Inverter Maintenance Lesson-Learned
My lesson-learned for the month...check ALL of the connections before assuming there is a bigger issue with your equipment.
I was having trouble with my inverter (Xantrex XM1800) powering the refrigerator. The fridge would turn on, and after a few seconds the inverter would go off on either low voltage or overload - it was sporadic. The inverter would shut off and restart to end up with the same errors. The TVs would work just fine.
I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out if I had bad batteries, a bad inverter, or what. I was at the point of taking the batteries out to be tested, although all 3 were holding 12.4V-12.7V when resting - checked individually with a volt meter. Total charge corresponded with the 12.6V the inverter display was reading. I was starting to shop batteries and new inverters, contemplating making the jump to a pure sine wave or inverter/charger.
Crisis averted!
Turns out, both of the battery input leads to the inverter were so loose, I was able to turn the nuts about 3 full turns each before they were snug. I couldn't see them because of the location and how the inverter is mounted in the compartment, and was afraid to grab them - been shocked before and it isn't a pleasant experience! Once I disconnected and removed the batteries, I grabbed the cables and noticed they were extremely loose on the inverter. Tightened the connections, and everything is working great now!
I have a residential fridge, 110V only. I reconnected all of the batteries and turned on the inverter and refrigerator. After 6 hours of the fridge running at full capacity, the batteries were still holding at 12.3V, pulling anywhere from 11-15A DC. Once the compressor shut off, they were at 12.5V holding steady on the inverter monitor panel.
Everything is working as it should now, and my wife is giving me hell about not checking the connections earlier! LOL!
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