Did I get a counterfeit power converter? It sure looks like it!

My power converter failed in the Imagine Travel Trailer sometime in the last few weeks. I noticed I had no power to the 12-volt system when I went in to check the level of water in the RV toilet. By the way, you really need to check that regularly because you don’t want that seal to dry out. Well, after doing some trouble shooting on my 12-volt loss, it was pretty apparent that the RV converter was the problem.

So, then the search began. I found the model I wanted on Amazon, a WFCO 9855-AD. The AD stands for Auto Detect. Then I found the model that I wanted listed as “New” (in Amazon returns) for half the price of a new one. I thought I had gotten really lucky. Well, not so much.

I knew a WFCO converter needed to have a serial number on the bottom of the unit that began with AC04. When the converter arrived, I found that there was no serial number on the unit. Could the sticker have been removed or fallen off? Maybe. So, then I began examining everything else on the label. I have to admit, to the untrained eye, it is a pretty good fake. I can certainly understand how folks might think it is a legit converter from WFCO.

Let’s talk about what was wrong on the label.

The WFCO Logo is incorrect. The real logo is the globe with WFCO written over it, not the model number. The WFCO Address is off by one digit. The model Arterra is spelled incorrectly with only one r (Artera). The phone numbers are close but incorrect. I also noticed that the fuses were 40amp, not 35 as specified on the manufacturer’s website. Of course, all of this confirmed that this was indeed a counterfeit converter.

Now let’s look at the correct label:

Note that the item has a valid serial number beginning with the first four digits as AC04. The Adress and phone numbers are correct. The second picture shows the correct logo and the 35amp fuses.

This counterfeit was made in China. It’s important to know that WFCO does have manufacturing in China and Tiawan. This is how China creates fakes, they take a good product and counterfeit it to look very similar to the real thing. This is exactly why I would never (if I were an American manufacturing company) have my products made in another country.

I tested the output of the converter, and it was spot on. The problem is, what might not be the correct inside the guts of the converter? Would it really auto detect? Would the converter act exactly the same as the real deal? Well, I’m not willing to take a chance on that so back it goes to Amazon.

I wrote in the return authorization data that this is a counterfeit item and why. I explained that that all of this was validated by the manufacturer. How much do you want to bet that “Amazon Resale” will just throw it back up for sale?

So, if you plan on buying from Amazon, beware the counterfeits! Perhaps just play it safe on important RV items and shop for a legit deal from an RV outlet. I can imagine many folks have bought this knockoff without ever validating it is the real deal. That’s why I’m writing this blog (video to follow on youtube).

Items like this hurt the consumer and the manufacturer. The consumer buys an inferior fake product and then gets angry at the manufacturer when it fails or doesn’t perform to standard. The manufacturer is hurt through lost revenue to a counterfeit manufacturing operation AND through undeserving bad reviews on-line.

So please be careful what you purchase on-line. DONT do what I did – sometime a deal is just a bad deal.