Review and Teardown of a 1500W CNSWIPower Pure Sine Inverter 

Please turn off "Stable Volume" in the video playback setting (the first menu item after clicking the gear icon) as for some reason, this new RU-vid playback feature made the video much noisier than usual.

It's awesome to see people like you that do an in-depth specs as well as performance test without any bias

Great video! I wonder if the efficiency would have been higher on the top end if you could have held better voltage with a better battery setup?

On The Max wattage test, The input voltage dropped below 11 V. The Low input voltage preventing you from getting the max output wattage. I suspect a problem with the input cables, or the battery pack that you're using. You need to redo your test.

nice review! I have the 2000w and was impressed with it so far.

Comprehensive and relevant testing of this inverter. I wish I could see the same tests on their bigger inverters (with the output screw terminals). I think you should be in charge of the design team for these inverters (LOL). Thank you very much for sharing...

Man them amps must be brutal on the batteries now I remember why I went 48v. My brother you never did check the input on the batteries I am willing to bet you were drawing more than 1500w of power from the batteries to produce that 1300w not a bad inverter at all and very good video presentation.

The board pointed at 26:00 is *not* the main controller (the beeper board is the main board, more on the end and bonus), surprisingly, it is just the S-PWM controller, the cristal there is just to ensure precision to the 60hz. The "custom chip" is just a PIC16F628 wide body with appropriately program inside to generate sinusoidal wave through PWM. The other two chips are id7s625 (iDriver's version of ir2110, it's a High/Low side driver, uses a isolated power supply (one of these rised board with a mosfet 33:40) to drive the gate of the igbt with 15v. Together they make a Module called Egs002 spwm generator. The board with a mosfet 33:40 is an internal power supply. It provides 5v for the other 2 boards, 13v for the low voltage mosfet and 15v isolated (non-shared negative) for the igbt's The last board 33:30 is the main board: where the beeps come from, *is not just the beeper*, its where all measurements are processed. Uses a PIC16f648 with no external oscillator, it drives the low voltage mosfets, turn on or off the spwm board via optocouplers, and do all over and under voltage protections. Bonus: those 85GT33sw are not igbt's, they are N-channel *mosfets* rating 85A and 330Vds, n-type like those igbts neighbor. Steangely the manufacturer chose one side of the H-bridge to use mosfets and the other side to use igbts. Since only one side do the PWM, the other side just turns "On" on the opposite polarity, so maybe to reduce cost to use a high speed component just to turn on and off at 60hz.

I never understood why companies made 120V split phase inverters, I’m glad to finally see one that’s made properly!

Have been looking for a good review of this inverter thank you

The small chip on the power supply module is a very popular one, I don't know why you can't find information for it. It's uc3438 manufacturered by TI

Hi, My guess would be the waveform deformation on startup of the grinder is a direct result of those small transformers or maybe the choke saturating under a heavy transient load......

Here's the crazy thing - the modern version of this inverter no longer has a switch that can shut it off. It's still marked On/Off, but it's a rocker switch (looks the same as the one you have) that only allows the unit to be turned on, then it springs back to the 'Off' position without turning the inverter off. Both the unit and the remote only have the 'On' function.

As others have mentioned, this was a very poor test of the wattage capacity. The voltage input reached minimum and that is what caused the cut out. The DC AH supply needs to be sufficient to prevent the supply voltage dropping. Then you will be able to test the actual maximum wattage out.

Thank you very much friend, now i know to stay away from CNSWIPOWER inverters,since they on purpose sanded off the label on the control chip,and that is what kills most inverters, and then no one can repair them, what a shame! i have 2 others here with unmarked ICs also, both broken at the control board, but i am now modding them to use the good and very cheap EGS002 board for the 2nd stage,the 220VAC, and also the SG2535+LM358 board for the first stage( the 380 VDC),these are only 2 dollars each, for the time being i am also using a EG1000W board,the 3000W version Now i am looking for an inverter that uses those boards. Do a test of an inverter that uses those modules..

Thanks: very helpful teardown. I've watched/read your other related work, it's excellent too. One question/comment overall, I don't think you discussed it. It seems that an American resident with 110V AC and 12V AC automotive is being hindered by the low voltage requiring much bigger currents than from a European POV: 230/240V AC. Did you consider using a 230/240V AC output inverter, and then just using a transformer? You have an extra issue with frequency though, if you use a 50Hz system though. But maybe it's not such a big deal with what you need to power? The other issue is getting away from 12V DC, and going to 24V or ideally 48V. But that needs a different alternator.

Hello Kerry, excellent review and explanation on how they work. I wonder how difficult would be to modify such inverter to work at higher DC input voltage and deliver 110 VAC. I have a battery pack with 220 VDC to which I intend to connect a pure sine inverter. Any thoughts about the extend of modifications?

Thanks for sharing....your video is very impressive...looks like you have a real test lab at your disposal.....with reviews like this I prefer to see the unit's performance compared against the manufacturer's guaranteed performance specifications...usually listed in the manual..also, I suggest using your power harmonics analyzer to measure the THD instead of saying "the waveform looks pretty good"...that is very subjective...does the unit's THD remain in spec. NL to FL or not...another small point..... besides frequency I would think you would check the unit's output voltage regulation NL to FL (i.e. 120 V plus/minus 5%)....that is pretty important spec. for inverter users...at 1300W it was only supplying 108V....that is 10% below nominal 120V which is not acceptable....especially if the input voltage is within the mfg. spec.........furthermore when you connected the neutral to ground it didn't appear as though the unit was grounded (earthed)...so this test is incomplete and also dangerous IMO since if there was potential on the neutral you would have energized the metal case of the inverter.....do you know if this inverter is US UL or ETL approved and registered? that is very important...I look forward to more or your inverter reviews....thx!

Good review. A question remains about the temperature and cooling performance. I've got a similar 1000W inverter. When the load is close to maximum, the fan starts immediately, as we can see in this video as well. But when it runs at, for example, 1/2 power, in course of time the case becomes really hot (about 70-75 °C), and the fan still doesn't start. I wonder whether it's normal for these inverters. Anyway, it is not good.

Where Ca I get the manual ? Input over-voltage shutdown ? and Input under-voltage shutdown ? Thanks anticipate for any help.

Thanks for sharing this. Looks like a well made inverter at a low cost.

Wow your review! Excellent! 👌

Nice video very informative, please make more Teardown videos on inverters. Keep it up. I was a bit confused when @30:28 you said "600 Watts" for the fast diodes, obviously a slip of tongue. I was reassured when I went to your website though. Thanks

How does this inverter compare to the Reliable so glad I ran across your video. I have been shopping inverters and have the Reliable and the CNS in my shopping cart. I just need to figure out which one is better quality. Which one would you recommend?

Hey tell me how I'll adjust the trippot so i can get full 1500w,i have same inverter but cuts off at same 1300w

My 230v Epever off-grid inverter shows 115V between Neutral and Earth and 115V between Live and Earth. How should I hook this up to my ATS, can I short N and E ?

Thx, for this comprehensive video. I have been on the lookout, for a decent, small-form inverter, for my portable solar backup power supply .Given your -& other RU-vidrs- positive review, I believe I will go with the 2000W version, over the Reliable one. I do find it interesting that someone with your electronics knowledge, & experience, is unable to resource information on certain ICs, etc.. Do you think that China is deliberately innovating {or misrepresenting their IDs} components, with a view of preventing anyone else reverse engineering their circuitry? If so; somewhat ironic!

What concerns me is the DC voltage SAG may have tripped it

Thanks for the info.

I'm surprised you didn't have more of a reaction to the doubled-up capacitors at 33:03 - let's just say that they haven't exactly covered themselves in glory there. Also, at the same timestamp, that's a "Songcon" cap - not exactly Nippon Chemicon like the others you mentioned a few seconds later around 35:36. Having said all that... it's only $142. So efficiency is pretty damn good for the price.

Can someone share any information about the remote control port on this unit? I'm considering interfacing it with a microcontroller to access its on/off and alarm features. Thanks!

Would a soft start inverter damage my Mac Book Pro ? I'm looking for a inverter to charge and run it while off grid . Thanks.

Is it possible to adjust the output AC voltage on this inverter? It has not been mentioned in this review. Thanks.

Curious if all that noise when you start the angle grinder is just produced by the grinder, or is the inverter messing up. Could you do the same test but use the heater? Just switch it on max, and see if the sine output breaks up? Also wondering why those 2x40A fuses didn't pop since you were well over 100A coming out of your power bank. I'd be interested to see similar performance tests and teardown on any 24 or 48Vdc input portable inverters if any good ones are out there. Thanks for the video.

Love your video, I have a ??? You use your 12v battery to supply that converter. In return Can that converter charge that battery at it running. Thank you

hi dear friend please explain to me why there are different IGBT transistors on the formation of a pure sine? Thanks a lot

I bought the 3000Watt model ive heard nothing be good reviews of this company

This is a UC3843

Gee, I'm first. Looks like good quality components. Would like to have seen how much heat sink compound was under one or two MOSFETs . Thank's for this and all the other videos.

In the first test it didn't turn off because of 1300 watts it did because of low input voltage. You were not paying attention

The warning was because of the dc voltage being low 10.8

the 2000watt is way beefier and well worth the extra 30 bucks

- Good to see that you tested to identify if it is set up 120 split phase or single phase. That is seldom tested, yet useful information for anyone wanting to use it in more ways than simply plugging into the outlets. However if you ever reverse the primary polarity by accident on an inverter like that, it will usually result in game over for the inverter. - .4A is good for standby, but I noticed often what is advertised for standby is usually higher than I measure. Example: The Giandel 300w lists .6A but it measures .22A. The Bestek is high, but the USBs are hot when the inverter is off. - While not useless nor necessarily unreliable, the quality is low from a low-tech facility from what I see in the video. They are using two simple transformers rather than a purpose-built multi-tapped transformer with controlling circuitry. The board power side is a mess. You will see no such mess on a Samlex, Go Power!, or Xantrex. Those also must be physically larger to incorporate the wide traces, and require special-purpose-built machines for each model that stacks and solders those traces, and solders in higher-quality components. - I agree with your analysis of the low-voltage cut-off. If you stick with the recommended "no more than .25v loss at max continuous amperage", then one could make the argument that it is set far too low. However, you need a large battery bank and cables the size of an anaconda if it is located any distance from the batteries. That is not an environment which a low-cost consumer inverter is likely to find itself. I look for lower cut-offs myself because otherwise with a little resistance, and as soon as the battery loses much more than its surface charge, they kick out. The higher re-enabling voltage also makes sense because if the voltage does not bounce back to that level under no-load, then the battery is discharged below where you would want it to re-enable if you plan on being able to start your car or prevent shortening the life of your non-deep-cycle battery.