I have a new peak performance tailgate 400W inverter that continuosly beeps at power on, and I measured 95vac at the output with no load. 12VDC input measures good - is there an adjustment pot for the output ? Or is it toast?

You either had it hooked up backwards or there was not enough charge on the battery you hooked too.

yes it does have a fuse inside where you plug it in the lighter should have a metel tip on the end will be spring and fuse inside behind metal tip

This will cause big problems. It will not work and will likely cause both inverters to fail. Power inverters must create the 60Hz sign wave from a crystal controlled internal frequency driver. It's like a clock that keeps the timing at 60Hz. 2 independent units will have slightly different clocks both in time and frequency. This would cause the output waveform of one unit to be out of phase with the second. If they are out of phase, they will look like loads to each other and likely fail. It would be possible if the inverters had a way to link their clocks or use only one clock. This could be designed in however I have never seen this feature. You can hook up multiple inverters to the low voltage side (12VDC), just don't hookup their 120VAC output side. Hope this helps.

Are you using a true-RMS voltmeter to measure the DR's output? The DR's output is modified sine wave, and a cheap average reading AC voltmeter will give you a reading of 90 volts or so. Alternately, if you have an oscilloscope, you can verify that the modified sine wave is around 170V peak to peak. It should alternate in segments of -170, 0, +170, 0... The duty cycle and peak voltages will vary with the inverter load.
- Tom, Sun Electronics International, Miami, FL

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

you need to check first the power supply board whether the output supply 12-24vdc for the inverter board is stable and not flactuating..you can measure the output voltage with a multitester..you get a voltage output of 12-24 with the inverter board is connected or loaded to the system.be carefull of the high voltage at the inverter board..once the output is stable replace the inverter board or you can measure the output of the inverter be very carefull..the output range upto 500vac.be carefull..if the high voltage is stable replace the lamps...tnx and good luck..

Hi Schnupfy,

Well, it may be advertised as 1800 watts, but that is a peak. While the 230 VAC may be dead on target, don't expect it to run a mig welder.

Sustained high output is totally dependent upon the power source. What it's doing is protecting itself. DCDC Shutdown indicated 'An overload or system Fault'

Possible problems that would cause this:

• The load is too high (what is the load?)
  
• The power source is intermittent or weak
• The power source is run through a distribution panel or isolator (Voltage drop)
  
• The wiring from the 12VDC source is too long for the gauge used

Click here for a PDF copy of the manual. It is quite well documented.

BEST REGARDS,
MIKE

paulcreber19, All audio amplifiers have their outputs measured for power output using a pure sinewave input of 1khz. With the outputs loaded with the appropriate noninductive, noncapacitve, purely resistive load (1% tolerance load resistors), a RMS voltage reading is made just prior to driving the amplifier into distortion or peak clipping of the output waveform. Knowing the RMS voltage and the OHMIC value of the load you will be able to calculate the RMS current (I) and then calculate the power using variations of OHMS LAW to find RMS power output. To calculate the absolute PEAK power (a measurement not used for rating audio amps anymore) you simply multiply the RMS power by 2.828 to arrive at PEAK pwr. So, your question should have been what is the power output per channel @ 1khz sinewave and less than 1% distortion with an 8 ohm, 16 ohm, 32 ohm load applied to the output. I'm pretty sure this is correct. If not, please let me know where I screwed up.
Bye for now. 12fixlouie

even the smallest inverter can run a laptop, something is wrong with this unit

I am thinking this a high impediance device problem and this is normal operation - the user manual of my inverter warns about use with high impediance devices - if not I am interested also...