INVERTER - help

John & Angela wrote:
Howdy again. Just want to be sure I understand. With ALL the breakers off the inverter is still loading down as soon as you plug the shore cord in.

Slightly off topic, how many batteries do you have.

Yes - all the breakers are off, including the main breaker. And it is alarming and shutting down. I have two 6V batteries wired in series.

In the wintertime, when the weather is cool enough that I don't need to run the AC, I like to dry camp. I have a 100W solar panel which keeps my batteries well-charged, and I am able to run the fridge on propane, heat on propane, and stove on propane. I have replaced all my lights with LED's so they draw almost no power. But, it would be nice to be able to plug in a crockpot, small coffee pot, etc., which is why I am trying the inverter.

SDurbak wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
Did you remember to change your fridge to propane. Thats about 4 amps. How about the water heater electric element. Theres another 11 amps. Those two together would drag down a battery to the alarm voltage quick and probably kill the battery in about 20 minutes.

The fridge and water heater were both off. I even turned all the breakers off. So there should not have been anything pulling any power out of the battery. I'm really stumped.

Howdy again. Just want to be sure I understand. With ALL the breakers off the inverter is still loading down as soon as you plug the shore cord in.

Slightly off topic, how many batteries do you have.

ewarnerusa wrote:
Some inverters don't work. I'm not savvy enough to know why. The first inverter I bought was a Samlex MSW 800 watt and it acted the same as you describe. I later saw in the manual where it said to not use it to supply an ac panel. I suppose that is what I was essentially doing. Every other inverter I have owned has worked fine like this though.

Edit: I found my old thread asking about why it wasn't working. There might be some useful knowledge in there. It's funny reading my old comprehension level about this stuff and it was only a couple years ago!
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25837086.cfm

I read through your old thread - WOW - my problem is EXACTLY the same as yours was. I'll try a couple things tomorrow, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to try a completely different inverter.

John & Angela wrote:
Did you remember to change your fridge to propane. Thats about 4 amps. How about the water heater electric element. Theres another 11 amps. Those two together would drag down a battery to the alarm voltage quick and probably kill the battery in about 20 minutes.

The fridge and water heater were both off. I even turned all the breakers off. So there should not have been anything pulling any power out of the battery. I'm really stumped.

SDurbak wrote:
I tried this and it didn't work - what am I doing wrong? I bought a 1600 watt Whistler inverter, connected it to my battery, turned off the breaker to my converter, plugged shoreline power cord (30A) into an adapter, then plugged it into the outlet in the inverter, turned the inverter on, and within 2 seconds the inverter was alarming and shut itself off. Nothing in the camper is turned on, and I even tried it with all the breakers off. Same thing - alarm, then off. I plugged a crockpot into the inverter, and it worked fine, so I know the inverter is functioning. Any ideas?

Some inverters don't work. I'm not savvy enough to know why. The first inverter I bought was a Samlex MSW 800 watt and it acted the same as you describe. I later saw in the manual where it said to not use it to supply an ac panel. I suppose that is what I was essentially doing. Every other inverter I have owned has worked fine like this though.

Edit: I found my old thread asking about why it wasn't working. There might be some useful knowledge in there. It's funny reading my old comprehension level about this stuff and it was only a couple years ago!
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/25837086.cfm

SDurbak wrote:
I tried this and it didn't work - what am I doing wrong? I bought a 1600 watt Whistler inverter, connected it to my battery, turned off the breaker to my converter, plugged shoreline power cord (30A) into an adapter, then plugged it into the outlet in the inverter, turned the inverter on, and within 2 seconds the inverter was alarming and shut itself off. Nothing in the camper is turned on, and I even tried it with all the breakers off. Same thing - alarm, then off. I plugged a crockpot into the inverter, and it worked fine, so I know the inverter is functioning. Any ideas?

Did you remember to change your fridge to propane. Thats about 4 amps. How about the water heater electric element. Theres another 11 amps. Those two together would drag down a battery to the alarm voltage quick and probably kill the battery in about 20 minutes.

I tried this and it didn't work - what am I doing wrong? I bought a 1600 watt Whistler inverter, connected it to my battery, turned off the breaker to my converter, plugged shoreline power cord (30A) into an adapter, then plugged it into the outlet in the inverter, turned the inverter on, and within 2 seconds the inverter was alarming and shut itself off. Nothing in the camper is turned on, and I even tried it with all the breakers off. Same thing - alarm, then off. I plugged a crockpot into the inverter, and it worked fine, so I know the inverter is functioning. Any ideas?

Same as the other folks. My 3,000W inverter sits in a basement storage cabinet with solar controls. on/off switch inside MH. Simply run heavy duty cord from inverter to shore cord. Always seem to forget to turn off converter but my volt meter dropping like a rock quickly reminds me. Wife likes toast and hair dryer in the morning so the 3 batteries drain quick after breakfast but recover during the day from the solar. Once and awhile run the generator. We primarily dry camp so fridge is usually always on gas except when home.

I plug my shore power cable directly into the AC receptacle on my inverter. I shut off the breaker to my charge converter, as Mr. Wizard said. All sockets are live with AC power provided by the inverter.

I have a 650 watt PSW inverter and do the same thing. I also make sure my refrigerator is set to gas. Never have a problem as long as I don't try to run microwave, toaster, air cond, etc.

ewarnerusa wrote:
I plug my shore power cable directly into the AC receptacle on my inverter. I shut off the breaker to my charge converter, as Mr. Wizard said. All sockets are live with AC power provided by the inverter.

That's basically what I do too. just need to remember I've only got 300w available. Can't turn on the microwave or other high draw devices.