[Archived]

Dan is it charging the batteries with the Gen on?? The motor should charge the batteries when running or the gen, the gen should override all things motor and shore power but have never had one that year one year told old for me sorry , Jon you there or Tom

[Wilbur]

Hard to tell Peter, the batteries are so full that I get just a flash of a green LED light on leg 2, never on leg 1, which color means 10-20 amps is going into the batteries momentarily.

[Archived]

Dan,

When you say the inverters are not putting out and it is on both circuits that is confusing. Are you on shore power or is the genset running? Are you unconnected to any power source and are you saying there is no power to any of the inverter circuits like the outlets or refrigerator?

The transfer switch I don’t believe has anything to do with lack of power to inverter circuits if that power is getting to other non inverter circuits such as the ACs or water heater for example.

Tell us more.

[Archived]

Thank you Jon. We have the genny running now and all last night and voltage on both legs and all 110 loads are normal, not connected to any other power source. Before I started the genny last night, I meter tested all the 110 outlets and none had power with the Detroit running and with the Detroit shut off. The LED voltages were reading 99 on leg one and 009 on leg two. Drove 10 hours yesterday and noticed that our iPhone and iPad Chargers were not charging. Barb thinks the refer was working and the light on the dash indicated it was all day yesterday. And my test that the ice cream did not melt after 10 hours suggests it was working.

We’re going to fill up with fuel now, then got 6 hours to destination today. Can I run the genny and the Detroit at the same time today? Then at destination will plug into 50 amps.

[Archived]

Update at 7:04am central time. Reset the ground fault interrupters, got power to the outlets enough to run a small fan. But readings on the control panel are still 95 on leg one and now 33 on leg two, but the only load is the frig.

I know these inverters go into idle mode when there is no load to not suck on the batteries when there is no need. Getting fuel now, then 6 hours of driving, then be back with you.

[Dan]

Dan,

Have ou tried to shut down the inverters and house power, then start back up again? If your actual AC power readings are as you indicated from the panel, you’re well below the brown out voltage and will ruin your regrigerator. Have you verified the voltages with a meter?

[AL]

Those inverters also have a breaker on the face of them verify that has not tripped out on either one of them. You can not always trust what you see on the existing voltage readings on the coach. On inverter only power turn on the microwave fan, does it work and then what voltage do you see on those outlets. You can run main engine of coach and the gen without a issue…

[Reagan]

I am still not clear on what is going on, and in fact somewhat confused.

If something tripped the GFCI outlets in the front and rear would go off, but the rest of the inverter circuits are likely to remain powered. I don’t think the other 120V devices on the Liberty inverter circuits have a GFCI. That means the TV, microwave, water pump, aux compressor and refrigerator would all still have power.

The only thing I can think of right now that would shut down inverters (if in fact they were shut down) is overvoltage from the bus alternator, and if that was the case the dash should have a warning light and the gauge would show it, except it might not read that high.

So in summary I am still not completely clear on what is going on because my starting point would be to find out where there is power, where there is not, what voltages are available and where. I understand why Jeff wants to have you turn on the microwave fan, but initially I would be happy just knowing what circuits will get a little green light in the electric panel, and under what conditions like generator on or off, shore power on or off.

I do agree if ther is no indication the inverters are either charging the batteries or passing through power the fuse on the face of the inverter should be checked.

[Tim]

This morning as I was fueling up, Detroit off, saw the lighted switches in the bathroom (probably all of them) flicker off and on again, say one to two second cycle. As you all know Elegant Lady has lighted push button switches in the house that are 24 volts. So while driving today thought that while the house batteries are full, maybe there is a bad connection between the batteries and the inverters such that the inverters cannot suck all the voltage out of the batteries that it would like to make 110 volts. This 24 volt flicker is a first time phenom.

When on shore power or generator power, 110 everywhere is normal. As we drove 6 hours today, the oem frig stayed on and all the outlets stayed off. Thought for sure we would fry the frig, but no. Control panel voltages continued to show mid 90’s on leg one and 33 on leg two when driving and genny not on.

Jeff: Ok to run Detroit and Kubota same time, got it. Checked the two breakers on the front of each inverter, all ok. Will get back to you on the microwave/outlet test.

Tom: I checked voltages at all outlets with a meter. On inverter they are zero, and on shore power and genny they are 110. The frig outlet must be inaccessible so I have not metered it, but it still runs from all sources. When we got into Denver couple hours ago I did shut off the inverters at the remotes, and shut off charger one and charger two at the control panel, went outside and cleaned a sulfated house battery post. Started inverters back up, no change. I left my notes on how to shut down the house at home, which I needed when installing new house and chassis batteries a few years ago. So I did not do that.

Barb said the tivoli lights flickered recently too when she was making the bed, not today. I think there is a weak 24 volt connection somewhere. Feel free to call me at 847-894-3868. Thank you.

[Tim]

Ok..1.so on inverted power you have no power anywhere that you know of with the exceptio of the refer

2. On shore or gen you are good with power

3. Now you are seeing additional 24v circuits not respond correctly, that are DC powered.

If I have that correct you need to look to the house batteries…How old are they and what brand batteries were installed…..

[Greg]

Jeff.

1) Yes correct. But I just spoke with Bill Daugherty to learn that the top four breakers in the control panel for inverted circuits are powered by leg one i.e. Refer, micro wave, coffee maker, and tv/vcr. The only one we ran was refer, so no answer on the last three. We need to test and will. Bill also said leg two powers the bottom four breakers i.e. Outlets fwd, outlets aft, entertainment center, air compressor. And we only tested fwd and aft outlets which had 0 inverted volts. He thinks leg two inverter is bad while leg one inverter is ok. I need to catch up with you guys on some tests.

2) Yes correct.

3) Yes correct.

4) I put new house batteries into service December 2011, they are Deka 8A8D agm batteries x4. The dash gauges, house and engine, have both shown full batteries throughout this matter. I just metered the house batteries with out disconnecting any wires and they show 12.7 volts while nothing was charging them.

[Dale]

Jon.

We have not had any warning lights on the dash throughout this matter, nor any irregularities with the volt/amp gauges on the dash.

Over the years the GFI’s have tripped for seemingly frivolous reasons and am not surprised they trip while doing some of these tests.

The little green pilot lights on the breakers in the control panel are not a reliable indicator in my case because some of them are burned out. Such as the one for the frig which has never stopped working.

I need to do some more tests with loads on leg one and loads on leg two to discover a pattern.

We’re in Denver now sittin plugged into 50 amps for ten days visiting our son and the mountains.

Expect to have more test results tomorrow, thanks for everyone’s time.

[Archived]

Are you getting 110AC to the inverters? Have you looked to see if the transfer switch is working, making nosie like it is engaging when you are not on the gen or shore?

[Dawn]

Dan,

If you load test those 5 year old Deka’s you’ll likely find one or more bad.

I don’t understand Bill telling you the one leg is OK when your getting 99 volts.

[Archived]

Greg, not sure what you mean by getting 110ac to the inverters. My understanding is that we should be getting 24 Vdc to the inverters and 110vac out.

The transfer switch I believe is buried in a wall between the frig and shower, so I have not seen it, but it does not make noise when not on gen or shore power.

Greg, CORRECTION, the transfer switch IS humming while not on shore power or genny, but not too loud.

Tom, the current house batteries have never failed to go through the night and the next day to a point in time when we start traveling again. Of course this is totally subjective on consumption during that time. But the batteries I replaced only went about 2 hours at the time I replaced them. I can load test them individually when I get home. Deka 8A8D are top line specs vs others, even better than the Deka’s I took out.

The 99 volts on leg one is on the display on the control panel. As Jeff mentioned earlier, that display can be incorrect. In fact, he replaced that voltage display on leg two for me a few months ago after Bill diagnosed it to be bad. So I would say Bill, based on his experience, does not have a lot of faith in those displays and that is why he thinks leg one is ok. That being said, if I need a new inverter on leg two, I will replace both.