need inverter help..on rv

[ttpowersports]

hey - is there anyone who can shed some lite on some problems im having
with my inverter on my fifth wheel.. (which is from the states orginally) and is about 9-12 yrs old

generally, it seems keep switching back to the battery, after a period of time, even though the trailer is plugged into 110 ac... power

also it seems to refuse to charge the big battery thats in it...

if the battery is nfg , is it possible that all the power is getting sent to the battery to charge, then switching the fridge over to dc and when the battery doesnt put out enough, it doesnt switch back?

- heres what i have checked

all the fuses are good.
all the breakers are functional.
i tried to charge the battery separately from the trailer with a battery charger. on low for 72 hrs....no go. so i believe the battery is nfg.
i am replacing it with two 6 volts batteries. to see if this helps.
i did check out the inverter on line and it appears to be one that is commonly put into tractor trailers (semi's)

Questions-
is it possible that this particular unit is supposed to generally only invert dc to ac , and not the other way around. - this may explain why it keeps going back to battery power.

would a dud battery cause all these problems.

Does anyone know of a good place where the techs are knowledgeable in this area or im i better to try and get an electrician to look at it... Maybe a big rig mechanic?

help this is driving me crazy. - i have all the info on the inverter if someone can make sense of it.

Help My ice is melting..................

 

[pipes]

hey - is there anyone who can shed some lite on some problems im having
with my inverter on my fifth wheel.. (which is from the states orginally) and is about 9-12 yrs old

generally, it seems keep switching back to the battery, after a period of time, even though the trailer is plugged into 110 ac... power

also it seems to refuse to charge the big battery thats in it...

if the battery is nfg , is it possible that all the power is getting sent to the battery to charge, then switching the fridge over to dc and when the battery doesnt put out enough, it doesnt switch back?

- heres what i have checked

all the fuses are good.
all the breakers are functional.
i tried to charge the battery separately from the trailer with a battery charger. on low for 72 hrs....no go. so i believe the battery is nfg.
i am replacing it with two 6 volts batteries. to see if this helps.
i did check out the inverter on line and it appears to be one that is commonly put into tractor trailers (semi's)

Questions-
is it possible that this particular unit is supposed to generally only invert dc to ac , and not the other way around. - this may explain why it keeps going back to battery power.

would a dud battery cause all these problems.

Does anyone know of a good place where the techs are knowledgeable in this area or im i better to try and get an electrician to look at it... Maybe a big rig mechanic?

help this is driving me crazy. - i have all the info on the inverter if someone can make sense of it.

Help My ice is melting..................

Give Brian at Advantage RV in Edmonton a call. 780 413 4251. He might be able to give you a clue as to what the problem may be.

you say you tried charging the battery with a charge and no go. Sound like maybe your battery is toast.

 

[higher n you]

your inverter only switches dc to ac. the converter switches ac to dc and charges your batt. while plugged in diconnect your batt and check for power going to your battery. you should have 13.6-14.5 volts. your inverter will not work on a bad battery.

 

[imdoo'n]

quite simple to take the battery in to get it checked, most places are free. not much sense in spending money on a battery until you know what the problem is.
sounds like you should have all the equipment to test.

 

[Firefly]

Terry,

My Father has toasted two sets of batteries by leaving his trailer plugged in for to many days or weeks at a time. It over charges them! We thought that they had a regulator to monitor the charging rate etc.. but it is just a straight power feed. He bought two 6 Volts and watches how long he keeps it plugged in without using power in the unit.

 

[OVERKILL 19]

Terry,

My Father has toasted two sets of batteries by leaving his trailer plugged in for to many days or weeks at a time. It over charges them! We thought that they had a regulator to monitor the charging rate etc.. but it is just a straight power feed. He bought two 6 Volts and watches how long he keeps it plugged in without using power in the unit.

I've left mine plugged in all the time!! I will have to look into that . Thanks for the tip!

 

[ttpowersports]

quite simple to take the battery in to get it checked, most places are free. not much sense in spending money on a battery until you know what the problem is.
sounds like you should have all the equipment to test.

ya...im just gonna get a new battery. i had two big semi size six volt batteries in my other trailer i think im gonna try that. thx

T

 

[ttpowersports]

Terry,

My Father has toasted two sets of batteries by leaving his trailer plugged in for to many days or weeks at a time. It over charges them! We thought that they had a regulator to monitor the charging rate etc.. but it is just a straight power feed. He bought two 6 Volts and watches how long he keeps it plugged in without using power in the unit.

my trailer goes to the lake lot and is plugged in all the time, so some on here say it doesnt work unless the battery is charged. now i m hearing that i need to not leave it plugged in... i guess i could unplug i while im at the lot, but that doesnt seem practical..... im still confused.... there must be a way to tell based on the inverter if you need to unplug it?

 

[Firefly]

Actually your fine plugged in when you are there because you are using power, lights, fans etc... It's just leaving it plugged in when you are not using the trailer that it will over charge.

I don't know why they don't have a switch that automatically minds the battery charging system. I'm sure someone out there has a better system!

 

[Captjacksparrow]

Most RV's don't over charge the battery, if they do there is something wrong with the inverter. They stop charging around 14.5 volts. I've left every rv I've ever had plugged in 24-7, 12 months a year except when using it. Never take the batteries out in the winter even and have never had a problem. I've got 6 years on the batteries in the unit now and they've been in 3 different trailers and still going strong. The set before that I had for 5 years and we use our trailer a lot. The inverter should supply power even without batteries. Sounds to me like your inverter is not working right.

 

[OVERKILL 19]

Actually your fine plugged in when you are there because you are using power, lights, fans etc... It's just leaving it plugged in when you are not using the trailer that it will over charge.

I don't know why they don't have a switch that automatically minds the battery charging system. I'm sure someone out there has a better system!

I've been leaving it plugged in, for the fridge. Nice to leave all the condements in there til the next camping trip.