Hemi Joel wrote:
Problem solved! Sometimes it's the simple things...
I could not get the coffee maker to run long enough to test voltage and voltage drop. So I plugged in an electric heater and the inverter would run it on low for a few minutes before faulting. I found that voltage drop from the battery to the inverter was just under.4 volts. But the voltage from the batteries was dropping under 11.
My battery's were pretty old, but had performed well on all the light duty tasks like the furnace and the CPAP. But, I bit the bullet and bought 3 new group 31 fla deep cycle from Menards for $109 each. I installed them and let them charge over night. Viola! It all works. Voltage drops to 12.1 for about 30 seconds during the Keurig's most intense heating phase. Now I can have my quick, easy, no mess coffee when I travel. Thanks everyone for all the help!
Glad you got it working!
Had a chance to check battery to inverter voltage drop with the coffee maker drawing max current, or the heater on high? I assume the 12.1v voltage reading (while powering the coffee maker) was at the battery terminals?
I ask because you mentioned a .4v battery to inverter voltage drop with the heater on low (~700w). That's high. That would translate to approx. .8v battery to inverter voltage drop with a higher (~1400w) load like the coffee maker. That's really high, and could force the Xantrex into low-voltage shut-down earlier than it should. It'll work fine with the batteries well-charged. However, as the batteries discharge you may not be able to access the full capacity of the batteries (while under high load) because of the excessive voltage drop.
In an earlier post you mentioned you had a 4 ft long, 1 gauge cable run from the battery to inverter. That should net you less than a .2v drop with a 1400-1500w load (assuming you have no bad connections or terminal crimps). That's less than a 2% drop which is ideal.
