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Old 04-08-2018, 06:51 PM   #1
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Inverter?

This morning when we woke up we don’t have anything that runs off the inverter. We are hooked to shore power. Checked all the fuses and circuit breakers. Residential refrigerator, entertainment center and TVs all out. The inverter panel shows everything ok. Circuit breaker on inverter doesn’t do anything. Can’t push it in, just feels soft. Last night the power went out for about 3 seconds and came back on again. Everything was fine after that but this happened during the night.

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Old 04-08-2018, 07:22 PM   #2
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Check fuses.
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Old 04-08-2018, 07:23 PM   #3
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My invertor has a internal transfer switch which bypasses the invertor on shore power or gen power. Try disconnecting the shore power and see if the invertor powers the dead equipment. If it does than the transfer switch part is bad.
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Old 04-08-2018, 07:25 PM   #4
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Throw another vote on the pile for checking the fuses...
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Old 04-08-2018, 07:46 PM   #5
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I would bet that power failed again during the night, un-noticed, and probably tripped a fuse or breaker you haven't yet found, or that inverter internal transfer switch. Unplug from shore power, power the inverter off, and kill all internal power with the use/store switch. Then start restoring things, and see if that may reset things to functional again.
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Old 04-08-2018, 08:46 PM   #6
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Did that but thank you.
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Old 04-08-2018, 08:57 PM   #7
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It doesn’t power up anything. When shore power was plugged back in it sounded like something start up and then it stopped.
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Old 04-08-2018, 08:59 PM   #8
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Didn’t work. When it is plugged back it it sounds like a fan starting up but it stops right away.
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Old 04-08-2018, 10:09 PM   #9
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If the fan you hear, momentarily, is the inverter cooling fan, its sounding like an inverter problem. If you can, measure the voltage going into the inverter, and voltage out. Don't know how old your coach is, but if its under warrantee, try to get it to a Thor approved warrantee facility.
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Old 04-08-2018, 11:31 PM   #10
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Question

Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyFireCaptain View Post
This morning when we woke up we don’t have anything that runs off the inverter. We are hooked to shore power. Checked all the fuses and circuit breakers. Residential refrigerator, entertainment center and TVs all out. The inverter panel shows everything ok. Circuit breaker on inverter doesn’t do anything. Can’t push it in, just feels soft. Last night the power went out for about 3 seconds and came back on again. Everything was fine after that but this happened during the night.
follow up questions:

1 What 120v items in your coach DO work?

2 When you say the 'Inverter panel shows everything o.k.', what exactly do you mean?

3 What do you mean by 'last night, power went out...'? How do you know the power went 'out'? What items lost power?


Your inverter, when you are plugged into Shore Power, simply passes 120v power thru it to all of the breakers/circuits on that side of your breaker box(one of your main breakers may be labeled 'Inverter'). Your other side will be items that your inverter does not provide power to, such as water heater, air conditioners, etc.

Now, if your inverter is ON, and you loose Shore Power, your Inverter would immediately continue providing power to those items under it's circuits, like the fridge, some or all outlets, microwave, some or all tvs, etc., depending on whether Thor wires all of these things on your Inverter circuits.
Our diesel platform, and Magnum ME2012 Inverter, has ALL 120v outlets on the Inverter, which basically is everything except the few items that are heavy draw items, as mentioned above.
Some gas engine RVs, though, don't have a larger inverter, sometimes only large enough for the factory to wire the Fridge itself to, but sometimes you'll also have a few outlets, as well. When you say 'tv', you're really referring to a 120v outlet, just like the fridge is plugged into, though many times the bedroom TV is actually a 12v variety, and will continue working even without the inverter since it is wired directly thru a fuse to the batteries.

confusing, sometimes, but fun!
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Old 04-09-2018, 12:05 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by gbrown View Post
Check fuses.
done several times
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Old 04-09-2018, 12:39 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by TurnerFam View Post
follow up questions:

1 What 120v items in your coach DO work?

2 When you say the 'Inverter panel shows everything o.k.', what exactly do you mean?

3 What do you mean by 'last night, power went out...'? How do you know the power went 'out'? What items lost power?


Your inverter, when you are plugged into Shore Power, simply passes 120v power thru it to all of the breakers/circuits on that side of your breaker box(one of your main breakers may be labeled 'Inverter'). Your other side will be items that your inverter does not provide power to, such as water heater, air conditioners, etc.

Now, if your inverter is ON, and you loose Shore Power, your Inverter would immediately continue providing power to those items under it's circuits, like the fridge, some or all outlets, microwave, some or all tvs, etc., depending on whether Thor wires all of these things on your Inverter circuits.
Our diesel platform, and Magnum ME2012 Inverter, has ALL 120v outlets on the Inverter, which basically is everything except the few items that are heavy draw items, as mentioned above.
Some gas engine RVs, though, don't have a larger inverter, sometimes only large enough for the factory to wire the Fridge itself to, but sometimes you'll also have a few outlets, as well. When you say 'tv', you're really referring to a 120v outlet, just like the fridge is plugged into, though many times the bedroom TV is actually a 12v variety, and will continue working even without the inverter since it is wired directly thru a fuse to the batteries.

confusing, sometimes, but fun!
The microwave, stereo in the bedroom, furnace, air conditioning, hot water heater, and some of the outlets.

The panel shows 13.3 with no trouble lights. The house batteries are fully charged.

We were watching TV and everything shut off but came back on in a few seconds. This morning when we first got up everything was working but soon shut down. Refrigerator, all 3 TVs, DVD player and switching box, and the outlet in the front bathroom and bedroom. Everything else seems ok. We had the inverter and batteries cut off and strictly using shore power.

If I turn the inverter on and use house batteries it doesn’t make any difference. Those items still won’t run.

The inverter is pretty large and sounds like it is wired same as yours. All 3 TVs are 120.

I went through all fuses too and just to make sure I switched some out.
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Old 04-09-2018, 12:56 AM   #13
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Some Help.

LadyFireCaptain - I am attaching the wiring diagram for our Challenger that was sent to me by Thor Warranty/Technical support. On page #2 you will see the inverter with a 250 AMP fuse. Not sure how your coach is wired but in general most have the same logic. If it helps and you can solve the problem great. If not, give Thor Warranty/Technical. They are great at providing advise PLUS your specific wiring diagram.
Attached Files
File Type: pdf coachBatteryCompartmentWiring (2).pdf (137.7 KB, 70 views)
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Old 04-09-2018, 09:30 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Laco View Post
If the fan you hear, momentarily, is the inverter cooling fan, its sounding like an inverter problem. If you can, measure the voltage going into the inverter, and voltage out. Don't know how old your coach is, but if its under warrantee, try to get it to a Thor approved warrantee facility.
I don’t have the ability to do that but I will work on it. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Old 04-09-2018, 09:31 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by bigben View Post
LadyFireCaptain - I am attaching the wiring diagram for our Challenger that was sent to me by Thor Warranty/Technical support. On page #2 you will see the inverter with a 250 AMP fuse. Not sure how your coach is wired but in general most have the same logic. If it helps and you can solve the problem great. If not, give Thor Warranty/Technical. They are great at providing advise PLUS your specific wiring diagram.
Thank you. I think that will help at least eliminate possibilities.
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Old 04-09-2018, 11:47 PM   #16
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after your last set of answers, and now knowing that you had the Inverter OFF when this happened, that you have lost HALF of your 50a power supply from the Power Pole you are plugged into...

50a RV shore power is actually TWO hot lines, both 50amp, giving your coach up to 100amps of shore power.
Half of this goes to side 1(left) of your breaker box, with it's own Main 50a breaker, and the other goes to the other side.

It sounds as if you have lost HALF of your 50amp power, one 'LEG', as you have 'some' power and not some other.

Look at your breaker box labels. See if everything that is working is on one 'side' of the box... if so, this is your answer - a bad 50a power connection at the Shore Power pole.

now, this could 'either' be the power itself, OR it could be your shore Cord, which may not be making a good connection on one of it's brass Connectors.


just my guesstimate... have a park owner/employee check your 50a shore breaker, and whether both of the lines are 'hot'(120v).
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Old 04-11-2018, 11:13 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by TurnerFam View Post
after your last set of answers, and now knowing that you had the Inverter OFF when this happened, that you have lost HALF of your 50a power supply from the Power Pole you are plugged into...

50a RV shore power is actually TWO hot lines, both 50amp, giving your coach up to 100amps of shore power.
Half of this goes to side 1(left) of your breaker box, with it's own Main 50a breaker, and the other goes to the other side.

It sounds as if you have lost HALF of your 50amp power, one 'LEG', as you have 'some' power and not some other.

Look at your breaker box labels. See if everything that is working is on one 'side' of the box... if so, this is your answer - a bad 50a power connection at the Shore Power pole.

now, this could 'either' be the power itself, OR it could be your shore Cord, which may not be making a good connection on one of it's brass Connectors.


just my guesstimate... have a park owner/employee check your 50a shore breaker, and whether both of the lines are 'hot'(120v).
Does that hold true because starting up the generator doesn't make any difference.
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Old 04-11-2018, 11:16 PM   #18
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I have to say THANK YOU! Our problem is not yet resolved but we are home now and I can continue to work n it. All of you are totally AWESOME to go out of your way to help me. Thank you so much!
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Old 04-27-2018, 05:40 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by LadyFireCaptain View Post
I have to say THANK YOU! Our problem is not yet resolved but we are home now and I can continue to work n it. All of you are totally AWESOME to go out of your way to help me. Thank you so much!
Did u find out what was wrong?
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Old 04-27-2018, 06:23 PM   #20
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Refrigerator compressor

Having the power go off for less than 10 seconds could be a problem for the inverter circuit and it may have a blown fuse. When the power goes off and the refrigerator was running, the compressor has built up a lot of pressure in the refrigerant line. When power is re-applied, a very high stall or starting current is drawn by the high load on the compressor. This could easily blow out the inverters fuse or, at worst, take out the inverter altogether.

High end refrigerators have protection by delaying the restart after power is re-applied, yours may not have this feature.

There will still be AC power at the fuse/circuit breaker because the inverter has to receive the input AC and transfer it to the AC loads so the inverter has to be powered by it's 12V input to do the transfer. This will work as long as the inverter's fuse/breaker is OK. Otherwise, you need to bypass the inverter to re-energize the AC power from the shore power line.
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