2014 Phaeton 42' LH voltage drop
We have a 2014 Tiffin 42"LH Phaeton. When plugged into shore power you turn the key on and the lights dim a little and I lose 3 volts AC at the outlets. I am told that when you turn on the key the i...
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Actually everything sounds normal to me. Confirming that the DC amps rises to 120A means the charger is drawing 20A AC from the shore power which answers the question of why the AC voltage drops slightly. Remember you are measuring the shore power voltage as the inverter is in pass through mode not inverter voltage.
On the DC side I can also see why the lights dim because the when the chassis/house battery solenoid closes the chassis battery is pulling down the house battery voltage. Any time you connect two sets of batteries the voltage will try to equalize between the banks which is what is happening here, the DC voltage is dropping by .5 volts. Probably nothing wrong with the chassis battery it's just they are resting at 13.0 and the house batteries are under Float charger at 13.5 so as soon as they are connected they seek to equalize their voltage at 13.0 until the charger can ramp up and bring both sets to the Float voltage.
I would say nothing is wrong working as designed.
BTW there is no need to try to do anything at the inverter the button on the Magnum remote turns the inverter on/off same as the one on the front. The issue with the button on the inverter itself is the LED indication. When in charge mode it only indicates charger operation so you really can't tell if the inverter is ON or OFF. If shore power is disconnected then the LED on the inverter indicates inverter On/Off. Just use the remote buttons and LED and it will be much easier.
Last item the inverter is NOT connected to the ignition in any way. I service the Tiffin plant so I can tell you for sure.
Gary
On the DC side I can also see why the lights dim because the when the chassis/house battery solenoid closes the chassis battery is pulling down the house battery voltage. Any time you connect two sets of batteries the voltage will try to equalize between the banks which is what is happening here, the DC voltage is dropping by .5 volts. Probably nothing wrong with the chassis battery it's just they are resting at 13.0 and the house batteries are under Float charger at 13.5 so as soon as they are connected they seek to equalize their voltage at 13.0 until the charger can ramp up and bring both sets to the Float voltage.
I would say nothing is wrong working as designed.
BTW there is no need to try to do anything at the inverter the button on the Magnum remote turns the inverter on/off same as the one on the front. The issue with the button on the inverter itself is the LED indication. When in charge mode it only indicates charger operation so you really can't tell if the inverter is ON or OFF. If shore power is disconnected then the LED on the inverter indicates inverter On/Off. Just use the remote buttons and LED and it will be much easier.
Last item the inverter is NOT connected to the ignition in any way. I service the Tiffin plant so I can tell you for sure.
Gary
