Community Forums

Al K Hall · 02-19-2020, 10:02 PM

I stepped into the Motor Home today, 1998 Itasca Sunrise, and heard a clicking sound. Seemed to be coming from the location of the inverter. I unplugged the 110v service and no click. Plugged in and click click. Does this sound like I may be in for a new inverter.

bobmac · 02-20-2020, 06:36 AM

You need to do more diagnostics. If it was working before, sounds like the battery feeding the inverter might be low and the voltage provided to the inverter is activating it momentarily with the result that you are hearing the clicking. That should be easy to check. Beyond that, you will need to look at other things - connections, wiring, etc.

bigchick · 02-20-2020, 07:32 AM

from what you describe the clicking is only present when shore power is present. by guess is that there is a relay that is trying to connect to the incoming shore power. this relay may be within the inverter, attached to the inverter output cables, or it may even be the automatic transfer switch if you have one.

does you inverter have an output 120 volt receptacle that you plug into to get inverter power? does is have an internal bypass relay? if you can plug a voltage tester or even a light into the inverter output and and plug into shore power. see if the voltage tester is showing make intermittent power in sync with the clicking. if the bypass relay is external to the inverter plug into it to see if it is passing intermittent power.

does the inverter pass power from the battery when shore power is not present?

Gary RVRoamer · 02-20-2020, 08:00 AM

Given that this is a '98 Sunrise, I suspect the box being referred to is a CONverter/charger rather than an INverter. Further, the clicking may be the auto-transfer switch that is often located directly behind the power center panel that contains the converter, fuse panel and circuit breakers. Before we get too deep into this, perhaps AK Hall could identify the make/model of the "inverter" in his RV so we have the right facts to work with.

jlmanatee · 02-20-2020, 09:32 AM

Speaking of inverter/chargers, my Xantrex Freedom 458 stopped inverting last year and I spent way too much time and money sending it off for a repair that failed immediately. While I do need to figure out why it failed, I no longer have faith in this 14 year old boat anchor and I'm planning to replace it. Recently I've seen that Xantrex now offers a less expensive 2k watt I/C that looks promising as well as several relatively new competitors to Xantrex and Magnum. (Renogy, Aims, Spartan, etc.) I'm leaning toward the Xantrex Model: 817-2080

Outbound · 02-20-2020, 12:01 PM

Sounds like contactor chatter, I would check the transfer switch for a bad contactor.

Al K Hall · 02-26-2020, 01:03 PM

Gary you were right converter, as a mater of fact a Magnetek series 6300A . Not sure what's going on with it. I had it shut off for a few days trying to figure it out and now back on and no click and no pluse in the voltage gage plugged into a socket. I will wait a few days and see if it starts again. New batteries and fully charged.

welder34 · 03-04-2020, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlmanatee

Speaking of inverter/chargers, my Xantrex Freedom 458 stopped inverting last year and I spent way too much time and money sending it off for a repair that failed immediately. While I do need to figure out why it failed, I no longer have faith in this 14 year old boat anchor and I'm planning to replace it. Recently I've seen that Xantrex now offers a less expensive 2k watt I/C that looks promising as well as several relatively new competitors to Xantrex and Magnum. (Renogy, Aims, Spartan, etc.) I'm leaning toward the Xantrex Model: 817-2080

What light was on the inverte when you figured this out. Mines is not lighting up on the inside.