Electrical problems

[agesilaus]

OK my rig will not maintain battery charge.

--The batteries are 2 fairly new type 27
--The unit has a Tripplite 1000W inverter charger
--The unit will not supply 120V when plugged in nor will it charge the batteries unless I jump start the process by hooking up the truck
--I just got a clamp on ammeter and I'm going to try to diagnose the situation.

I spoke to our local guy at the RV supply place and he says that item 3 is not normal. It's been that way since I bought the unit and just assumed that was as designed. He also said that if you ever camp offline you need and Inverter/charger otherwise a converter.

I am looking at the Progressive dynamics inverters on Amazon, what sized unit should I get to replace the 1000W Triplite. I may be using the wrong calculator but 1000W only seems to work out to 11 Amps or so.

Any advice from you master electricians will be welcome. One other point the unit is 30 amp.

[time2roll]

I find the jump start issue to be very odd. If the batteries are new and charged there should be no benefit for jump starting. What are the voltage readings? Are you certain the new batteries are/were initially and still connected with correct polarity? As long as the battery has 10+ volts it should work fine without a jump.

Tripp-Lite is known for being a superior unit.

This is model RV1012ULHW yes?
https://www.tripplite.com/1000w-powerverter-rv-inverter-charger-hardwire-input-output~RV1012ULHW/

Have you checked the 12 amp input breaker?

Also disable the load sensing while you figure this out.

[Artum_Snowbird]

The electrical cord that you connect to an outside source feeds directly to the 120 volt panel. You should have 120 volt plugs and devices working from that source.

If you do not have 120 volt devices working, the problem is either your source of power is not correct, or your cable is not functioning, or the connections on the 120 volt panel are not properly made.

[wa8yxm]

Two group 27w (about 190 amp hours) Is LESS than recommended minimum battery size (220 amp hours) or a 1,000 watt inverter.

and if I had to guess your wires (12 volt side) are a bit anemic as well.. UPGRADE.

[Sam_Spade]

One of two things is a critical problem here.

Either you don't have a good grip on which equipment does what....OR you just aren't explaining the situation correctly.

Where exactly in Northern Florida are you ?
Do you own a multi-meter ??

You probably have two units. One makes 12 V from 120 AC. It is called a converter/charger. The other unit is an INverter. It makes 120 V AC from a 12 V input from the batteries.

Those two units have NOTHING to do with each other.

When you are plugged into shore power: The converter/charger should be making 12 V to run the lights, etc AND to charge the battery. The truck has nothing to do with that. In most configurations, the shore power is fed directly to all or most of the AC outlets and the INverter is not needed.

When you are NOT plugged into shore power, you turn on the INverter or plug it into a 12 V socket to make 120 VAC to run small appliances. THAT has noting to do with the truck either.

[DrewE]

2oldman wrote:

agesilaus wrote:
I am looking at the Progressive dynamics inverters on Amazon, what sized unit should I get to replace the 1000W Triplite.

Answer a) 1000w. Answer b) depends on what you want to run with your inverter.

The PD unit is presumably a converter, and not an inverter, so would only replace the charger part of the Tripp-lite.

The equivalent unit could in theory be figured by studying the charging specs for the Tripp-Lite, which likely is not as powerful as the inverter. As a practical matter, though, for two batteries, a PD9260 would be a perfectly reasonable choice.

Again, this will not invert to provide 120V power from the batteries.

Before doing anything too expensive, double-check that all the connections are tight and sound between the inverter/charger, battery, and rest of the RV. It sure sounds to me like something might be disconnected or loose.

[2oldman]

agesilaus wrote:
I am looking at the Progressive dynamics inverters on Amazon, what sized unit should I get to replace the 1000W Triplite.

Answer a) 1000w. Answer b) depends on what you want to run with your inverter.

[enblethen]

The unit may not be able to charge a completely dead battery.
Little confused! Your rig should have a converter. Yes, it is possible that it has a converter charger installed but would be higher wattage, 1500 or 2000 watt.
An inverter is good while dry camping to supply 120 AC volts for items like TV, DVD/VCR and computers. A 1000 watt would handle these items easily. It would not operate larger items like air conditioner and many microwaves.
A good replacement converter would be Progressive Dynamics 9200 series. I would be looking at a 45 amp 9245