Inverter question

[James_brink]

We just purchased a 1996 beaver Monterey and trying to figure out the little quirks, it came with no manuals so we are working blindly. It has a heart freedom inverter/charger and when on battery power, shows 12 volts, inv/charge is lit up, and 10 DC amps, with the generator running it jumps to 20 DC amps and lights up AC input and inv/charge, but what is bothering me is when we plug into shore power, there is a loud click from the transfer switch followed by a decently loud buzzing coming from the battery tray area, the inverter always makes a humming noise but it’s 2 compartments up, the DC amps on the inverter panel shows 40, is that normal? I’m not sure if that’s available power or what it’s drawing, nothing is turned on to pull that kind of power, and the loud buzzing at the batteries seems abnormal. We just put 4 new house batteries in it too. Anyone have any thoughts or am I overthinking this? Thank you!

[Arch Hoagland]

Do you turn the generator off before you plug into shore power?

[James_brink]

Yes I do, however the salesman did start the generator for us while it was on shore power at the dealership

[jelag]

Where is the transfer switch, and is there also a surge protector in the circuit....
The transfer switch requires a coil to hold in the contacts... and sometimes those coils and related contacts can create a vibration...
I would suggest turning off the gen set, and disconnecting from shore power, and turn off inverter.... and check the electrical connections where the power cord comes into the transfer switch and/or surge protector.... and than check the connections at all the points of the charger/inverter....

If you have a vibration from the battery compartment you can touch various connections and other related gear and feel the vibration and track it down...

[James_brink]

I’ll get under there today and report back what I find, it doesn’t have a surge protector currently but I bought one yesterday

[Ivylog]

With the generator running it’s getting “AC in” and it’s charging your batteries at “20 amps”. Without the generator running it’s drawing 10 amps out of your batteries and supplying 1 amp AC (110V) to something. Turn on the Micro and it will jump to 200+ amps. I run the generator whenever I use a high amp item for more than a minute...charging the batteries instead of depleting them.

The 40amps on shore power is how much it’s charging the batteries. On that old an inverter/ charger, it will not charge as many amps on generator power as shore power.

[Gary RVRoamer]

The symptoms you described sound normal to me; Ivylog explained it well so I won't repeat.


The "buzzing at the batteries" needs more detailed information. Could be the Auto-transfer switch, something in the inverter/charger, maybe a Battery Control Center relay, etc. Need to better identify the source of the noise.

[James_brink]

The buzzing noise is coming from the ground strap, I can feel the vibration at the battery. The connection looks clean and the wire is only 2’ long, bolted right to the frame in the battery compartment. When I plug it in, I can hear the inverter click over and within 3 seconds the buzzing rolls in