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Old 08-13-2013, 07:21 AM   #1
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Inverter Question

I have a 2003 Kountry Star 37 ft. (gas) It is fairly new to me and this past weekend we took it out on a 600 mile trip. While riding down the road my wife plugged in her phone to charge it and after about an hr she noticed it was not charging any longer. I told her to try another outlet but it never worked either. When we stopped I noticed the inverter control on the bedroom wall showed a red fault light and it said something about battery 12.1 volts. When we arrived at the campground and plugged in shore power, the light on iverter went back to green and read float charging or something like that. On the ride home we never used any of the outlets and when I got home I saw the red fault light back on again and something about the battery 12.1 volts. Does anyone know if this is trying to tell me the house batteries are going bad or could it be something else? I know nothing about the inverter and when I look at all the buttons on it, I don't mess with anything. Maybe its not on the correct setting or something. The previous owner told me he did not know what that control was for and he never fooled with it either. I know when plugged in or while running the generator, everything works fine but I was just curious why this would have a fault light coming on.
Any help would be appreciated.,
Thanks!
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:09 AM   #2
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Bryan which inverter do you have and what controller on wall do you have?
Your inverter will be in a compartment maybe up over chassis rails possibly the drivers side.

UNDERSTANDING A INVERTER

All this is in QT's # 3.
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Old 08-13-2013, 01:02 PM   #3
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It is a Magnum and the remote center is on the wall in the bedroom. I got a manual online and looked at it and it seems that when the house battery drops to 12 volts, a fault occurs and the inverter turns off to protect anything that might be running off of it. I looked and I have (2) 6 volt house batteries and they are probably in need of replacing. They will charge while plugged in to shore power however they wont hold a charge for very long.
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Old 08-13-2013, 01:10 PM   #4
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Hi binspector,
The short course is an inverter takes 12 VDC power from the coach batteries and makes 120 VAC. Depending on the size of the inverter will depend on what outlets/appliances are connected to it. When connected to shore power or the generator is running, the inverter goes into stand by mode and everything is powered from the shore or generator power source.

The brochure for your coach is at https://comnet2.newmarcorp.com/insta...es/2003ksb.pdf
The mystery is if the inverter is original, it is a 400 WATT inverter. The brochure mentions is powers the TV. It is not clear to me that the inverter is connected to any other outlets. It is also not clear to me that you have a BIRD system. Gut feel says you should have the BIRD. The BIRD allows the engine alternator to charge the coach batteries as you travel down the road. Calling Newmar customer service will confirm or deny the existence of the BIRD. Have your VIN or Newmar coach number for the tech.

If you have a BIRD system one must determine if it is working. If it is working properly, the primary suspect would be the coach batteries. If you do not have a BIRD system, the problem could still be the batteries. Depending on how many coach batteries you have just charging the phone should not have drained the batteries (from a full charge).

To check the batteries:
1. If they are able to take water, check the water level
2. Fully charge the batteries and take a voltage reading across the terminals. The reading should be 12.6 VDC or more.
3. Wait about 4 hours and take another reading. The reading should be the same as in step #2.
4. Take the fully charged batteries to your local auto parts store and have them do a load test. The batteries need to be fully charged for this test.
5. The results will tell you if the batteries need replacing.
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Old 08-13-2013, 02:04 PM   #5
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Gary,
I believe it is the 400 watt inverter that came with the coach. As far as the TV, it does work when I am not on shore power or generator but I never left it on for any length of time. My wife plugged her phone into the outlet under the dash on the side wall right at the passengers feet. It charged for a while before it stopped. My coach alternator while running down the road is reading 14 volts or there about so I know it is charging something. When I plug in at my home, the inverter lights are green and say float charging. I will do the battery test you spoke of and see if the batteries test good or bad. My thinking is that when they get down to a certain voltage, the inverter shuts off thus the fault.
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Old 08-13-2013, 02:53 PM   #6
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I would say your due for battery change I replaced my two 6v with two 12v AGM's from Sam's a couple of years ago.
The inverter may have a current draw off one of the 110 outlets you do not know about yet killing the old 6v batteries, you have same year coach03.
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Old 08-13-2013, 03:38 PM   #7
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You may need new batteries, but what has me concerned is, you were driving driving down road. Your alternator should be kicking out 14.0v - 14.5v to the coach batteries. So for your inverter to be complaining of 12v, tells me your charge/boost solenoid has failed. If you have a BIRD, the solenoid or the controller.

I think before I did anything, I would put a voltmeter to the coach batteries with the engine running. If you aren't at 14.0+volts, you have a different problem.
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Old 08-13-2013, 03:40 PM   #8
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It tells me one (or more) of 3 conditions exist more than likely and a 4th one .. but not likely

1: The alternator on the engine is NOT charging the house batteries due to a problem with the isolator or other issue with the charging system

2: You are drawing a whole bunch of power somewhere in the house.. Perhaps a residential fridge or worse yet the RV fridge running on the inverter

3: Bad connections (most likely at the battery but that's not exclusive) causing excessive voltage drop.

4: Inverter error (Voltmeter defective) this is not, however, likely.
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Old 08-13-2013, 04:57 PM   #9
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Maybe it is the RV fridge because we were on the road and I had it set to Auto. Maybe it was running off the inverter instead of switching over to LP like I assumed it would do once I unplugged it from my home shore power. Maybe I need to put the fridge on LP when running down the road instead of auto.
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Old 08-13-2013, 05:32 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by binspector View Post
Maybe it is the RV fridge because we were on the road and I had it set to Auto. Maybe it was running off the inverter instead of switching over to LP like I assumed it would do once I unplugged it from my home shore power. Maybe I need to put the fridge on LP when running down the road instead of auto.
If your inverter is only 400w, your inverter would not be wired to the fridge. Even if it was, your engine alternator could keep it up via inverter. All this is very easy to test. No shore, genny not running turn fridge on and it should go right to LP on auto.

With all info so far, you have a problem with your alternator charging coach batteries. IMHO, you need to check voltage at coach batteries with engine running.
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Old 08-13-2013, 05:35 PM   #11
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Sounds like a plan. I will test the voltage at the house batteries with motor running.
Thanks for all the great information everyone.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:11 PM   #12
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Your fridge could have the wrong cord plug in inverter outlet. The only cord for fridge in inverter outlet would be the one for your ice maker.

The other cord for your electric heater elements would be in outlet coming from the load center.

With fridge on AUTO the fridge control board would automatically switch the fridge to the LP GAS operation of your fridge when you disconnect the shore power cord.

Your Bird system is not having a problem charging your batteries unless the water has not be kept at their operating levels.
Your need to check the battery water levels. Hopefully water is above the plates.

I think you can see now why posting on forum can bring out more info for tracking down a problem.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:43 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by binspector View Post
Sounds like a plan. I will test the voltage at the house batteries with motor running.
Thanks for all the great information everyone.
While you're doing that, check water level in batteries also and the cable connections. Also be aware, even if you have 13-14 volts with engine running, that is no indication the batteries are good, only the alternator is putting voltage to them.
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