Community Forums

jeepnuts · 07-08-2022, 05:31 PM

We are planning to leave for a couple of months in 4 days from now and our inverter is not working!
Our coach, a 2018 Newmar New Aire has been an electrical nightmare. Finally thought everything was good but discovered when unplugged from the garage wall, a message appears: INVERTER FAULT and OFF. It will not come on even with the generator running.
A local repair shop said to bring it in Monday (thankfully) but they have no guarantee that they'll be able to find the problem.

Has anyone had this problem? Will we be able to travel without the inverter? We figure the refrigerator will run if we have the generator running but unsure of the whole picture. So many reservations and plans... Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

flyboy013 · 07-08-2022, 06:58 PM

I assume you have a Xantrex inverter. I would start by checking the breakers on the inverters. I believe there are two round ones that pop out when tripped.

I would also check the 12V power to the inverter. Should be about the same as the measurement taken at the battery bank. 12+ volts.

I would then plug the coach in (or run generator) and check 120V input to inverter. I would also verify that the 120V output is good.

96kpmjmm · 07-08-2022, 07:08 PM

I here your pain, this happen to me last summer 2000 miles from home. As flyboy013 said check the reset button, there is also a clear fault button on the inverter. My Inverter had faulted, when Newmar wired my inverter they cut back to far on the wire and it touched the side of the inverter. The weeks leading up to my inverter frying, my KIB system went crazy a couple of times, I had called Newmar and they called KIB. No one could figure it out, till a week later when I unplugged and got the fault. Newmar overnighted a inverter and payed for everything, it sucked for three days. You need the inverter to charge your batteries. I also had a electrical seat fire the year before that. Needles to say I am not a fan of Newmar wiring. This is a pain the a$@ but it will work out, good luck.
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Bobby Dowdle · 07-09-2022, 08:10 AM

You need to press that reset button. Without a Xantrex remote it’s hard to see what the fault is. The repair shop should have one to connect and see what the error is. Check your breakers and then press the reset button. It’s hot right now and you will need the generator for the air conditioning. If the inverter is charging then I would go on your trip. If you start your genset and it won’t clear the fault and charge then you will have to repair whatever is determined to be the issue.

jeepnuts · 07-09-2022, 02:37 PM

Thank you for your reply!
Neither running the generator nor pressing the reset button would bring the inverter back to life/remove the FAULT message. The generator also will not run the refrigerator, only the inverter will supply the AC to that appliance when unplugged.

But just when we thought we'd never have a chance to leave on time (figured we'd hear the "supply chain" story again) we noticed our house batteries were seriously losing charge even when plugged into the wall.

We took the coach to a local battery supply place who did load checks and determined all 5 are shot! (But they couldn't replace them on their short staffed weekend.)
So perhaps the inverter is OK. Obviously we need new batteries. Hopefully when we take it in to the shop Monday they can determine that's all we need and there is no underlying problem. It's interesting, though, that these high end AGM batteries in a 2018 coach are dead already. The ones in our old Monaco lasted over 10 years!

Thanks again for your thoughtful inputs.

flyboy013 · 07-09-2022, 08:36 PM

Keep in mind that Xantrex is an inverter and charger all in one. So it the unit is fault mode, it likely isn’t charging your batteries and they are probably low due to being drained.

You mentioned pressing the reset button. Did you also check the breakers in the unit?

jeepnuts · 07-10-2022, 02:01 PM

Yes, flyboy. My husband said he checked breakers and fuses and found nothing tripped. Just waiting and hoping that tomorrow the mechanic will be able to get us on the road!

flyboy013 · 07-10-2022, 08:45 PM

Not sure if you checked the AC voltage going to the inverter, if you did check and you had 120V on the AC input side then ignore this, but if you didn’t check the voltage with a multimeter, you may want to do a simple check of the breakers in the main breaker panel. There should be a 30 amp breaker feeding power to the inverter. Turn it off and then back on (sometimes it’s hard to tell if the breaker is tripped).