Community Forums

tompands · 09-12-2021, 05:40 PM

When plugged into the 30 amp outlet, should the inverter be on or not? Can you tell I'm a novice.

Skip426 · 09-12-2021, 05:48 PM

Ok , really with shore power hooked up , there is no reason to turn it off ; Particularly if the inverter is dual function and it's your battery charger too.

Any info you can provide, on the inverter make and model would get you better answers .

alank · 09-12-2021, 09:01 PM

Generally speaking, your inverter is your battery charger, so if it is not ON when you're plugged in, your lights and other 12V items will run your battery down. If you're using your camper, turn your inverter on.
For some boondocking and extended power, you may want everything OFF unless you are using it.

tompands · 09-13-2021, 03:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Ok , really with shore power hooked up , there is no reason to turn it off ; Particularly if the inverter is dual function and it's your battery charger too.

Any info you can provide, on the inverter make and model would get you better answers .

Heart interface 25 is the model

Toribk · 09-13-2021, 05:34 AM

Tomoands,

The Heart Interface 2500 is both an inverter and (battery) charger all wrapped into one unit.....which is typical in today's modern Class A motorhomes.

The charging portion of the inverter only works when an AC electrical source is connected....ie your plugged into a campground pedestal or you are running your generator whether stationary or tooling down the road.

When either source is available, your battery banks ( house batteries and chassis (engine or starting) batteries are contiuously charging and the inverter function does not need to be in the "On" position for your all your 12 volt lighting or accessories to function in the coach. As long as you are on shorepower or generator power and your batteries are receiving a charge, you have all the 12 volt power you need. The inverter function can be either "Off" or in "Standby" mode since it is NOT being used under the circumstances.

The Inverter function is to solely convert 12 volt DC current from your house bank batteries to AC current when their is no AC source present, but you need AC power for say the microwave or coffee pot to work and your tooling down the road?

No problem, your engine alternator is constantly charging your battery banks while underway and your inverter (if you turn it on) is converting the DC power to AC power so you can use either one.......just as if you were running your generator or plugged into shorepower.

Watch you load capacity when relying solely on the inverter for AC power. It can drain the house bank fairly fast without the engine running.

Toribk · 09-13-2021, 06:43 AM

Tompands,

One thing I failed to mentioned, along with how your BCC (Battery Control Center) and charging and battery combiner relays factor into the equation to keep it simple, is the Automatic start feature of your generator (commonly referred to as AGS) if equipped.

Most AGS control panels plug into a "Non Inverter powered AC receptacle" so if your coach looses power at the campground pedestal while your away, the generator will start automatically and AC power is therefore restored until the power comes back on.

This is important for people like me who travel with a small toy poodle so the air conditioning will still function and in my case, the interior monitor (not related to the AGS) will send an alert to my phone.

In a nutshell, on today's coaches, most just leave the inverter in the "ON" position all the time when the coach is IN USE. Your BCC will decide when and if it is needed and place it on standby when it isn't.

Gary RVRoamer · 09-13-2021, 12:13 PM

Be aware that the On/Off switch on most Heart Interface inverter/chargers only controls the inverter function. Battery charging and 12v converter operate whenever 120vac input (shore or generator) power is present.

There are several Heart Interface models, e.g. Freedom, Combi, 458, etc. Operational details may differ slightly, so be specific about the model when asking questions.

tompands · 09-14-2021, 04:11 AM

This RV is acting weird. To me anyway. Things work , then they don't. I get the feeling it's all one problem. The genset won't start, then I realized the batteries are dead. Charge the house batteries, then everything works. AC's are on, frig works, lights etc. The inverter is on. I'm plugged in to 30 amps. Shouldn't all that stuff work being plugged in alone? When house batteries go dead, nothing works. I charged and load tested batteries, and the showed to be good. But they die quickly, within 1 hour. Is the appliances sucking from the batteries while the RV is plugged in to 30 amps? This is whats confusing me. The inverter doesn't seem to be charging the batteries.

Skip426 · 09-15-2021, 08:05 AM

Ok were going to need ALL your RVs info to proceed .

Year, make and model .

This sounds like the inverter isn't getting 120 volt power ; and for that ;there are a lot of possibilities .
Do you have a digital multimeter and are you comfortable using it?

Jthigh · 09-15-2021, 06:02 PM

I have a Source Manager II 25. Check to make sure the “Charge LED” is turned on on your Inverter/Charging controller. Mine also has an LED bar graph showing the charge voltage output when the charger is on.

tompands · 09-16-2021, 03:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Ok were going to need ALL your RVs info to proceed .

Year, make and model .

This sounds like the inverter isn't getting 120 volt power ; and for that ;there are a lot of possibilities .
Do you have a digital multimeter and are you comfortable using it?

It's a 1997 Fleetwood discovery and yes, I have a multimeter.

77Travco · 09-16-2021, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompands

This RV is acting weird. To me anyway. Things work , then they don't. I get the feeling it's all one problem. The genset won't start, then I realized the batteries are dead. Charge the house batteries, then everything works. AC's are on, frig works, lights etc. The inverter is on. I'm plugged in to 30 amps. Shouldn't all that stuff work being plugged in alone? When house batteries go dead, nothing works. I charged and load tested batteries, and the showed to be good. But they die quickly, within 1 hour. Is the appliances sucking from the batteries while the RV is plugged in to 30 amps? This is whats confusing me. The inverter doesn't seem to be charging the batteries.

Grab a multimeter and measure DC voltage across house batteries. Unplug your coach. Wait 10 minutes and measure DC voltage across house batteries again. Go plug coach in and verify AC (alternating current) power... your xfer switch may take a minute depending on what you have. (Example: You should have AC power to the microwave)
Once you know there is AC power... measure 12 volt DC voltage across house batts again. It should be higher... like 13.2 - 14.5 ish. Basically, any higher reading than before means the batts are being charged.
If battery voltage is not higher then check your inverter/charger. Start with the AC (alternating current) breaker for the inverter/charger. Try turning it off and back on. Also look for a reset button on the inverter itself.
Hopefully that info will get you started towards a fix.

amosnandy · 09-16-2021, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tompands

When plugged into the 30 amp outlet, should the inverter be on or not? Can you tell I'm a novice.

It would help to know what inverter you have. Some have stand alone inverters and stand alone chargers, some are combination inverter/chartger. And some new ones are pass through, where if you are on 30 amp, or even 15 amp, they will pass through what you have and add from the batteries if you need a little more.

A word of caution. If you have a inverter/charger that is not pass through, it probably has a standby function. If you disconnect from power it automatically comes on. Mine did. It fried. I think what happened is I had it on standby, while hooked to 50 amp, running my heat pump and water heater. We had a short power outage and I think the reaction time between the inverter, the EMS and the shore power caused an overload and tried to pull too much power from the inverter. In the future I will be turning the inverter portion off when hooked to shore power incase the power drops. You should be able to set the charger functions separate from the inverter functions. If it is not a pass through, you want it off anytime you are hooked to shore power. You do not want it on standby over ridden by shore power.

amosnandy · 09-16-2021, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Ok , really with shore power hooked up , there is no reason to turn it off ; Particularly if the inverter is dual function and it's your battery charger too.

Any info you can provide, on the inverter make and model would get you better answers .

I found out the hard way that is not correct. I had my inverter/charger on charge and the inverter on standby hooked to 50 amp shore power. We had a power blink, the inverter tried to power everything I had on with 50 amp, and blew the inverter portion. Yes, in theory the EMS should have shut stuff down. But testing my EMS on 30 amp I found that there is just a slight delay. Appears to be just enough to blow my inverter. In the future, I will be turning the inverter off when on shore power, instead of standby. Charger of course stays on.