Emergency electrical help

[RonNBama]

In a NC campground. Multiple shore power flickers last night. No 120 volt power now. Starting generator does not help. Looking for a breaker, relay or fuse that might have opened. Hughes autoformer was in use. Inverter is not inverting. Doh! 1998 Dynasty.

[az bound]

There should be a reset button on the inverter. Also two breakers on the genny.

[RonNBama]

Yep. Inv bkr is not protruding and gen bkr is ok.
I have power to the transfer switch. Reset all panel bkre. Next step is to open the ckt bkr panel and probe for 120V there. Next step is to throw in the towel.

[RJay]

Did you reduce the load in the coach before switching to generator power? If not check the transfer switch.

[RonNBama]

Throwing in the towel. Have 120v at the main bkr but nothing to my receptacles. Not a situation to trace voltage any farther so we are packing it in.

[rpasetto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonNBama Throwing in the towel. Have 120v at the main bkr but nothing to my receptacles. Not a situation to trace voltage any farther so we are packing it in.

Are you measuring voltage on the main breaker at the breaker panel inside your coach? If 120Volt is there, measure voltage at each of the other breakers; turn them off and on again to make sure they have been reset.

There is a slim chance that the breaker itself went bad... carefully remove and test the lugs in the panel.

[Mochisme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonNBama Throwing in the towel. Have 120v at the main bkr but nothing to my receptacles. Not a situation to trace voltage any farther so we are packing it in.

Before you pack it in check your ground fault circuit recepitale. I also found a breaker hidden on my inverter behind a cable.

[Hedgehog]

If you have a energy management system, it could be that also.

[RonNBama]

Packed up and drove home today. After parking and unpacking, I plugged in shore power and the inverter was functioning. Note that I had turned off the main breaker in the distribution panel. When MB is switched on, I lose all inverter power inside the coach. No 120V at all. MB back off, inverter power (120V) is again present. I am sure this will eventually make sense, but right now I am completely puzzled.

Hedgehog: no energy management system.
Mochisme: Checked the GFI's (2) and both are functioning (at least with inverter power on.
rpasetto: that's my next move
Rjay: No load, breakers off. Did probe the transfer switch and had proper voltage on both sides of the switches.

Guys, I appreciate the help. Gotta confess that getting into such a problem in the dark, in the cold and about half asleep, I was definitely not functioning at full capacity. Then the more "facts" that piled up the more confusing the situation became. Gonna take a deep breath and start fresh tomorrow. Try to ignore what I already "know" and look at it with a new perspective. Still suspect the MB though.

[Robi.1014]

This one's a challenge!

We all know (from the great advice found on IRV2) that the Inverter is not capable of powering our RV air conditioners, the hot-water heater's electrical element, the engine-block heater, etc. This "tells" us that the AC output of our Inverters powers only certain receptacles within the RV and the TVs, the microwave, and the refer ice-maker motor (all this thru GFCI receptacles tucked away somewhere). This ALSO "tells" us that the Inverter's AC output does not make its way through the main breaker buss (the buss that powers the roof AC units, the HWH element, etc.).

I'm extracting (from your writing) that your Inverter loses its input power when throw the Main Breaker (MB) to off. This makes sense if the MB (and the buss that it powers) provides the AC input needed by the Inverter.

Don't know that I have an answer for your "Starting generator does not help." Your main transfer switch switches to GENERATOR when it is running and producing an AC output. So I'm thinking that the transfer switch might be the source of your problem. What happens when you remove shore power and start the generator?

[Rex]

RonNBama, this will be long, but should help you sort out the problem. Most Inverters have an internal transfer switch not to be confused with the main transfer switch for your coach.

Your AC power goes from shore (or generator) to the transfer switch, to the main AC circuit breaker panel, then to the Inverter and through it’s internal transfer switch to the coach receptacles. There should be circuit breakers on the Inverter or a sub panel for AC circuits between the Inverter and the coach.

So turn OFF the circuit breaker in the main AC panel for the Inverter only, and turn all the others ON. You have now isolated the Inverter from any AC source. Connect to shore power and see if your roof air conditioner is working as it does not go through the Inverter. If you are using a 15 amp shore source at home rather than a 50 amp circuit, only turn on one air conditioner so you don’t blow the shore line fuse. If the air conditioner works, you have an Inverter or a wiring problem beyond the main AC panel.

Disconnect from shore power and leave the Inverter circuit breaker in the main AC panel OFF. Turn ON the Inverter and your battery disconnect switches. If you now have AC power in your coach receptacles, the Inverter is inverting.

Now turn the Inverter OFF the battery disconnect switches OFF, and reconnect to shore power. Turn the circuit breaker in the main AC panel for the Inverter ON. If no power to receptacles, the internal transfer switch is not functioning correctly or there is a wiring problem between the main AC panel and the Inverter.

Disconnect from shore power, turn the battery disconnect switches and Inverter OFF. The Inverter will have a removable panel where the AC wiring (in and out) is connected. Remove the panel and look for the Input circuit to the Inverter. You may have two (leg 1 and leg 2). Connect to shore power, turn on all breakers in the main AC panel, and test for AC at the Inverter input. Don’t do this if you are not qualified, and be very careful. You should have AC voltage at the input to the Inverter. If you do, test for AC voltage at the Inverter output. The internal transfer switch in the Inverter should pass AC from the input to the output with the Inverter itself turned off and the battery disconnect switches off. All breakers in the main AC panel must be on. If no voltage at the Inverter input, you have a wiring problem. If you do have input voltage at the Inverter but no voltage on the output, the internal inverter transfer switch is bad. If the Inverter has circuit breakers for the output AC circuits to the coach, they could be bad rather than the internal transfer switch or the wiring to them. If there are no circuit breakers for the AC output circuits on the Inverter, then there should be a sub panel between the Inverter output and the coach circuits.

Hope this is of some help,

[Barlow46]

Did you take the Hughes autoformer out of the equation?

[w6pea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barlow46 Did you take the Hughes autoformer out of the equation?

Yes I second that question.



If We Can't Haul It....You Don't Need It ! Motor-T

[rpasetto]

Rex provided a very thorough method for testing. The only thing I have to add is that there's a wiring diagram (03 Dynasty) at Monaco's website. The year is not too far of from yours so it should help http://www.monacocoach.com/StaticFil...nasty03_WD.pdf