I initially had trouble because the unit REQUIRES a battery in order to work. (Not sure why, it can be plugged into AC and it has a transfer switch.) If you plug the PIC3000 into the wall without a battery, the LEDs and display will not turn on at all. I wanted to test the PIC3000 before spending $200 on a deep cycle battery, so I was able to test with my car battery and an electric light bulb and clamped jumper cables. This test does not yield 3000 watts (the supplied cables should be used), but the charger LED lit up, and the light bulb worked off AC power when the PIC3000 was plugged in. When I pulled the plug on the PIC3000 (simulated power failure), the light bulb went out for a couple seconds, then turned back on from the car battery. [TESTING UPDATE, I bought a 90aH "Interstate" battery and plugged in my 5.2 amp sump pump. The sump pump ran every 15 minutes for a few seconds, showing 570 watts on the display, did not see a higher startup surge. The battery was at 12.8 volts after 6 hours, in line with expectations, should survive for for a few days at that rate with no other appliances attached.]
Tech support is very difficult with this seller. No phone number is provided with the manual or packing list. I got a phone number and email address from royalpower.com. I left phone messages that were not answered and my emails got no response. Since I believed the unit was dead, I initiated a return. This attracted attention. After asking me again for my phone number, I finally spoke with a support person about 24 hours later. He explained the setup and it works.
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The unit fried itself in less than a week without even being under load. The company was quick with return instructions, but since I retuned it they don't respond to messages and calls and I have absolutely no idea when or if I will receive the replacement I have been wating for for several weeks now. Don't ever buy anything from this company.Best Deals for Royal Power PIC3000-12 Power Inverter 3000 Watt 12 Volt DC To 110
2 days into owning this power inverter I experienced a Power Fault error with 1 12V Marine Deep Cycle Battery as back-up power source. The battery had 122-Amp hour rating. I contacted Royal Power for a resolution and after delayed response got a recommendation to add in another battery to be connected in parallel to my existing one. I got an identical battery and connected it parallel using #2 gauge cables giving me a 12V battery with 244-Amp hour rating. Even with this set-up I still ended up with a Power Fault error with the inverter after another 2 days of testing.My experience with this product has since been very, very frustrating and Royal Power isn't much of help responding to the product's condition. It only worked for me for a few minutes simulating power outage and powering a 0.6HP sump pump. Just a few cycles of sump pump pumping out water with cut off AC power and then the Power Fault trips then shuts down the inverter. I'm not quite sure what else I need to do to resolve this issue except to assume that I might have a defective unit and have to replace it! I am one very unhappy customer.
Update 9/10/13, 3:01pm:
Was asked by Royal Power to send a photo of my set-up. This was in response to what I described above and they had wanted to validate if I had the right set-up since I was looking into returning the power inverter.
Update 9/10/13 8:09pm:
Sent Royal Power a photo of my set-up 5 times via email and Amazon to leave them no excuses not to reply. I had firmly stated that they give me a response on or before 9/13/13.
Update 9/13/13 10:20am:
Royal Power responded by asking me for a contact number-even if I had stated previously that I prefer email, something in writing. And calls may incur additional cost to me.
Update 9/13/13 10:44am:
I sent my contact number to give them ample time to call and resolve the issue.
Update 9/13/13 6:21pm:
NO CALL. Did not respond to my stated 9/13 deadline.
Update 9/16/13 10:55pm:
Still no sign of Royal Power-NO CALL NOR EMAIL.
Update 9/23/13 10:00pm:
Richard of Royal Power called on 9/17 and just left a message-NEVER even tried calling back since. This was the same reason why I wanted to correspond thru email because we'd end up playing phone tag again!!! Spare yourselves the headache, DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCT FROM ROYAL POWER.
Update 9/29/13 6:11pm:
Called Richard 2 more times on 9/26 and left voicemail on each call since no one answered during business hours. My calls were still not returned.
Update 9/30/13 11:03am:
Richard of Royal Power, or should I say Canada Inc./Goldcom, at last replied to me thru email giving me instructions on how to return the product. This was after the fact that I submitted a reimbursement request directly from Amazon because I needed someone else to mediate between myself and an unresponsive/uncooperative seller. Lesson to take away? If you want a response from this seller, file for a reimbursement and they will get to you in a moment's notice. It is as if they were already anticipating that you'll eventually file a return/reimbursement. And besides, from a business standpoint, having the customer just return the product is the EASIEST WAY OUT and most cost-effective rather than having some company representative like Richard do Customer Service.
Update 10/3/13 10:02pm:
I finally gave up on this product after having bought another 12V battery (I now have 3). I tested it and the charger doesn't even seem to work. Again, with lack of tech support AND mismatched operator's manual... just outright frustrating. This could have been resolved had it been Royal Power paid close attention to customer service. So I shipped back the garbage from where it came from. Just give me back my money and I will have another more deserving power inverter company have my business. I'll say this again, Royal Power or Canada Inc./Goldcom, please do all of us a favor-get out of Amazon and do your monkey business elsewhere.
Update 10/5/13 9:46am:
UNBELIEVABLE! I shipped the garbage back via USPS, paid $26.48, and sent both Royal Power & Amazon the Tracking Information. I had raised my concern to both parties about the shipping fee that I should not end up shouldering more than I originally paid. But what do they reimburse me? Just the $19.99! Basically I paid to be inconvenienced.
!!!BUYERS BEWARE!!!
I think I'm going to miss this "Dear Diary" moment. NOT.
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