Battery/inverter
- Thread starter dtg
- Start date
david-steph2018
Well-known member
1st - you sure the battery disconnect switches are on
2nd - if on, check the bottom of the inverter, there should be a GFCI outlet, make sure it is not tripped
3rd - if it is okay check the outlet output and see if you are getting 120VAC out of it. If you don't have a multimeter, use a set of 120VAC lights, radio or something to test for power
4th - it could be the dedicated transfer switch for the fridge that went out. You will need a multimeter to check it.
Here is a block diagram for the residential fridge setup in the rigs:
This information is on the top of the page under "TOOLS" tab.
Click on "TOOLS"
Click on "appliances"
Click on "Residential Fridge Block diagram"
Also, if the batteries are low the inverter will cut out.
2nd - if on, check the bottom of the inverter, there should be a GFCI outlet, make sure it is not tripped
3rd - if it is okay check the outlet output and see if you are getting 120VAC out of it. If you don't have a multimeter, use a set of 120VAC lights, radio or something to test for power
4th - it could be the dedicated transfer switch for the fridge that went out. You will need a multimeter to check it.
Here is a block diagram for the residential fridge setup in the rigs:
This information is on the top of the page under "TOOLS" tab.
Click on "TOOLS"
Click on "appliances"
Click on "Residential Fridge Block diagram"
Also, if the batteries are low the inverter will cut out.
taskswap
Well-known member
IMO everyone who owns an RV should own a multimeter. Even <$10 units from Harbor Freight or Amazon can still be used for basic diagnostics, even if you have no idea how the sparkles work their magic. Go buy one and make the following measurements:
1. Measure the voltage across your battery (multimeter in voltage mode, DC, black wire to battery ground, red wire to battery positive) when you "think" it's fully charged.
2. Measure same when you think it has died.
3. Measure same when you think you are hooked up to a decent charging option like shore power (NOT your tow vehicle).
4. If you believe you have solar installed, measure same when the sun is high and hot, and your panels have no shade on them from trees.
Those four measurements will tell the rest of us a lot to help give you pointers on things to look at. It will cover and/or rule out various things like problems with your charger, whether your solar is actually working, etc.
If you are using an entirely stock system, if it is anything like our Milestone 386BH, you should know it's woefully under-powered. We had a single lead-acid 12V battery, a 30W solar panel on the roof, and a low-end PWM charge controller that wasn't even working because its fuse wasn't even installed. This was connected to a barely-adequate (but surprisingly - a quality manufacturer) inverter hooked to our fridge. With the setup as it was configured, it was barely able to run the fridge for 4-5 hours. That's just barely enough to haul from one campsite with full power to another, but not much more. All these problems are addressable (probably with a bit of $...) but before we guess what your issue is, let's get some data to really understand the root cause.
I don't specifically advocate this product but for $14 this is a great buy, it's tiny, does about everything an RV owner might want, and if you have Prime you can probably get it tomorrow if you are in their delivery radius:
1. Measure the voltage across your battery (multimeter in voltage mode, DC, black wire to battery ground, red wire to battery positive) when you "think" it's fully charged.
2. Measure same when you think it has died.
3. Measure same when you think you are hooked up to a decent charging option like shore power (NOT your tow vehicle).
4. If you believe you have solar installed, measure same when the sun is high and hot, and your panels have no shade on them from trees.
Those four measurements will tell the rest of us a lot to help give you pointers on things to look at. It will cover and/or rule out various things like problems with your charger, whether your solar is actually working, etc.
If you are using an entirely stock system, if it is anything like our Milestone 386BH, you should know it's woefully under-powered. We had a single lead-acid 12V battery, a 30W solar panel on the roof, and a low-end PWM charge controller that wasn't even working because its fuse wasn't even installed. This was connected to a barely-adequate (but surprisingly - a quality manufacturer) inverter hooked to our fridge. With the setup as it was configured, it was barely able to run the fridge for 4-5 hours. That's just barely enough to haul from one campsite with full power to another, but not much more. All these problems are addressable (probably with a bit of $...) but before we guess what your issue is, let's get some data to really understand the root cause.
I don't specifically advocate this product but for $14 this is a great buy, it's tiny, does about everything an RV owner might want, and if you have Prime you can probably get it tomorrow if you are in their delivery radius:
wdk450
Well-known member
Re: "We drove it 6 hours and the battery failed".
You need to know if your truck is indeed charging the trailer battery. You can start by disconnecting the trailer from shorepower (charger) and the truck. Next measure the trailer battery voltage with a digital voltmeter. Next connect your umbilical cable to the truck, start the truck engine, and leave it idling. Now take a 2nd measurement of the trailer's battery. The battery voltage should be higher if the truck is providing charging current. Most trucks have a fuse in this trailer charging circuit wiring, which might be blown.
I personally found that this fuse was easily blown by trailer battery conditions, and I would have no indication while driving that this had happened. The primary purpose of this truck charging circuit for the trailer battery is not to power stuff like inverters, etc., but to keep the trailer battery charged SO THAT THE TRAILER EMERGENCY DISCONNECT BRAKING SYSTEM HAS POWER TO APPLY THE TRAILER ELECTRIC BRAKES IN THE EVENT OF A CATASTROPHIC TRAILER DISCONNECT FROM THE TRUCK WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD!!! I rewired the system with an additional self-resetting circuit breaker between the umbilical cable on the trailer and the trailer battery, of an amperage LESS than that of the trailer charging system fuse in the truck. That way the truck fuse no longer blows, and the trailer battery remains charging most all the time when driving.
Our past president and forum moderator, Jim Beletti came up with a status light mounted on the off door side hitch overhang that could be seen through the diver's left mirror as you are driving down the road. As I remember this was for a refrigerator inverter power monitoring when these were a new thing. I'll see if I can find that thread in the forum search.
Maybe this might work, although the vendor didn't list the dimensions:
Car Battery Indicator 12V 24V 48V 60V 72V LED Meter Gauge Monitor for Golf Cart | eBay
3-15 series lithium ion battery, storage battery, water battery and other different battery types. Our professional technical team will help to you solve the problems within 24 hours. Your patience is greatly appreciated.
www.ebay.com
Here's an old thread on the subject: https://heartlandowners.org/threads/residential-refrigerator-not-working-properly.82007/#post-661650
david-steph2018
Well-known member
The factory inverter is probably only a 1000-watt. There should be that dedicated transfer switch in line to the fridge next to the inverter. The transfer switch can be plugged into the bottom of the inverter.
The factory installed solar panel, may not have the fuse installed for it. If you didn't install, the dealer may not have before you picked it up.
As mentioned above, you will also need to make sure the truck is charging as well.
