Electrical Issue - power cycles on and off

[SprucePoint]

Hello,

Has anybody experience their 110V power cycling on and off? I'm plugged into a 240V pedestal. I can hear the inverter's fan run for about a minute or so, then it "kicks out " for about 30 seconds, like it's overloading - then it starts again. Oddly enough, the microwave's clock stays on (didn't test if it runs though). When it kicks out, all the light go off. I can run the lights on a 12V battery.

[Persistent]

The symptoms do not sound like 110v power is cycling "on" and "off". The microwave stays "on", so 110v is probably still "on".

The RV 12v converter powers the lights. The converter may be "on" and "off". That would cause lights to go "on" and "off".

The converter may have an over temperature switch or self resetting circuit breaker. Either one could cause converter to start and stop.

Please post make and model of converter.

[Skip426]

Welcome to iRV2.

Sorry your first post is about problems .

Going to need all the info on your RV and inverter , to be of any real help .

Year , make and model ?

Confused by your statement " all the lights go off . I can run the lights on 12 volt battery ."

Are you plugged in with your RV batteries disconnected ?

Most inverters don't work properly without a battery in place.

[Old-Biscuit]

240VAC Pedestal????????

RV is 120V so 240V will burn up electronics/AC wiring etc

Unless you mean it is a 50A 120/240 receptacle.


More details.....Year/Brand/Model of RV
Inverter make/model etc

[TandW]

Welcome aboard!
Provide information about your problems as requested so that the IRV2 experts can provide you with a quick resolution. And let them know if your problem is solved.

[twinboat]

There will be a self reset circuit breaker near your battery that's probably cycling from either an overload of your 12 volt items or a bad battery.

Are the battery terminals connected correctly ?


The fix is to pull fuses until the converter ( not inverter ) stops tripping the breaker.

Inverters make 120 volts from batteries but they don't power the lights.

[SprucePoint]

I really appreciate the super quick responses, but I won't have the details for everyone until the weekend. I should be at the trailer this weekend and will reply with the specifics.

Thanks again for you help so far. It looks like I came to the right place.

Alan

[CamperLifer]

Isn't it just the cooling fan switching off and on ?

[Persistent]

Different RV's are wired differently and they come with different electronic devices installed.

An RV inverter always requires a battery to produce 120 volts AC from a 12 volt DC battery bank

A converter produces 12 volts DC from 120 volt shore power.

A battery charger produces up to 14.4 volts to charge batteries from shore power.

All three devices can be combined into one box and is often called an inverter/charger. Some people shorten the name to just "inverter".

Complicate that because some devices include a service entrance with circuit breakers and fuses in the same box.

In some cases the converter and battery charger are both in the same box. Newer designs use one device that provide both charging and converting.

You can see that year, make, and model of the converter/charger or "inverter" or combined service entrance are required to troubleshoot the issue.

[wolfe10]

Originally Posted by SprucePoint

I'm plugged into a 240V pedestal.

Please clarify this.


Is your RV wired 30 amp or 50 amp shore power?


30 amp is ONE HOT, so 120 VAC


50 amp is TWO HOTS so 240 VAC between the hots, though everything in your RV likely only uses one hot so is 120 VAC (just like in your house).

[SprucePoint]

WFCO 45 Amp power converter
Model WF-9845
Input 105. - 130 VAC, 780 Watt
Output 13.6 VDC 45 AMP

Ok, I just returned to my trailer last night and hooked up my 12 Volt battery, and plugged my power cable in. The microwave worked, had lights, no A/C. Lights went brighter when the converter ran, then dimmed when it shut off after 5-10 seconds The converter cycled throughout the night and then stopped just before morning. I guess the batter was fully charged? I thought I had a full charge, but apparently not, unless I discharged it running the bathroom far for about 5 min. When I went to look at the converter specs, I notice a black power plug somewhat dislodged, but still plugged into the back of the fuse box/breaker box. I plugged it fully in, and then tried A/C - it worked. I thought everything was fine then but stopped A/C, then turned back in, and it did not start. Flipped the breakers in an off and tried it, it started - but then the converter started to cycle, lights dimming etc. Turned off A/C, waited 10 sec, would not turn in. Converter is now cycling on and off again

[Skip426]

First thing, is to have the battery load tested , a volt meter test is not enough to determine if the battery has an internal fault.

[Persistent]

The irregular behavior is certainly perplexing and hard to diagnose.

Self resetting circuit breaker
The fan in the WFCO turns "on" when current is high. It turns "off" when current is low. Turning "on" and "off" suggests charging the batteries is connected sometimes and not at other times.

There is probably a self-resetting circuit breaker near the battery. It is a small metal or plastic can with two screw connectors where large wires are connected. This breaker will trip when current is too high. It will self-reset after it cools down. 12 volt lights would brighten when breaker trips off. Lights would dim when breaker reconnects battery.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/3...a-266eaf601af9
If you get close to the breaker while the WFCO is turning on and off, you may hear the breaker "clicking".

Self-resetting breaker could be too small.
Battery could be defective and drawing too much current.

Self-resetting breakers will only work for a while. Yours may have failed because it tripped so many times.

Loose connection
Such behavior is often caused by loose or corroded connections. It could be a 12 volt positive or negative wire connection. Check the wire between the converter/charger and the battery bank first.

All connections must be tight and not show signs of burning or corrosion. Wire nuts are sometimes used to connect things. They often loosen. Screw connectors are also used. Tighten to make sure they are making good contact.

The WFCO 12 volt control board a a couple of large wire screw connections. Make sure both are tight.


Air conditioner re-starting
The A/C (air conditioning) compressor will not restart for about 4 minutes after it has been shut off. This allows the A/C to bleed down the pressure in the system. It is very hard for the compressor to start under high pressure load. So, a delay is built into the restart circuit.