Electric only working on Side 2 of inverter. FIXED!!!!

[rocmoc]

Same problem after installing a new inverter. Both sides of electrical works on pass-thu mode when hooked up to shore power. Switch over to invert and only side 2 works. This was the problem before installing a new inverter. Thought the old inverter was the problem as there was corrosion all thu the old inverter's boards & the electrical connections. The old inverter was tested at a local RV repair location and was told it was shot. I purchased a new (updated model) inverter (not from the repair location) and still have the same problem. HELP! Any ideas. Everything is great when hooked up to shore power but only side 2, Micro-wave & bathroom, works when not on shore power. Every outlet use to work!

Thanks,
rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[rocmoc]

John & Angela wrote:
Glad to hear your up and running. Now hit the road. We are 3 weeks from blast off to the slow road south via Salt Lake this year. Yes haw.

We are!!!!!!! Putting a new Poly gas tank & Kayak rack in/on the Jeep and loose ends will be taken care of for this winter's MEXICO trips.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[John___Angela]

Glad to hear your up and running. Now hit the road. We are 3 weeks from blast off to the slow road south via Salt Lake this year. Yes haw.

[rocmoc]

FIXED!!!!

Checked the output of both sides 1 & 2 without being hooked to the coach, perfect! With the wires unhooked from con/in/chrg sides 1 & 2 to the coach I hooked up shore power. Check inside to make sure there was no power. Problem, power was still shore power to side 1 which was the side that did not have power when the con/in/chrg should be supplying power when on batteries. Started isolating that leg from the GFI, was the proper type & was working. Went to the inside power panel and checked to see if the power would go off if I turned off each breaker one at a time. Found the outlets were being powered from the panel. Then I remembered that this all started last winter while on a RV trip thu the South & Florida. We were in the sticks when we lost most of the power to our outlets. A local the park manager recommended said he could get power back up. He did. We had not dry camped on the batteries until this summer and that is when I found we did not have power so assumed another failure. When we returned home I had RV Mobil Repair in Tucson check the con/inv/chrg and found major corrosion in the con/inv/chrg. It was shot. So I installed a new and found the same problem. What the dude in the South did was run a feed from the power panel and back feed the line to the outlets. Yup, worked when on shore power but not when on batteries. Ending to a long story, I reworked all of the wiring today and now everything is correct and WORKS perfect! Thanks everyone.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[Sea_scape]

A wild guess. The Xantrex manual states that the output shuts down if there is no load. It goes to what they call idle. Is it possible that there is no load, and the inverter is in idle? A meter would not give enough load. Have you tried plugging anything in and operating it?

[John___Angela]

Please ignore above. Went through and read all the posts including where you mentioned that all is working on shore. This makes my posting above irrelevant. I should have read it a little closer.

Good luck n

[John___Angela]

This was also common in American coach and Fleetwood of that era. One 20 or 30 amp line in (seen it both ways) and two independently breakered (on the inverter) outputs. One output feeds the microwave. The other output feeds all three entertainment centres as well as the ice maker plug behind the fridge AND THE BATHROOM HAIRDRYER PLUG. Check to see if the GFI on the bathroom plug is tripped.

Wish I was there to help. I love this kinda stuff.

Good luck.

John and Angela.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

CA Traveler wrote:
Is that a Xantrex limitation or just the way it was wired?

I'm not sure; I think it was the way the coach wiring was set up. One day I'll check further!

[Chris_Bryant]

The outputs on most of these units are a single output with dual breakers- they tie both hot together while inverting, so one bad output would have to be a bad breaker. I have seen some cheap large inverters that are actually 2 smaller ones in the same chassis (like the 5,000 watt for $59 on eBay :))with 2 "2500 watt" outlets.

It is really impossible to diagnose without a brand and model of inverter though.

[CA_Traveler]

Is that a Xantrex limitation or just the way it was wired?

[Canadian_Rainbi]

Our Xantrex was wired by the tech to only operate from one leg of the 50A and even on 30/20 amp service it will only supply half the coach. We have the over dash outlets (for TV etc) and the bedroom. It also powers the fridge and microwave. It seem that the only things it doesn't feed are the galley and bathroom outlets!

[CA_Traveler]

OP

Do you have an inverter/charger and are the batteries being charged?

Disconnect the failing output and check for 120V AC at the inverter w/o shore power. If none on only one leg then it's an inverter problem: tripped CB, possibly a configuration problem or bad inverter. IF OK reconnect the wire and if OK then the problem is downstream: open wire or GFI problem. If not OK then it's an inverter problem or a short in the wiring.

[CA_Traveler]

RoyB wrote:
You obvisouly are not feeding both sides of the 50AMP system...

That's a possible connection for the Magnum units. However wiring it for 240 would limit it's usefulness for 20A or 30A plugs.

Both of mine were wired for 120V 30A input and 2 120V 20A outputs. This is also the only configuration that does not require an extra inverter sub panel.

[RoyB]

rocmoc - me sorry --- Everyone of us is trying to offer help without much info... You obvisouly are not feeding both sides of the 50AMP system... The exports on here will get you fixed up soon.. It would be nice to know what your trailer is, what your converter is, what your inverter is etc... Everyone has different setups.

I'm back to watching the events here...

Me hoping MEX is watching the GULF weather event - haven't looked this morning here but it was building last night... Maybe it will get sucked up into the southern US jet stream and loop back to the East...

Roy Ken

[YC_1]

rocmoc wrote:
Removed the GFI and by-passed. Problem remains. Getting to late to reroute output 2 supply to leg 1 to check the breaker on the inverter. Tomorrow! Sure wish they supplied the 120v wiring diagram for the coaches.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

Why not use a test light or voltmeter to see it the inverter is putting out power on that leg? Swapping parts may lead to other issues and compound the problem.