Inverter Problem

[Five2o]

I bought replacement boards from the inverter manufacturer. I emailed them about the new problem and their response was that something inside the inverter is not working . Not bad tech support lol.

I got pissed off about an hour ago and turned on the inverter and it worked flawlessly as I turned on 3 tv's and the coffee maker etc to max out its capacity.The inverter barely seemed to heat up haha.

Well...I checked all connections 12v and ac power all is apparently perfect. I think I'm gonna need a witch doctor or exorcist or something.

[TLGPE]

I know this is going to sound off the wall, but is it possible that you have low battery voltage going into the invertor? That may explain why it works for a while and then stops. A 12 vot battery really isn't. A fully charged battery is going to be about 13.6 volts, and the alternator puts out 14.4V to keep it charged. Your invertor may be faulting out on a low voltage squawk.

Anyway, it's something to check. If you have a good meter, you should check the voltage just as it goes into the invertor. If the voltage drops when you put a load on it, that may be the answer.

HTH,
Tom

[Five2o]

Well it turns out that with new replacement boards an adjustment had to be made on a rheostat or something. I hapened to be in Minniapolis and dropped in on Sensata...they did the adjustment for free....works as new

[YC1]

Originally Posted by TLGPE

I know this is going to sound off the wall, but is it possible that you have low battery voltage going into the invertor? That may explain why it works for a while and then stops. A 12 vot battery really isn't. A fully charged battery is going to be about 13.6 volts, and the alternator puts out 14.4V to keep it charged. Your invertor may be faulting out on a low voltage squawk.

Anyway, it's something to check. If you have a good meter, you should check the voltage just as it goes into the invertor. If the voltage drops when you put a load on it, that may be the answer.

HTH,
Tom

Ditto on the battery supply voltage. If it acts up again get a voltmeter on the terminals feeding the inverter and see if they take a big dip when you turn it on. In any case I would tighten those connections, follow the cables back and clean and tighten anything in the path. Especially battery grounds made on the frame of the chassis.

[wa8yxm]

Let's see if I have this straight: In your MAIN breaker box is a breaker that feeds power to the inverter, a pass through type, IF this is on the inverter flashes OVERLOAD and will not start.

If you turn it off the inverter does start, Microwave and such work, as they shoud on the inverter?


Ok, here's the problem:
The inverter either contains an automatic transfer switch, or it feeds one external (likely contains) and that switch is faulty, it has shorted so it is always connected to the SHORE side even when it is connected to the inverter side, this is dangerous and needs to be addressed ASAP.

[Five2o]

Well the inverter was going to overload,after talking to Sensata they recommended I replace both circuit boards. One old board was blackened and obviously damaged.

After the board replacement the inverter worked fine for a few days & then again began to go to overload condition when I tried to use my coffee maker. It would run the tv just fine though.

I happened to be near Sensata in Minneapolis last week so I brought the inverter into their shop. They adjusted a board setting with an ohm meter to allow full current draws to take place without going into overload. Apparently their board manufacturer sets their boards to minimum draw as default and I did not know to adjust this setting.

I can now draw 2500 watts in my 2000 watt inverter successfully for at least 5 minutes and it otherwise works flawlessly again.

[stink]

Originally Posted by TLGPE

Hi Five2o,

Just checking to see if you got fixed.

I did notice that you were looking at 4 hundred bucks just for the PC boards. I'm new to the RV world, but otherwise, a 2KW inverter sells for about $150. If your charger is built into the invertor, baybe that's the reason, but if you feel handy, you may want to separate the charger from the invertor and both will be cheaper.

This may be a useless post, but something to think about.

Tom

You might check the specs on that $150 inverter. Probably not a full sign wave inverter and will fry many appliances and loads (computers, tvs and the sorts)

[wa8yxm]

Humm, board all black and toasted.. NOT a Good thing.. Glad to hear you got it fixed, Nice being close to the device's home isn't it.

Had a bit of fun last spring, needed propane, called a dealer I knew of who happens to be a bit.. er.. "Out in the sticks" as it were.

Had a bit of fun there too, She wanted to give me directions.. Like I could not find the farm I grew up on dang near with my eyes closed . Yup, they bought dad's farm.