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Old 04-23-2010, 08:26 PM   #15
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Thanks everyone for taking time to help on this

Funny thing-- Just went thru the mountain of paperwork that came with our rig, and I found and entire book of "Tiffin Electric Schematics". This book is like 50 pages, and tells me where and how everything is connected, I mean right down to every light bulb, EVERYTHING!

After a little research, I find that inverter output 1 goes to the coffee pot plug and up front to the TV/VCR plugs, and inveter output 2 goes to the microwave. Which is exactly everything that quit working when the inverter went into "overtemp" fault mode.

However--upon further review, the main breaker box also shows breakers for those same plugs and microwave. Which leads me to ask, if the main box AND the inverter are connected to those circuits, is the inverter's transfer switch what prevents a backfeed situation? And if so, with the inverter in fault mode, is that possibly why the transfer switch didn't switch over while my genny was running? And if so, then it seems I (we) solved the problem!?
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Old 04-24-2010, 03:32 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PlayItForwrd View Post
Thanks everyone for taking time to help on this

Funny thing-- Just went thru the mountain of paperwork that came with our rig, and I found and entire book of "Tiffin Electric Schematics". This book is like 50 pages, and tells me where and how everything is connected, I mean right down to every light bulb, EVERYTHING!

After a little research, I find that inverter output 1 goes to the coffee pot plug and up front to the TV/VCR plugs, and inveter output 2 goes to the microwave. Which is exactly everything that quit working when the inverter went into "overtemp" fault mode.

However--upon further review, the main breaker box also shows breakers for those same plugs and microwave. Which leads me to ask, if the main box AND the inverter are connected to those circuits, is the inverter's transfer switch what prevents a backfeed situation? And if so, with the inverter in fault mode, is that possibly why the transfer switch didn't switch over while my genny was running? And if so, then it seems I (we) solved the problem!?
OK, now I know what you have and can be of more help.
Like I previously stated, the shore power and generator go through the main transfer switch in the coach and then to the distribution panel. To be more specific, this would be to the main breaker in the panel. After that you will have a circuit breaker(s) feeding the inverter (it may be labeled inverter or as you may have found, microwave, or even general purpose receptacles); it does not really matter how it is labeled (I have seen many different ones). If you turn off this breaker, you stop the flow of power from your source to the inverter, to the final destination. The inverter's internal transfer switch prevents back flow to the distribution panel when inverting and only delivers power downstream to the receptacles. When the inverter goes into a fault, it is essentially dead. It does not do anything until it is reset and the problem has been resolved. Therefore, you are correct in your assumptions. You may want to check the venting in the area of the inverter to prevent over heating and the inverter shutting down to protect itself from thermal runaway. If you find the inverter's owner manual you will see the typical wiring configurations and diagnostics in it.
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Old 04-24-2010, 10:51 AM   #17
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Thanks Mike, you and everyone have been a great help! As for the overheating problem, that could simply be the batteries. They're 3 years old, and both of them had dry cells when I checked them (one had one dry cell, the other had 2). I topped them off with distilled water and I've been plugged in at home so they were about as charged as they'd get. I'm thinking the coffee maker was asking for more power than the batteries could provide. I'm going to install 3 new batteries this weekend, hopefully that'll be the end of THIS problem!
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Old 04-25-2010, 04:02 AM   #18
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Be sure to replace all the batteries in the bank. Then check to be sure the inverter/charger's charing parameters are set correctly for the type and number of amp hours for your battery bank. Then check on how well the inverter is properly charging the bank for a couple of days. If all is well, just maintain the bank of batteries and you should get good life out of them, if you do not let them discharge more than 50% before recharging and having them charged when you store the coach. Good luck and keep us posted as to what you find.
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