Fault Light Blinking

[BigRig]

New Ventana 4037 owner. Left RV without shore power for 3 weeks after relocating to new concrete pad in back yard. Appears that the house batteries have run down as nothing in the coach works. Plugged in shore power last night (110 using "dog bone"). The inverter monitor in flashing fault (it's a red flashing light - the photo is misleading). Initial research appears to indicate the inverter needs to have a "soft reset." Just wanted a second opinion from someone who may have experienced the same issue. Thanks!
Update: Following the Magnum Inverter owner's manual instructions, I tried to perform as "soft rest." Disconnected AC power then pressed & held the ON/OFF button. Based on the instruction the Status LED should flash. That did not occur.
Also to be clear, when plugged into shore power (only have 110 available using "dog bone" at current location) there is still no electrical power in the coach. Any assistance is appreciated.

 

[Richpatty]

2.6 v is really low….so your batteries are really dead…and the charger may not be able to charge them. If they are really down to 2.6v, they may no longer be any good. Maybe put a trickle charger on them?
Keep us posted.

 

[BigRig]

2.6 v is really low….so your batteries are really dead…and the charger may not be able to charge them. If they are really down to 2.6v, they may no longer be any good. Maybe put a trickle charger on them?
Keep us posted.

I have a 12 volt trickle charger but was not real sure where to attach the charging cables as there are 6 each 6 volt batteries. Would running the generator be an option to charge the batteries?

 

[Richpatty]

Most trickle charges will figure out the voltage…if it is dual voltage (mine is), and I usually hook it up to the positive on one end of the battery bank and the negative of the other. If it is 8 batteries, it could take a long time….

It may see it as 12v batteries as they are paired that way.

Running from generator won’t make any difference as you are still using the same charger (Magnum) either way.

 

[lostinfla]

I believe you should have the ac power on to perform a soft reset. It works on mine, but I have other problems with it also.

 

[BigRig]

Most trickle charges will figure out the voltage…if it is dual voltage (mine is), and I usually hook it up to the positive on one end of the battery bank and the negative of the other. If it is 8 batteries, it could take a long time….

It may see it as 12v batteries as they are paired that way.

Running from generator won’t make any difference as you are still using the same charger (Magnum) either way.

Thanks so much for replying. I really appreciate it. Sometimes those little nuggets of knowledge shared produce success when combined. Kind of like "the sum of the parts are greater than the whole" (Synergy). So like you letting me know trying the generator would be of no consequence as it utilizes the inverter/charger also. Not out of the woods yet, but we may have made some progress. Long story short, I needed to reposition the RV on it's slab to get a cargo trailer on the slab also. Not sure which one of these operations made the difference, but here's the steps. 1. I unplugged the shore power (which I done a couple of times so that's probably not part of the progress). 2. Started the RV and backed up a bit. 3. Opened the door to check position and the electric steps extended (they were not previously moving nor was any other electric devise like lighting). 4. Flipped a couple of light switches and we had lights! Looked at the Inverter Monitor and all the lights were off but it said something like "charging at 12.9V" (did not take a photo and do not recall exactly what it said). Figured it was reporting chassis battery (but that may not be a reasonable assumption since I am guessing the Inverter Monitor is not actually monitoring the alternator output). 5. Plugged the shore power back in pushed the inverter on/off button and got green lights on power & charge. 6. Checked house batteries with voltmeter and got 6.5V across single battery and 13.3V across a "paired" set. (Which tells me where to hook up a 12V charger, if needed. Mine charger is old and 12V only. Do not think there is anything "smart" about it. Please see attached photos. So currently it's still running (do not want to change anything while it appears to be taking the house batteries back up. Thoughts?

 

[BigRig]

I believe you should have the ac power on to perform a soft reset. It works on mine, but I have other problems with it also.

Thanks for the response. Kind of makes sense, but both the Magnum Inverter and Magnum Monitor Owner's Manual says to disconnect AC power. Someone also posted the "soft reset" steps and emphasized disconnecting AC power. He said "ask me how I know." Sounds like he may have found out the hard way.

Not sure if you can see my reply to Richpatty, but making some progress. Here it is.

Thanks so much for replying. I really appreciate it. Sometimes those little nuggets of knowledge shared produce success when combined. Kind of like "the sum of the parts are greater than the whole" (Synergy). So like you letting me know trying the generator would be of no consequence as it utilizes the inverter/charger also. Not out of the woods yet, but we may have made some progress. Long story short, I needed to reposition the RV on it's slab to get a cargo trailer on the slab also. Not sure which one of these operations made the difference, but here's the steps. 1. I unplugged the shore power (which I done a couple of times so that's probably not part of the progress). 2. Started the RV and backed up a bit. 3. Opened the door to check position and the electric steps extended (they were not previously moving nor was any other electric devise like lighting). 4. Flipped a couple of light switches and we had lights! Looked at the Inverter Monitor, and all the lights were off, but it said something like "charging at 12.9V" (did not take a photo and do not recall exactly what it said). Figured it was reporting chassis battery (but that may not be a reasonable assumption since I am guessing the Inverter Monitor is not actually monitoring the alternator output). 5. Plugged the shore power back in pushed the inverter on/off button and got green lights on power & charge. 6. Checked house batteries with voltmeter and got 6.5V across single battery and 13.3V across a "paired" set. (Which tells me where to hook up a 12V charger, if needed. Mine charger is old and 12V only. Do not think there is anything "smart" about it. Please see attached photos. So currently it's still running (do not want to change anything while it appears to be taking the house batteries back up. Thoughts?

 

[Richpatty]

It sounds like starting the engines helped…which kinda makes sense as the alternator will charge the batteries…and maybe they got enough charge to allow the charger to start charging.

I would think that it should be Bulk charging…instead of float, so that is puzzling…. Let it charge for awhile and see how it goes.

 

[BigRig]

Rich,
Thanks for all the help. I'll keep an eye on it and follow up with an update.

I think I read something about the going into "float charge" mode when batteries are way down, so they are brought back up slow. But I have read so much "stuff" today that may not be correct. Don't take that on to the back!

 

[NWIP]

I think the chassis batteries have a minimum voltage (11.7 comes to mind) to close a relay allowing the house batteries to charge. When you started engine to reposition coach alternator may have charged chassis batteries enough to close the relay. Glad things are charging and you have 12v lighting.