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Inverter problem in Tucson
Greeting from chilly arizona
. Came back to find Generator had started. Shore power 50A breaker tripped. Reset shore power breaker and stopped generator, but inverter #2 wasn`t on bulk charging batteries. After @ 2hrs of charging from inverter #1. All inverters lights were normal green with shore power Leg 1 =115vac / Leg 2 =117vac. Inverter 1 =115vac/ inverter 2 = 117vac all with no load. When bringing up loads inverter 1 meter reading for invert/charge =(+05Amps AC) , inverter 2 meter reading invert/ charge = (-03Amps AC). Battery voltage varying from 25.5 to 25.1VDC. If any loads are put on inverter 2 it increases inverter/ charger to more negative ac amps and battery voltage begins to drop from 25.4 to 25.1VDC while Inverter 1 goes more positive inverter/ charger ac amps.Appears that inverter 2 is supplying loads from batteries instead of from shore power.
Installed new lifeline batteries @ 3 months ago. All has worked fine at other RV resorts until now. Any help appreciated to contend with 100+ temps here. Thanks !!
Inverters are Trace SW 4024.
Update after 2 hrs. Battery voltage steady 25.5VDC with one A/C loaded on each inverter. Meter reading inverter/charger on both inverters is (+01 Amps AC). Shore power Leg 1 = 115vac , Leg 2 = 117vac. Puzzled now. Will load them up in the morning and check them.
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18 Replies
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Steve,
What your seeing is normal, I just went through the same thing a couple weeks go although mine was acting much worse than yours with weird inverter actions, one inverter wouldn’t bulk charge. Went to Inverter Services and it was the temp compensator. Unplugged the temp compensators and all was back to normal.
This picture shows my inverters, I have number 2 on bulk charge and you can see the minus and plus on menu 4, meters, inverter/charger as you referred to in your post.
I would bet money you have the same problem. By the way, 2 hrs on bulk/absorption won’t bring your batteries back to full charge.
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Is your Parliament set up so everything goes through the inverters like Vantare, or are the inverters passing through power to loads when you are on shore or generator power?
The battery voltages are not what I would have expected to see on generator or shore power. For float I would plan on seeing about 26.4 to 26.8. For batteries at rest with no charging from inverters I wouldn’t be surprised to see the voltages you list but I do not know enough about your conversion to understand if that is normal or not.
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Yes all loads go thru inverters. The battery voltages seem low compared to a day before in Nevada where they were @ 25.9 to 26.3. Shore power voltages were higher also with Leg 1 = 120vac , Leg 2 =121vac with outside temps abt the same. It appears the shore power voltages here are much lower.
This morning with @ 12amps load on each inverter Inverter 1 inv/chrg =(00a AC) and inverter 2 inv/chrg=(+02a AC), battery voltage 25.4VDC , Leg 1=113Vac and Leg 2 =114VAC.
My thought is yesterday while away from Bus and loads were @ 40 – 45 amps shore power voltage dropped in park with high temps that when voltage kept going down peak current went above 50 amps continuous and tripped shore power breaker and generator started. Can`t understand why battery was feeding loads thru inverter 2. Still puzzled. I will have to start generator to do a complete battery charge since running AC and charging batteries would put me over 50 amps. I assume 4 hrs would be adequate to give a complete battery charge ?
Appreciate u guys !!
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I am not comfortable trying to analyze what might be a problem because I think someone more familiar with how your electrical system is set up and how the inverters are programmed should jump in.
But I can make a few general observations.
First, regardless of how your coach is set up if you are on shore power you have a reliable limit of about 40 amps per leg so you should make sure your loads are balanced and do not exceed that. Take into consideration phantom loads not ordinarily considered like a water pump, aux compressor or a HW tank. They aren’t always running, but do kick on from time to time and are part of your load.
Try to balance A/C loads. By that I mean do not run your A/C units on one leg if possible.
If your inverters are not inverting all the time but are only passing through loads, when your coach current draw is high, limit the inverter charging current. If they invert all the time a high charge rate is needed, but if the charge rate is not equal to or greater than your loads then the batteries become depleted until the loads are reduced.
Keep in mind loads are loads. If you are pushing the limits of the shore power remember that even battery powered loads add to the total, such as interior coach lighting. Tivoli lights look sexy and are neat to have on, but they draw a lot of juice.
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Call Richard Simpson or Rick May at Parliament/USA Luxury Coach. Geo.
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High temps equal lower battery voltage when temp compensated, read the actual temp and see what you get.
Lifeline
Average Depth of Discharge (DOD) Absorption Time Less than 30% 2 hours 30 – 50% 3 hours More than 50% 4 hours.
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Returned to Bus late tonight to find batt voltage @ 25.9vdc while having a balanced AC load all day while gone @ 10amps per leg. All inverters readouts look normal with shore pwr 114vac per leg.
Started Gen and inv 2 went to bulk @ 31A input amps. Inv 2 inverting 0A input amps. Inv 1 = 0 gen volts, inv 2 = 121 volts. Reset inv 1 , no change . Puzzled still, but running generator for @ 4hrs to charge batteries.
Will call Rick at parliament tomorrow if he`s working or monday. Thanks guys.Will be traveling tomorrow to San Antonio.
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Your number 1 inverter may have the bulk charge turned off with the timer. Menu 10, 2nd item bulk/absorption time, should be set to at least 3 hours.
30 charge amps for the number two inverter is a power hog, should be set to 15 amps. If you have Lifelines, they can take the 30 amp charge, but your really restricting any other loads on that leg.
Do you understand my post about Temp Sensors? What you have been describing is exactly what I went through 2 weeks ago.
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Tom, both inverters temp comp =26.8vdc and bulk charge time set for 3 hours. Inverter 1 will only do bulk charge with shore power not with Gen.
Batt voltage this morning after charging thru inv 2 @ 3hrs last nite is 25.9vdc on display.
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Maybe this is not something that can be answered, but prior to this trip, what was normal.
Anytime someone gets a new-to-them coach the first thing regarding gauges and readings is to find out what is “normal”. Once that benchmark has been established than other than normal readings are easily identified.
Are you sure the readings you are seeing are outside the range of what you have always seen?
As Tom points out he detected his inverter issue by knowing what represented normal or typical readings and then observing readings outside the range of what he usually saw.
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Owned this Bus over 4 yrs, travelled extensively and this for sure ain’t normal. Good thought however. Will b n San Antonio Sunday for few days and will troubleshoot further prior to talking to Rick on monday.
On gen now for night and battery actual volts is 27.6vdc. Inverter 1 still inverting with gen volts=0.
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Tom what was your final fix ?
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Steve…this is from Tom’s posting above…
“What your seeing is normal, I just went through the same thing a couple weeks go although mine was acting much worse than yours with weird inverter actions, one inverter wouldn’t bulk charge. Went to Inverter Services and it was the temp compensator. Unplugged the temp compensators and all was back to normal. “
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Thanks Dorel, I thought I made it clear more than once the temp compensators.
Everyone says to unhook them, Inverter Services, Donnie Myers, Jeff at ETLC and others I’m sure.
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Not everyone.
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