Question Inverter low battery

[TJ&LadyDi]

A "different outlet" on the same circuit will give the same result if the circuit itself is bad. Is there another outlet on a different circuit somewhere that you could try? Or, do you have access to the breaker panel for the circuit your current outlet is on? If so, try recycling the breaker 3-4 times to see if anything changes.

You may have an issue with the coach, but I'm still strongly suspecting that the problem is in the circuit feeding your outlet. If you are in a commercial storage facility, I would contact the management and have them send their electrician out to check.

TJ

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

One more thought; have you checked the breakers on the inverter itself? We had an issue a while back where one of the inverter breakers opened and it caused all kinds of issues, including low battery warnings. On our coach, the inverter has two button-style breakers on the back side. Our inverter is mounted between the frame rails above the pass-through storage bay. Not sure if the placement is the same on the 2017 Ventana. @Neal might have that information.

Might be worth a look.

TJ

 

[sheridany]

I fired up gen and it says wiring status ok.

when I shut the gen down. The wiring status goes to error.

 

[sheridany]

I crawled into drawer slide bay and looked at the inverter. I didn’t see any breakers or even a reset button.

 

[redbaron]

Guys...this is the load assist.

When it detects 24amps plus on the subpanel going thru the inverter, it will use a boost from the inverter, allowing more amps to come from ac. This is very useful in 30amp connections, but sucks when on 50amp. This feature will drain your batteries easily, and cause it to go into the mode you see here. While it says low battery, load assist is disabled.

It also reduces the charge rate.

I have found scenarios where this works against you in 50amp. My solution is to turn off the inverter when on 50 amp if I am going to be using the oven, and other iverter enabled outlet loads heavily.

Usually happens in the morning while wife is using curling iron, hair dryer, and oven is preheating.

 

[sheridany]

The real culprit is when I shut off gen wiring status goes from ok to error.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

A bit more detail, please @redbaron. Is what @sheridany is seeing "normal" when plugged into a 20A circuit? If so, why hasn't it occurred previously? More info about "load assist" would be helpful. Thanks.

TJ

 

[redbaron]

A bit more detail, please @redbaron. Is what @sheridany is seeing "normal" when plugged into a 20A circuit? If so, why hasn't it occurred previously? More info about "load assist" would be helpful. Thanks.

TJ

Short answer: yes. This is normal, good, and expected behavior.

I am preparing a detailed response...will post back.

 

[sheridany]

Then that raises the question why when plugged in to 20 there is no power to the coach and appliances like refrigerator and microwave. There used to be.

 

[sheridany]

Possible mystery solved. We tested the dog bome connected to the extension cord. No volts coming through on the dogbone. I have another dogbone and it tested good. Will pull coach in and see. The joys of RVing.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Possible mystery solved. We tested the dog bome connected to the extension cord. No volts coming through on the dogbone. I have another dogbone and it tested good. Will pull coach in and see. The joys of RVing.

Watching this! Hopefully, this is it.

TJ

 

[redbaron]

I missed the wiring status display message -- sorry. I was reading the inverter screens. Wiring status must always be OK, and match the amp of your service input.

 

[redbaron]

Here is my draft document on the PCS EMS

Simple Guide to your Newmar PCS EMS

This guide explains the operation of your Newmar energy management system. This is specific to Newmar RVs with the Magnum inverter/charger and Precision Control Systems (PCS) EMS, commonly found in…

newmarhoots.com

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Here is my draft document on the PCS EMS

Simple Guide to your Newmar PCS EMS

This guide explains the operation of your Newmar energy management system. This is specific to Newmar RVs with the Magnum inverter/charger and Precision Control Systems (PCS) EMS, commonly found in…

newmarhoots.com

Nice write-up! Makes me wonder if we should trade the MADP in on a Dutch Star or Ventana.

TJ

 

[redbaron]

@TJ&LadyDi - The MADP and LADP have a similar setup, but use entirely different inverters and EMS systems. They have a lot more capability, but most if it is hidden within silverleaf settings. I spent a long time with an LADP in 2017 trying to figure it out, and my takeaway was that once I had the dealer screens unlocked, I could do much much more. My plan is to reconfigure the inverter and ems via RV-C once I take ownership in 202x