Thor Challenger Inverter E03 Error

[Delbert]

This last weekend while on shore power I plugged a heater into a plug on the side of the bed platform. Immediately a pop was heard and an alarm started on the inverter panel along with an E03 error. Unplugged heater. Now that plug which is on circuit 6A according to the Thor electrical diagram along with the entire circuit set of 5B have no power. The strange thing is that circuit 6A according to Thor is suppose to be both sides of the bed platform and under the kitchen table. Both other outlets work just fine on 6A. I ordered a new inverter just in case and am having an electrician give me the ability to isolate out the inverter by adding outlets, plugs and switches around that system. Does anyone have any additional ideas as to why just one leg in middle of the 6A power cable run might be dead? I've guessed that one end would be at the circuit breaker and the final end is under the kitchen table as it is the only outlet with a single wire. I have removed the outlet and tested for power at the wires on the dead outlet.

[Tom Bowe]

Were you able to clear the E03 error? If not, you might try disconnecting shore power and cycling the inverter off/on. That’s worked for me when I have accidentally overloaded it. Do your TVs still work? They’re usually on the inverter circuit. If the outlet by the bed is on the inverter, they may have it wired that way for CPAP users. It’s unlikely that your inverter is big enough to run a space heater and the fridge simultaneously if that’s how it’s wired. (My 2015 32n is) I think Thor has been known to make production adjustments that don’t find their way to the drawings they send us. Please post the cure when you find it. Best of luck.

[cavie]

sounds like you have a tripped GFI. Is there only 1 dead outlet in all of the rig. Have you turned off then on all 120 amp breakers? Have you reset the GFI on the inverter?

[Delbert]

I disconnected shore power and attempted to reset the inverter and still am getting an E03. I completely agree that there is a high likelihood that the bed plug is for a CPAP but couldn't get Thor to agree. They insist that the wiring diagram is correct and that both bed plugs are on 6A circuit. My next plan is to wire around the inverter to isolate it. This should also allow me to have an electrician test (trace) the wiring. Nothing on 5B (TVs, Fridge or plugs) work. This might be caused by the inverter not passing through power because of the E03 error.

[TurnerFam]

I've had a few errors over the years, the last being a 'high voltage' RED alert the other day when I plugged into 50amp shore power...but, tripping the shore breaker and resetting it made the 'issue' go away.

I suspect you don't need an electrician, and certainly don't need a 'new' inverter, just because of an error message, or a few outages of outlets. I would think that either you have a tripped individual breaker, a loose connection at one of the outlets, or a loose connection at one of the individual breakers, or even may have lost one 'side' of your incoming Shore Power.

All of these may not be indicative of what your specific issue is, but all usually impact how outlets may not be how parts of the coach may have power, and part may not.

If your Inverter is providing power to only 'some' outlets, then loosing part of the Shore Power could be the case.
If your Inverter is providing power to ALL outlets, then the 'sub-panel' for the Inverter Individual Breakers would be receiving power either the Inverter, when off-grid, or from Shore Power, though it 'passes thru' Shore Power, when available. If the Inverter has an error, it may not pass thru power, regardless.

I would suggest that since you 'blew' something when you plugged in the HEATER, which is a HIGH DRAW device, you probably have tripped the Inverter's own breaker, which is a 'push in' type breaker on the side of the Magnum Inverter.

If that is not the case, the outlet you plugged your heater into may have a loose wire, or one of the other outlets, or the breaker, on the same circuit.


I mention not needing an 'electrician' only because it's probably not something they need to be called for, and also because many have found that the typical electrician has not ever dealt with all of the different 'power' systems found within an RV, and sometimes don't readily understand the relationship between the Inverter, the batteries, Shore power, the Generator, and the way the Inverter 'passes thru' 120v Shore or Generator power from the Automatic Transfer Switch. Some electrical Main Panels, like mine, are not only a 50amp 240v panel, but also have an integrated 'sub-panel', with it's own 30amp 'reverse feed' Inverter circuit, that provides the outlets circuits with power.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Delbert

This last weekend while on shore power I plugged a heater into a plug on the side of the bed platform. Immediately a pop was heard and an alarm started on the inverter panel along with an E03 error. Unplugged heater. Now that plug which is on circuit 6A according to the Thor electrical diagram along with the entire circuit set of 5B have no power. The strange thing is that circuit 6A according to Thor is suppose to be both sides of the bed platform and under the kitchen table. Both other outlets work just fine on 6A. I ordered a new inverter just in case and am having an electrician give me the ability to isolate out the inverter by adding outlets, plugs and switches around that system. Does anyone have any additional ideas as to why just one leg in middle of the 6A power cable run might be dead? I've guessed that one end would be at the circuit breaker and the final end is under the kitchen table as it is the only outlet with a single wire. I have removed the outlet and tested for power at the wires on the dead outlet.

Cancel the inverter and the electrician. You have a tripped breaker or a GFI outlet. Don't wast money on things you haven't learned yet.

1st turn all 120 volt breakers off then on one at a time. This will reset any one that is tripped. Look in the bathroom for a Tripped GFI outlet. It must have power to test and reset.

Look for a tripped outlet or breaker on the inverter.

The outlet under the kitchen table is most likely on a GFI circuit.

Please explain the 5B and 6a. Are these the breakers in the 120 breaker box?
What does the A and B mean. We can do this IF you answer the questions.

[Beau388]

With Xantrex inverters, an E03 error shuts down the inverter completely. It will not pass any power until reset. To reset the inverter, you must remove all power from the inverter (12 volt and 120 volt) and allow time for the capacitors to discharge. This can take up to 12 hours. Typically an E03 error is caused by a sudden increase of current draw from the inverter while inverting. My Xantrex has a 30 amp pass through relay but will inverter only 18 amps. It is on any time I am on shore power or the generator is running. If I am drawing 20 amps or more from the pass through relay in the inverter and loose shore power for anytime the inverter will immediately alarm and show an E03 error.

[WearyTraveler]

You may have fried the outlet. Try replacing the outlet that doesn't work.

[Delbert]

Ok, needed to relocate yesterday. This gave me the opportunity to disconnect all power from the inverter. I disconnected from shore power and removed the 12 volt leads from the inverter. I drove about 7 hours with hope that it would completely discharge the inverter. When I got to the campsite I checked the output power on the 12 volt side to ensure that no voltage was coming out of the inverter. I also tested the 120 volt external GFI on the inverter. The meter listed 0.00 on all. I reconnected the 12 volt side and tested the 120, still 0.00. I reconnected shore power and still 0.00. The inverter panel still has a E03 error in all states. The GFI in the bathroom is not tripped and supply power just fine. 5B is the passenger side of the motorhome and supplies the passenger plug, TV console, frig and vanity and possibly the front side of the bed for a CPAP machine. All of 5B is dead and I cannot find a GFI along that line. Today I will remove the fireplace and see if there is a GFI hidden behind that for the TV connections. 6A is suppose to be for both plugs on the sides of the bed and under the table. The 6A plugs on the rear side of the bed and under the table work just fine. The 6A plug on the front side of the bed does not work. This makes me think it is on the inverter with the 5B set. I have removed the plug that does not function and tested for power on the wires themselves and there is no voltage on the wires. The reason that I intend to get an electrician out is to wire around the inverter with outlets and plugs and to assist in tracing the wiring path.

THANK YOU ALL who have added opinions and thoughts on this problem.

[cavie]

You have a tripped GFI outlet. Look in storage compartments. Out of the way places.

[WearyTraveler]

I'll tell ya... I'm fine with electrical issues in the house. But reading a few of these threads about RV power issues scares the heck out of me. Just sayin...

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Delbert

Ok, needed to relocate yesterday. This gave me the opportunity to disconnect all power from the inverter. I disconnected from shore power and removed the 12 volt leads from the inverter. I drove about 7 hours with hope that it would completely discharge the inverter. When I got to the campsite I checked the output power on the 12 volt side to ensure that no voltage was coming out of the inverter. I also tested the 120 volt external GFI on the inverter. The meter listed 0.00 on all. I reconnected the 12 volt side and tested the 120, still 0.00. I reconnected shore power and still 0.00. The inverter panel still has a E03 error in all states. The GFI in the bathroom is not tripped and supply power just fine. 5B is the passenger side of the motorhome and supplies the passenger plug, TV console, frig and vanity and possibly the front side of the bed for a CPAP machine. All of 5B is dead and I cannot find a GFI along that line. Today I will remove the fireplace and see if there is a GFI hidden behind that for the TV connections. 6A is suppose to be for both plugs on the sides of the bed and under the table. The 6A plugs on the rear side of the bed and under the table work just fine. The 6A plug on the front side of the bed does not work. This makes me think it is on the inverter with the 5B set. I have removed the plug that does not function and tested for power on the wires themselves and there is no voltage on the wires. The reason that I intend to get an electrician out is to wire around the inverter with outlets and plugs and to assist in tracing the wiring path.

THANK YOU ALL who have added opinions and thoughts on this problem.

Check everywhere. On my Challenger 37ND I found outlets hanging in the wall behind the TV and I found another one under the couch. I found this one when I had to tear some fabric off the couch frame to get the cat out after it went exploring (long story in a previous post).

Please excuse me if this has been asked and/or answered but did you get the electrical schematics from Thor?

[TurnerFam]

yes, and while we have a GFCI outlet under the booth seating, there is also one IN the booth seat(originally for the BASS sound box), one behind the Living room TV in the CEILING(you would never be able to 'see' it there!), one behind the Bedroom 12v Jensen TV(I suppose for some type of DVD or other device, but mounting in the ceiling of the 'mount', and you'd never know it was there, otherwise).... etc.

It took us two months to 'accidentally' find the outlet beside the bed, mounting underneath the overhead cabinet on both sides(you would assume outlets would be in the wall, right?)...

and, to add insult to injury, there is another one hiding in the master 'closet'(?), but I suppose for the small TV in the lower bunk, which must be thread thru the wall to this outlet.

OH! and I almost forgot... there is one hiding in the hallway 'drop out' shelf, on the end wall...again, you'd miss it if you didn't 'accidentally' find out some other way, since it's hardly seen or noticeable, otherwise. None of these outlets have WHITE outlet covers, only dark brown in order to make them invisible!

[Delbert]

Electrician disconnected and wired around inverter. All plugs including the fridge are working now. This tells me there is no short and in fact the inverter is blown. At least for now we have power on that side of the coach and the outlet on the side of the bed.

When new inverter arrives I will have it installed in such a way that I can bypass it if this ever happens again.

[TurnerFam]

if the 120v Shore or Gen power to the Inverter's Battery Charger/Pass Thru is to be 'bypassed', as you suggest, you would probably need a manual Transfer Switch, which would allow you to move the incoming power to the sub-panel for the Inverter-powered circuits/breakers within your Main electrical panel... might be a chore, and it can certainly be engineered, but it sounds like a long, expensive way around a simple problem that doesn't happen very often.


The other night, on the way home from Thanksgiving, and overnighting at Sam's Club, we experienced a 'AC OVERLOAD' or similar named fault, on the Magnum Inverter panel. This only happened after all day of travel with no issues, and only after we parked. Weird.

Ok., so I did a 'reset'. No change, and no power to ANY outlets in the coach while on the Inverter.
So, I cranked the GEN to see if 'shore power' would override the issues. No change, only now the 'Charger' would try to come on, but it would then start almost resetting itself, before eventually going back to the original 'AC OVERLOAD' fault. Really weird.

I even 'hard reset' the Inverter by pulling the main POSITIVE cable for a minute. No change.

Then, I had an idea, since all other 120v items were working fine on the Generator, maybe this is simply an 'outlet' problem within the coach. I knew that there was really no 'overload' of any of the outlets, or any circuits, but the thought that an outlet might have a loose wire, or something plugged into an outlet could be suspect, even though nothing new had been plugged in, etc.

So, rather than 'unplugged' everything from every outlet, I decided to simply start by TRIPPING the Inverter's sub-panel 30amp main breaker.

VOILA! The system then went back to normal, except that now no outlets worked.

o.k., so we have started to figure something out here.

I decided to then TRIP only all the sub-panel's INDIVIDUAL breakers, and flip it's MAIN breaker back on. The inverter panel remained calm. Good.

I started to flip each individual breaker ON, until 'BAMM' and 'BUZZZZ' was had when breaker number 3 was flipped on. The Inverter went back into it's 'AC OVERLOAD'.
Now, we were on to something.

So, for the time being, for the short overnight, I simply left that single individual breaker OFF, and the others on, and everything was fine, except for several outlets that did not work, of course.

Got home, and a few days later I had time to 'figure this out'. I pulled anything plugged into these 'dead' outlets, and then flipped on that individual circuit breaker. All was GOOD. Now we know that it was 'something' plugged into one of these outlets.
One outlet up front got my attention, as it is full and makes use of an outlet extender, giving it 6 plug-ins instead of only two.
But, come to find out, that was not the issue, but only one item that was plugged into that outlet - the power cord of my LAPTOP. IT WAS THE PROBLEM. Removing this power cord solved all the issues.
I then inspected the power cord, and found that since my laptop typically sits on top of the 'computer pull-out' desktop, the power cord snakes around behind it and down thru the lower section of the desktop that articulates up and out when you want to sit down and have the computer close to you. That articulating framework is metal hinging, which was catching the power cord and, over time, pinching it to the point in one section that apparently the section 'shorted', causing the Inverter to sense this 'overload' draw of power.

It's good that it was as simple as that.

Today I took the power cord, did my little 'backyard' engineering on it, and now it also continues to work fine again.


All is good.