Tested: KickAss 1200w pure sine wave inverter

There’s so much gear on the market these days that it’s confusing and sometimes frustrating trying to find the right gear for the application.

I found this recently when looking for a new inverter for the 80 Series to charge up all our gear on the road; from the drone, several camera batteries, laptop, torches, batteries for the chainsaw and drill, and a few more.

Now, while it’s easy to jump online and just throw a dart at one of the cheap imports, I needed a serious unit for our stuff – plus it had to be pure sine wave to comfortably protect the gear and, as we travel remotely, it had to be extremely reliable.

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Receiving recommendations for KickAss products, I made the plunge to purchase its 1200W Digital Pure Sine Wave Inverter. The specs read well, with rated power at 1200W, peak power at 2000W, internal safety fuses, smart cooling system with twin fans, fully controllable display panel, and twin 240V and twin USB outlets (both rated at 2.1amp) – plus it comes with a separate external display screen with a five-meter lead.

Also in the box are thick power leads to reduce power drop when connected. The advantage of having the remote screen is that you can’t always mount the inverter in a way to access the 240V outlets and see the screen.

Using the buttons on either screen, it is possible to set different parameters away from the factory defaults such as under- and over-voltage ranges, short-circuit modes, the overload value and warning alarms. If something drastic does happen, fault codes are thrown up on the screen and, with the included manual, it’s an easy process to work out the issue and eliminate the fault.

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While it’s a large unit, the outer box is a combination of plastic and anodised aluminium which makes it extremely solid; plus it’s great for reducing weight on a build. The anodised alloy casing also serves as a heat sink to dissipate excess heat from the unit.

The twin 240V outlets are positioned in a way that even the most difficult right-angled chargers will fit. Having the external display positioned away from the inverter itself, you can easily see how much power the devices are taking out of the battery and also see the charge that the inverter is producing. Being Pure Sine Wave, it’s very smooth and consistent. In the range of KickAss inverter products are a 700W unit, a larger 2000W model and a monster 3000W mega unit.

A couple of times I’ve loaded up all the outlets and, while the draw is huge, the unit still produced a solid and smooth outlet current. Cheaper units lose massive amounts of power when converting from DC to AC, but KickAss claims its units have a 90 per cent or better efficiency conversion rate.

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All the inverters come with a two-year warranty – which is hard to find these days on quality gear. The 1200W Pure Sine Wave retails for $369, but keep an eye out on the company’s online sale page.

Based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australian Direct launched KickAss Outback Proof Gear specialising in quality 12V gear with a list of products as long as your arm, including shower units, fridges, premium solar panels, batteries and battery packs, 12V ovens, air compressors and fans, battery charges, as well as camping and adventure packages.

In fact, it stocks more than 300 products and is developing its own high-quality products for the camping, 4WD and caravan industries.

WEBSITE: kickassproducts.com.au