Fake Wagan Elite item 2203

[dnix71]

Bought off of fleabay. I thought I was buying a used 180/360 Wagan Elite model 2200. New from Amazon is $80. This was $15 shipped. The label on the fake says Wagan 360/1000 item number 2203. It was damaged in shipping. The shipper used a flimsy box and air pillows instead of bubble wrap and most deflated. The damage to the battery post end was cosmetic, though.

It wouldn't run until I opened it up and resoldered the main hot lead to an outlet. Both outlets are jumpered together.

The seller also cheated the Post Office by sending the item as "media mail" That's a cheaper category reserved for books, dvds and cds, but no advertising.
http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail/senditwithintheus/mediamail.htm

After starting it I plugged in my Kill-A-Watt meter. The Kill-A-Watt display was dim and flickered. The frequency read about 10 Hz and the voltage about 130-135. It did run a pencil soldering iron but it isn't even close to what it was advertised.

The seller is in the US, so I emailed Wagan and asked what they want to do.


The fake Wagan Elite


The bent end from improper packing. I unscrewed the end and straightened this out.


Shipping label showing the seller cheating the Post Office


The reason it wouldn't work. The loose wire is the main 120v hot lead. I repaired this.

[Rover]

For those not familiar with the item, how did you know it was fake?

[dnix71]

For those not familiar with the item, how did you know it was fake?

It didn't really look right in the ebay ad, but the picture was small. The label on it actually lists the Wagan model number. A 2203 is much much larger than what I have and inside the inverter is a user serviceable 50 amp car fuse. That nails it. This is a 600 watt inverter and it puts out something other than a sine wave or my KillAWatt meter wouldn't act like that either.

This isn't poorly made but it d@mn sure ain't a 600/1000 watt sine inverter by Wagan.

The jerk that sold it to me cheated eBay, too. His listed price was $5 and $9.99 for shipping. Listing fees are based on the price. It's common practice by dishonest sellers to overcharge to ship. In this case the seller spent $2.96 for shipping by cheating the post office and made more money on shipping than he did on the item itself.

I got an email from Wagan. They want to look at it and offered to sent a call tag to get it.

[Rover]

Very cool, Kudo's on your follow up

[Volvo farmer]

The jerk that sold it to me cheated eBay, too. His listed price was $5 and $9.99 for shipping. Listing fees are based on the price. It's common practice by dishonest sellers to overcharge to ship. In this case the seller spent $2.96 for shipping by cheating the post office and made more money on shipping than he did on the item itself.

Well.. While I agree that the seller cheated the post office, I don't know that he actually cheated Ebay. Shipping costs are allowed to include reasonable handling fees. As the buyer, you agreed that 9.99 was fair, or you wouldn't have bid.  It is not dishonest to build a "handling fee" into the fixed shipping price.  Sure, you pay less Ebay fees that way, but it is no more dishonest than taking a legitimate deduction on your income taxes.

[dnix71]

Paying $10 to ship would have been fine if the seller actually shipped it properly. The box is very flimsy. That's why one end got dinged. The box originally contained a Phillips dvr remote control. The right way to ship would have been to go to the Post Office and send it in one of their flat rate Priority padded envelopes.

http://www.usps.com/prices/priority-mail-prices.htm

Wrap it in a thin bubble warp and then a padded envelope and pay about $6 to ship. The price on the web site is lower than I paid to use it recently. I think there is a small weight surcharge and delivery confirmation is extra.

I have bought a lot of small stuff off the internet recently and it all came in padded mailers except for this guy. Three memory sticks and a mains powered Apple laptop recharger.

The reason I bought the inverter is explained in another thread. Apple or Steve Jobs ( peace be upon him  ) has never made or allowed to be made an automobile charger for Intel mac laptops. I could buy a bootleg car charger from eBay HongKong

http://cgi.ebay.com/MagSafe-60W-Car-Charger-16-5V-3-65A-Apple-Laptop-/350416775662?pt=Apple_Laptops&hash=item519677a9ee

 with a magsafe adapter but my MacBook Pro is way to expensive to want to risk it that way. The only other mobile solution is a MikeGyver http://mikegyver.com/ (an unapproved mod using a Kensington charger).

The eBay listing for the inverter was also dishonest to me in that it was listed as used and working. It actually was new and a factory defect and the seller had to have known that. To say it was working was simply a lie. That main power wire was never soldered to an outlet. When I connected the inverter to a battery and turned it on, the power light went green and then a few seconds later the red fault light would go on and then go off and nothing plugged in worked. The wire is actually about 1/2 inch too short for it to be soldered the way it was intended. It should have been soldered parallel to the hot jumper and under the same shrink wrap but it isn't quite long enough to reach.

There is one other thing about this inverter I intend to ask Wagan Tech about. The ground is bonded internally to the battery negative. What would happen if a grounded appliance shorted? Would the battery float high voltage ac? And what would that do to the car's electronics and to someone who touched the body of the vehicle while standing on the ground?

[Bruce S]

dnix71;
I've been following this thread for a while now, very interested in where Wagan goes with it.
On the PCBs there's usually identifiers that will tell them where the PCB came from if it is at all legit.
Even if not legit, there identifiers they can check on that will tell them where the PCB was designed; from there they can back or forward track the assembly etc, etc, etc 
Since they offered to send a call tag, which is not cheap, I'd be very interested in what they find.

Come back with updates when you have the time or more info.

Cheers
Bruce S
 

[dnix71]

I sent it back on my dime Monday. $8.32 for 3-day select to Wagan in California. We get a big discount at work. I prefer UPS since it is trackable. The mail isn't. It arrived at Wagan a day early. I already got proof of delivery.

Michael Sparks was out of the office Monday, but the customer service rep I spoke to had already heard about it, so they must not like that kind of competition. I bought what I hope this time is a real Wagan Elite 180 for $95 from Wally World (site-to-store). The Elite series has a 2-year warranty. That and sine wave is worth paying for.

[dnix71]

Wagan emailed back today. They said it was a preproduction mockup. Maybe that's why the hot lead was never attached.

"Hi David,

Thank you for your time in this matter.  After further review, we have found that this is an un-released Wagan inverter from several years ago and we do not know how it got out on the market. For your time and the trouble this has caused we are willing to reimburse your purchase price as well as the shipping cost you incurred in sending the item to us in the form of a gift card.  Could you please send us your PayPal receipt so we can confirm the amount? In addition could you provide us with your mailing address?   I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Michael Sparks
Technical Support
 
Wagan Corporation
Tel: 1-800-231-5806"

That's fine by me. I'm not sure I buy their explanation. The model number matches a 1000 watt inverter they sell, but with a 50 amp internal fuse there is no way this could have put out 1000 watts even momentarily.

[joestue]

There is one other thing about this inverter I intend to ask Wagan Tech about. The ground is bonded internally to the battery negative. What would happen if a grounded appliance shorted? Would the battery float high voltage ac? And what would that do to the car's electronics and to someone who touched the body of the vehicle while standing on the ground?

this is normal for MSW inverters, there's quite a few threads on this...

[dnix71]

Here is the real thing bought site-to-store from Wally World. Note the banana plug adapter. No screws to lose. The frequency is 59.7Hz That's almost good enough to keep time with.



Site-to-store was a strange experience. I've bought that way twice before with little trouble. This time, FedEx tracking said Walmart received the inverter last Friday. I called Saturday and gave my name and the order number and the store clerk said there was no computer record of the order and he didn't know where the package was. Same story in person Monday afternoon. I gave a clerk the FedEx printout with the signers name and today they found the package with my name on it, but there is still no computer record the order was ever placed. Even a phone call to Walmart's Site-to-Store division didn't yield an answer.

The inverter was shipped from Bentonville, AR. I paid in advance through Paypal. They kept the shipping box and I signed a sheet saying I recieved it. When I flipped the inverter over I discovered why it's not sold in stores. The manufacture date is March, 2010. That's how bad the economy has gotten.