Help Dead Battery!

[MapNerd]

Also for further clarification and to correct my original post, we did not “come back to dead chassis batteries“ we came back to a perfectly working coach. Things did not go dark until a few minutes later when my wife turned on the air fryer While the convection oven was also running. Even so, I would expect that we would have burned a fuse or popped a breaker none of which seem to be the case.

We simply thought originally that we came back to dead house batteries because we didn’t associate the loss of 110 V power with the use of those appliances immediately as we only been in the coach for five minutes so we assumed

 

[Jim]

If the 12 volt coach lighting is working then I can't imagine it's the fuse, otherwise the power wouldn't be getting to the lights.

If the 110 side of things isn't working on shore power of generator, then it's going to be something between the 110 power sources(s) and the breaker panel. The inverter indeed is between there.

I understand you have help in route, but can you tell me if your inverter has to be turned on to pass shore power through to the coach? Some inverters pass power through regardless of whether on not the inverter is on/off. Some require that the inverter is turned on, or the shore power (or generator power) will not get to the interior of the coach.

 

[Jim]

Another quick question, if you don't mind. Are ALL of the 110 outlets in the coach dead? Or just the one that your wife was using when she plugged in the appliance? And can you tell me if the refrigerator is working please?

 

[MapNerd]

All outlets are dead. Refer is not working.
Not sure if the inverter needs to be powered on in order to pass power. Will check the manual to see if it says anything about that when I get back to the coach in an hour

 

[Jim]

Thank you MapNerd. I really don't see the transfer switch failing because of your wife overloading the panel. But that being said, if the main panel doesn't show any blown breakers, then I'd get suspicious of the inverter. Mine had a breaker built into it and when it snapped, I about never figured the problem out. Have you checked the inverter for such a breaker?

EDIT: The breaker you'll be looking for will be built into the inverter itself. So you're looking for a switch basically.

 

[Neal]

Try calling Sensata tech support, they make the inverter. I’ve spoken with them before, very friendly.

425-353-8833

Contact Us | Magnum Dimensions

Contact Sensata Power Conversion Solutions | Magnum Energy and Dimensions Inverter Brands

www.magnum-dimensions.com

 

[Old-RV'er]

On ours VT-3407 AEC. Generator will provide AC power to all places it needs it, regardless of inverter status. Hooked to SP, I actually have not checked that, but we leave inverter on when traveling so fridge and MW has power. Then the inverter passes through if hooked to SP, or genset running. Going to assume, that if hooked to SP, and inverter is off, AC devices will continue to operate, once AC gone, they would stop. FWIW-I use a portable surge protector on the pedestal even though we have one built into coach, just another level of protection, especially with it being All Electric unit. If we are only stopping for one night, I use the portable to check shore power pedestal, but then put it away and use the built in. Long stays, use the portable one locked down to pedestal. If, we have only got 30A shore power, I will use the portable one always, regardless of length of stay. 30A SP is hard to judge current use without looking at the panel up front and gauging the total amps being consumed. Several times the system initialized the inverter to meet needs even with SP working. On 30A SP, it seems to take longer to charge house batteries (8 of them). But that is just a feeling. Has this problem been fixed yet, don't seem to see resolution.

 

[MapNerd]

If you said 300amp fuse, you have won a chicken dinner. Picked one up today and replaced it just to see and voila.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

If you said 300amp fuse, you have won a chicken dinner. Picked one up today and replaced it just to see and voila.

Now, the question is "Why did the 300A fuse blow instead of a breaker tripping? When fuses blow (especially big ones), there is a reason and it would be well to find it. Just running a microwave and an air fryer at the same time should not be blowing a 300A fuse.

Glad you got it fixed. Hope it stays that way.

TJ

 

[RandyB]

On the contrary. 300amps at 12VDC is not all that much when inverted.

120VAC at 28 Amps = 309 amps at 12 VDC

Quite easy to exceed 28 amps with those 2 appliances. Wait for shore power or generator for that much amperage.