AC power only on inverter and no charge

[Stillwater]

I've searched archives but to no avail, here is my problem
Monaco Diplomat
-Lost all power to ac outlets on shore power or generator power
-outlets work with the inverter turned on
-Inverter is not charging batteries
-EMS panel lights up shows either gen set or shore power on line amps but shows 0 for amps being drawn by any loads
-AirCon still works and shows amp draw on EMS
-110 volt water heater works and shows load amp draw on EMS
-I have voltage at the electrical panel/ circuit breaker panel with shore or gen set
Any ideas???
Thanks

[Diplomat Don]

Lyle....Take a look at your inverter. It should have two push in circuit breakers on the side that faces you. Check to make sure they are pushed in.

[Stillwater]

Don, mine only has one 20 amp push in breaker. I have two 20 amp toggle breakers. I have checked them. I also checked the GFCI plug and it works but only in inverter mode but not on shore power which makes sense as the circuit is dead on shore power.
The main transfer switch for the gen power and shore power is switching but I'm starting to lean towards a possible defective transfer switch in the inverter itself.
Possibly it is stuck in the inverter mode or bad control circuit which would explain the no charge as well as the dead ac circuits when on shore power. Or is there a relay or fuse somewhere for that?
If that's the case anyone know how to troubleshoot it.

[Diplomat Don]

Lyle.....It looks like everything is pointing to the inverter. All the items you said are working are not generally powered by the inverter. Your microwave shouldn't work either. You may have a bad inverter. You didn't say what type you have. I would try and reset it (reboot it like a computer) by disconnecting power (turn battery switches off) and disconnect the phone style lines that send data to your control panel. Let it sit for a few minutes and then reconnect everything. This probably won't fix it, but is always worth a try with any type of electrical equipment.

If that doesn't fix your issue, you may have to call the manufacturer to see if they can give you some troubleshooting ideas. If it's a Magnum inverter, they're pretty helpful.

Last but not least.....if you do need a replacement, check Northwest RV and MegaTech for a new inverter. They buy excess Monaco parts and sell them at great prices.

[Robi.1014]

In addition to the good stuff that Don offered, I'd suggest confirming absolutely that AC power (shore or genset -sourced) is making its way to the input of the Inverter....by popping-off the wiring-connector-cover and measuring the AC voltage there.

[Stillwater]

Thanks for the info. I've tried the reboot which didn't help. Mine is a Heart/Xantrex 2000 I believe. As I've discovered it only runs the receptacle circuit on one breaker the microwave on the other breaker and battery charger. However tonight we have good news and bad news. We are at an RV park in Jackpot tonight and after I plugged in to 30 amps at the pedestal I shut the inverter circuit breaker off and was going to wire around the inverter to see if the receptacles would work. About then we decided to go to the casino for dinner and when we came back I turned on the circuit breaker for the inverter one more time before rewiring and behold it works. Now the bad news, I have no idea why which always leaves me wondering when the next failure will occur. I'd rather find something broken and fix it then I know'
In the meantime thanks for the help

[LewF]

Stillwater,

The more that these coaches become controlled by intelligent (?) electronics the more possibility for strange things to happen. I have had a couple of problems on our coach that, after extensive trouble shooting with no positive results, I solved by shutting down all power, waiting for 30 minutes, and then restarting. I even recently had a problem with a new flat screen TV in our home where it would not respond to any command - remote or local control. I finally unplugged it, waited and plugged back in and everything worked fine. I have given up trying to figure out why this sometimes fixes the problem. May not have anything to do with your problem but that charger/inverter must have some solid state control circuits and sometimes they "glitch".

Another point that you have probably figured out is that securing all power to the coach is sometimes difficult. You can unplug AC, open the battery disconnects and power will still be provided to some circuits, and if you have a solar panel it provides power when the sun shines and it may need to be disconnected. Sorry for the ramble but I find it to be a continuing effort to learn and completely understand our coaches these days to keep them working in top shape. Sometimes it just takes a cold restart to fix a problem.

Lew

[wa8yxm]

Lost AC power to all Outlets except for those powered by the inverter? What about other things, Air conditioners are not normally run off the inverter, Fridge, Water heater?

If you have lost ALL AC power.. Which I suspect you have, then your problem is NOT the inverter but.. Something else.

Suspect #1 is the MAIN breaker on your breaker box
Suspect #2 is a screw or 20 loose.. again I'd start with the breaker box

Suspect #3 is the automatic transfer switch that switches you from MAINS to Generator.. or rather should. And I should point out this is not a wide race.. They are on each other's heals, A very close race.

After that things get a bit harder to diagnose

But check the main breakers first.. Open the box (if you know how to do it safely) and measure voltage from the main breaker (or both if you have 2, main breakers) to the neutral bus. (White wire bus)

If you got it there, then it is getting lost down line, measure the output of each breaker to the white bus.

Also tighetn all screws in that box (DO THIS WITH THE RIG UNPLUGED AND THE GENERATOR OFF PLEASE.. ALL screws. Black, WHite, Green, Bare,, ALL SCREWS.

[Robi.1014]

Stillwater,

Now that your Inverter is "up", I agree that understanding the "why" of this failure is appropriate.

My suggestion written above to "absolutely confirm" that there was AC-input at the Inverter would have shown (during the time that it was failing) that juice was just not present. So the next step would have been to troubleshoot "upstream" of the Inverter's input: the circuit breaker that you have now reset (and now things are working!!). Breakers seldom fail, but it sounds like you may have an exception. FYI, Home Depot and Lowes are under a breaker recall because of bad/phony breakers from China, I heard. But I digress....

First: Remove the cover from your bedroom electrical box and do a visual on the wiring that departs from the circuit breaker in question. Insure that the breaker's screw for the black (hot) wire is fully tightened. Then if this problem happens again, replace the breaker. PS: Don't do this with wet hands and feet!

[Stillwater]

Thanks for all the replies, it helps to talk it through sometimes. I now have a better understanding of the system. It definetly had to do with the inverter as I had checked the current flow at Main breaker box on gen set and shore power to confirm it was not the main transfer switch. All breakers had/have output current. I thought it may have something to do with the load shedding. There was 110 vac input measured at the inverter. That being the case the receptacle outlets, microwave and battery charging should have been working. None of that was so that meant the inverter thought it was in inverter mode when it was powered by 110 vac. I do agree that sometimes these electronics get a mind of their own and it's hard to get rid of the phantom power, if it fails again I will dump power and disconnect everything and leave it for a day, or a week. Did I mention I'm not a big fan of inverters anyway. I've had them on boats and motor homes and I only like them for their battery charging ability.

[Robi.1014]

Thanks for clarifying that you found AC-input at the Inverter, but that this very same power was not being "channeled" through to the Inverter's output (thus no power to the microwave and other AC outlets). That pretty-much tells me that the main relay (transfer switch, actually) w/i the Inverter is failing. Being a boater and RVer, you've probably experienced relay contacts failing somehow (arcing, corrosion, ..... leading to overheating, etc.).

You've got a great base of knowledge now .... and when this thing fails again, you'll easily pinpoint the problem. My money says that it will happen on a rainy, nasty-cold night (Murphy's law) when your batteries are just about dead. My recommendation: rip it out now; send it in for "refurbishing". My experience was that I received a completely different Inverter back from the manufacturer (same model number, but an off-the-shelf refurbished model). So you never know.

[Stillwater]

"My recommendation: rip it out now; send it in for "refurbishing". My experience was that I received a completely different Inverter back from the manufacturer (same model number, but an off-the-shelf refurbished model)."
Robi
Where did you send it for refurbishing??
See you have a Camino. Had a '67, 327 375hp 4 speed as one of the many gearhead cars in my misspent youth. sweet car

[Robi.1014]

Lyle,

My boat inverter "refurbished/exchange" was back in the late '90's .... to the manufacturer (Heart Interface). Regretfully, this solution isn't cheap: the cost approaches half that of new models on the market today. But to commit to a new model often means a re-wiring and/or replacement of the remote control panel.

What's great about towing a classic car is getting to talk with folks like yourself. Conversations start at traffic lights, parking lots, RV sites. We RVers know about the camaraderie among us. Towing a classic just adds to that fun.