No Power to Fridge (Haier) when not on Shore Power

[david-steph2018]

There is a switch to turn the inverter on/off. Our switch was located next to the stairs going up to the bedroom, on the side of the stove. Our old inverter system needed the inverter to be turned on. But we left it on all the time, because if you were gone for the day and electric went out, your fridge would still have power.

Now just working this thru my brain.
So, since you have power at the transfer switch from the inverter, then the GFCI outlet on the bottom of the inverter is good. Power coming out of the transfer switch, so switch is good. Need to trace wire from transfer switch and see where it goes and check power there. That wire SHOULD go to the fridge outlet, but what is should and does is different things.
Good luck, you will get it figured out, keep plugging away at it. Keep posting the results, maybe something will come up.

 

[Micky-D]

So in my 2016 Bighorn 3685 the fridge used to work any time shore power was plugged in. Now yesterday the fridge sopped working while plugged in to 50 amp shore power. Checked breakers, fuses, all good. The plug was secure in the outlet. Looked at the inverter and found the test button out - reset it and turned on the inverter...fridge works now. But once the inverter is off the fridge loses power. Can anyone shed light as to why my fridge won't work anymore while on shore power?

 

[david-steph2018]

So in my 2016 Bighorn 3685 the fridge used to work any time shore power was plugged in. Now yesterday the fridge sopped working while plugged in to 50 amp shore power. Checked breakers, fuses, all good. The plug was secure in the outlet. Looked at the inverter and found the test button out - reset it and turned on the inverter...fridge works now. But once the inverter is off the fridge loses power. Can anyone shed light as to why my fridge won't work anymore while on shore power?

Real good chance the transfer switch went bad on you. If you feel comfortable working on 110VAC system you need to check the power into the transfer switch from the 110 VAC side. Then check the power at the outlet for 110VAC from the breaker box. So, you will need to turn the inverter back off so you will not be reading 110VAc from the inverter.
If you have 110VAC coming into the transfer switch and nothing at the outlet, transfer switch is out.
If it is the transfer switch let me know, I think I still have the one that was replaced when I had solar installed.

 

[Micky-D]

Thank you David - any chance you know where the transfer switch is located, or have a picture of the electrical board in the trailer garage?

 

[david-steph2018]

Thank you David - any chance you know where the transfer switch is located, or have a picture of the electrical board in the trailer garage?

On the bottom of the inverter is an outlet with the GFCI. The plug should be for the transfer switch, it was on our Road Warrior. So, the transfer switch should be close to the inverter/batteries.

 

[wdk450]

You can trace the live power out of the inverter by turning off all shorepower, activating the 12 volt powered inverter, and using a non-contact voltage detector (sniffer) to trace the AC wires around the inverter.

non contact voltage tester - Google Search

On Edit: While noncontact AC voltage testers are great, they do NOT detect an open neutral connection reliably. They are like a broadband radio receiver sniffing for the hot AC wave generated 60 Hz hum.

 

[Micky-D]

Thank you David and Bill - you guys were exactly right. I used an electrical detector (sniffer) to track the power. The inverter was getting power in and out of the switch, but shore power was only going in - not out. That's why my fridge would lose power when connected to my house. So I will replace the Transfer switch.

 

[david-steph2018]

Thank you David and Bill - you guys were exactly right. I used an electrical detector (sniffer) to track the power. The inverter was getting power in and out of the switch, but shore power was only going in - not out. That's why my fridge would lose power when connected to my house. So I will replace the Transfer switch.

When our transfer switch went out it was $75 on e-Bay for a new one in August 2019.

 

[wdk450]

This was on E-Bay this morning:

Magnum CSW-TS15 Transfer Switch 15 Amp | eBay

CSW Transfer Switch. Magnum CSW1012 1000W 12VDC Pure Sine Inverter CSW Series. 15 A Transfer Switch. Used to automatically switch AC load connections between utility/ generator power and the AC output.

www.ebay.com

 

[Care2bear]

PROBLEM RESOLVED!!! What a pain

I appreciate all the feedback.

I am sure my previous post seemed all over but the troubleshooting was methodical.

I always had 120v coming out of the inverter into the inverter switch and out of the switch when disconnected from shore power. 120V was measured all the down to the set of Molex connectors in the front compartment where the wiring dove under the rig.

Last night I pulled the fridge out and started tracing the wiring backwards from the outlet, behind the stove, under the cabinets and found that it ended behind the fireplace somewhere. Pulled the fireplace and found 4 more Molex connections behind it. I immediately saw a supply line coming up from the floor with a white label where none of the others had a label. I immediately suspected this may be the correct supply line for the refrigerator from the inverter side but it was plugged into the outlet for the fireplace. Started doing voltage checks, shore power on/off, inverter power on/off. Voila, Heartland wired the rig wrong. They had the inverter supply voltage wired to the fireplace Swapped that line with the line I traced back to the fridge and we now have proper power source when on shore power and when on inverter power.

What a pain in the rear.

Below pic is after i swapped connectors and corrected.

View attachment 67626

How did you remove the fireplace? I have the same issue, but it appears my radio is what the inverter turns on.

 

[mackhucks]

I've checked this disconnected from shore power - and the power is still coming out of the inverter/transfer switch. My refrigerator only has a single outlet to it. But let me ask this (because I really don't know) ... where is the logic built in that says "once shore power is disconnected, stop with the power from shore and start pumping in from the 110v inverter." Is the inverter power always there, but is the only power that remains when shore power is disconnected? Is there some kind of fuse/logic mechanism that I need to check?

I found this

Also, if your radio is like the Jensen that I have. It runs on 12v DC so the inverter (120v AC) does not power it. Mine had 4 different wires that powered 1) TV 2) fireplace 3) microwave 4) fridg. The TV wire will go straight up, the fireplace was right there and the other 2 was running to the right. Trial and error or a tester will tell you which one. I used a line tester while off power to tell me which had inverter power.

 

[mackhucks]

Thank you so much for the work you did on this. I had the same issue with no power at my refridgerator and I found the inverter was powering the fireplace. I switched them around and problem solved.

 

[dudkas]

Well tomorrow I will pull my FP as I have the exact same issue. My fireplace works with no AC power but the fridge does not. I am glad I searched these forums. I will update my threat and reference yours when I solve my issue.