
waves.
There is an earth terminal on the back of the inverter, which might
help if connected. If I had an "earth" to connect it to. What about when
in a tent, could "earth" be a steel peg in the ground?
Anyway, the solution is just to keep the inverter away from sensitive
electronic equipment. Probably in tent, have it on the floor.
The unit itself looks well made. Very heavy cast heatsink chassis, finned aluminium.
One very good thing -- the fan is intelligent, only comes on when the chassis reaches 40degC. So, runs silent, much appreciated.
I did consider buying the Elinz inverter. Their eBay page states that they use Australia Post:
But when I contacted them, they said that they use both Australia
Post and Fastway Couriers, and a couple others. Although I was enquiring
about the inverter, they did not specifically state which of those
carriers would be used, so their loss, I went elsewhere.
Regarding cabling, the Giandel unit came with two sets of cables, one
with cigarette-lighter plug, the other with crocodile clips.
The cigarette-lighter socket will be fused, maybe 10A or 15A, hence
the other cable set is required to obtain the full power that the
inverter is capable of. My powerbox has an Anderson plug output, so I
will use that to run the inverter -- the Anderson plug is rated up to
50A, but of course need to use heavy cable also. Anyway, my powerbox has
a 30A circuit breaker, limiting power output to around 13x30, which is
390W, a good match for the inverter. Though of course the inverter is specified to handle surges up to 600W.
I loaded the Giandel inverter a bit more: ran the desktop PC playing a video, monitor (my LED TV), a pedestal fan, and a pedestal lamp. All up, was getting 12.8V at 12.5A, which is 159W. Could hardly feel any warmth on that massive heatsink.
Tags: nomad