Residential Refer Issue on Inverter Power

We have a 2014 Landmark with the residential regrigerator installed at the factory. The factory also installed a second battery and inverter. Before our trips I make sure that the second battery switch is onand the turn on the inverter. The iverter indicates that it is working. The problem is my refrigerator does not work after I disconnect from my 120 at the pedestal. Refrigerator light does not even come on. Is the inverter suppose to rune just the refrig? Is there a specific outlet that the refrig has to be plugged into? The refig runs on outside power and the inverter indicated that it is working. Any suggestions?

Thanks

There is an automatic transfer switch that should be controlling the AC source power the refer uses. When you are plugged into shore power, the transfer switch is supposed to transfer the load (the refer) to shore power. When you unplug from shore power, the transfer switch is supposed to transfer the load to the inverter, which as you know, is powered by the batteries.

I know there are some high value fuses and maybe even a circuit breaker all mounted there on the wall near the inverter and transfer switch. My guess is your issue lies with one or more of these items:

Most likely items:
- Batteries drained below the point that they will power the inverter (check voltage with VOM)
- Inverter is off (look for a switch on the AC receptacle end)
- Transfer switch is not working
- DC fuse blown or breaker tripped

Less likely items:
- Refer AC circuit has become unplugged from inverter output (less likely since refer works on shore power)

There are very few of these out there so far, so there is little experience with it here on the forum. I suggest you give a call this morning to Heartland Customer Service at 877-262-8032. They should be able to give you some troubleshooting steps. Please circle back here to advise us as to what the issue is as this is a very new items for Heartland and any sort of a knowledge base that can be built up here can be very helpful to others down the road.

Hi 4ever,

12V Power from the extra battery goes to the inverter where it's converted to 110V AC. It then goes to a transfer switch. The transfer switch has two inputs and one output. The inputs are connected to the inverter and shore power. The refrigerator should be plugged into the transfer switch output. When the transfer switch senses shore power, an internal relay operates to connect the shore power to the output. When it senses shore power is removed, the relay connects the inverter power to the refrigerator.

It sounds like either there's no voltage coming out of the inverter, or the transfer switch is not operating correctly. Or maybe the refrigerator is plugged into an outlet other than at the transfer switch.

That transfer is visible in the front compartment. Have you tried having someone plugging - unplugging the shore power while you listen - feel for the transfer switch relay changing over? Easy place to start looking.

Just looked at this setup at a rally was was nice to see Magnum equipment instead of no-name brands.

I may be missing something here since I have never seen the Heartland inverter installation. Usually there is a sub panel installed that would have just the circuits in it that are to be run by the inverter (refrigerator, TV, +). Again, usually, there is a circuit breaker in the main 120v electrical breaker panel that's labeled "inverter" (maybe a 30amp breaker). Again, usually, power from the pedestal goes to the main breaker panel, and across the 30amp inverter breaker directly to the inverter. From the out on the inverter, the cable runs to the sub-panel powering the "inverter circuits." On the inverter, there should also be a DC in from the battery. An inverter internal transfer switch, when it detects pedestal power, transfers the pedestal power through the inverter to the sub panel and also turns the inverter into a battery charger for the inverter battery. When you remove pedestal power, the internal transfer switch detects the loss of pedestal power and transfers the power souce to the battery then up to the sub panel.

The unknowns to this question are: do you have an electrical sub panel with a circuit labeled refrigerator? What kind of inverter is installed (charger or no charger). Inverter control panels typically "light up" when shore power is attached. The lights may indicate the state of the batteries, ie charged fully, currently charging, etc. Usually there is an invert button on the control panel. Usually, invert is not automatic after removing shore power; you have to push the invert button to turn it on. While many, if not all larger inverters have 110 outlets on them, few, if any have remote outlet wired directly into the inverter with romex. Usually the inverted circuits are in the sub panel connected by romex.

Pictures of your electrical panel and sub panel would be helpful as well as pictures of your inverter and inverter control panel. By now you may have already solved the problem. Good luck and let us know what you find.

It is fixed. First, I would like to thank you all for jumping in and providing good advise. Also, want to thank Anthony in Customer Service at Heartland. He either read the thread or someone conatcted him about my issue. Got a phone call form him ealier today and he was attempting to resolve the issue. Actually, I had to go to my dealer today to get some other warranty issues taken care of. After hearing back from Anthony the Tech at the dealer went through the system looking for the problem. It appeared that there was a lose wire in the junction box under the transfer switch. Now all is fine.

Again, thanks for all the help. Just another example of how good this forum is.

Ted