Community Forums

NCTom · 09-19-2008, 04:16 PM

I am in a campground in Wells, Maine having just arrived after an 8hr drive. I am hooked up to 50 amp but nothing works. I looked at the inverter and the readout says "Inverter Off - Low Battery". When I turn the Inverter on it stays on for a few seconds then shuts off again. When it turns on for the few seconds the readout says, "Low Batt - 9.7 volts"
After running for 8 hrs today you would think my house batteries would be fully charged. Unless they are completely dead. Right? Isn't the inverter run off the house batteries?
What I can't understand is if I am hooked to shore power why doesn't anything work?
Any suggestions/help would be appreciated.
Thanks. In the dark.......Tom

NCTom · 09-19-2008, 04:16 PM

I am in a campground in Wells, Maine having just arrived after an 8hr drive. I am hooked up to 50 amp but nothing works. I looked at the inverter and the readout says "Inverter Off - Low Battery". When I turn the Inverter on it stays on for a few seconds then shuts off again. When it turns on for the few seconds the readout says, "Low Batt - 9.7 volts"
After running for 8 hrs today you would think my house batteries would be fully charged. Unless they are completely dead. Right? Isn't the inverter run off the house batteries?
What I can't understand is if I am hooked to shore power why doesn't anything work?
Any suggestions/help would be appreciated.
Thanks. In the dark.......Tom

skigramp · 09-19-2008, 05:07 PM

If your rig has been setting for awhile the batteries may have discharged so far that the solenoid did not make the connection to charge the batteries while you were enroute ..

1) If you are hooked to 50 amp you should not need the inverter. The power from the cord should supply power to everything in your coach. (it may be the case that the automatic transfer switch depends on the house batteries to make the connection ... I am not sure where the ATS gets it's power)

2) If your batteries are reading 9.7 they are "totally discharged" ... they are so low that they probably will not engage the solenoid to connect the chassis and house battery banks. Batteries are pretty well discharged by the time that they drop below 12 volts ...

3) Is your battery switch ON? ... was it ON while you were driving? Do you hear a "click" when you press your MOM switch?

4) Do you wet cell house batteries? If you do have you added water to them lately? If not you need to add enough distilled water to cover the plates.

5) Do you have power when you run your generator? If it will not start, will it start if you press the MOM switch?

6) Do you have a voltmeter? If you do, disconnect the battery bank and test each battery to see if they all read the same ... if they do not then you have one bad battery that is jeopardizing the effectiveness of the bank.

After you have checked the water level and while the batteries are disconnected ... if you have jumper cables you might try connecting the battery from your Explorer to your house battery and see if that will cause the voltage reading to be higher.

That is all that I can think of from out here in Wisconsin ....

(PS on edit) ... I remember we were once in a very remote campground in Arizona ... nothing electrical would work ... I remembered that sometimes I need to do a complete restart on my computers ... unplug AND remove the battery ... let is set for a minute and then reconnect ... I tried that on my motorhome ... disconnected the power cord ... disconnected the battery ... let is set for a couple of minutes ... reconnected the batteries ... and everything worked ... I never did figure out what the problem was ... and it has never happened again)

cbeierl · 09-19-2008, 05:12 PM

Your inverter converts 12V from the house batteries to 120V. It should automatically turn off when you are connected to shore power or the generator is running, both of which supply 120V. The charger portion of your inverter/charger takes in 120V from shore power or your generator and charges your house batteries (and the chassis ones via your Trik-L-Start).

Normally when the engine is running the alternator will be charging the chassis batteries and also the house ones via the battery boost solenoid/contactor. This solenoid is supposed to connect the two battery banks together when the engine is running or the battery boost switch on the dash is pushed. In your case it sounds like that solenoid may not be working, allowing your inverter to discharge your house batteries.

Can you start your generator? If you can, do you have 102V power in the coach then? Have you checked all of your 120V circuit breakers?

theroc · 09-19-2008, 06:49 PM

I had a similar situation once where the circuit breaker on the inverter had popped while I was on shore power. The readout said "inverter off - low battery." I went out and reset the breaker on the front of the inverter and everything worked and the readout displayed normally.

Check the breaker on the inverter. It probably is not something so simple but worth a shot.

porscheracer · 09-19-2008, 08:42 PM

Part of the problem may also be that you have a bad relay in the house batery chargng circuit. We had to replace one because the house batteries would not charge from the main engine alternator - not would the battery boost work, at all.