OTP on Inverter/Charger Shutting Down

Thomas1234 · 07-03-2021, 01:32 AM

Dealing with issues of the 2016 Roadtrek 210 Popular. I ran into a little bit of a problem recently.

Was out in PNW during the recent heatwave and temps were close to and sometimes exceeded 100 F. With the combo inverter/charger on while driving I received an alarm that showed Over Temp Protection. I assumed this had to do with the overall heat so I shut off the inverter/charger. Arrived at home and attempted to plug into 20A shore power and received the same message.

I had thought that plugging into shore would bypass the charger but wasn’t working and tried everything. Took the van to a cooler shaded place and waited for a few hours as outside temps started dropping. Flipped on inverter and it worked fine. Also, when arriving back home to plug in everything worked.

So, is this standard operating procedure? Seems strange. I wonder if I could have used shore power by unplugging the rj Jack on the inverter to the temp monitor as it seems it was not allowing the shore power to power the van but rather was reading hot battery and just shutting down. Wouldn’t this affect boondocking as well?

markopolo · 07-03-2021, 12:11 PM

You've discovered a disadvantage of having one device controlling multiple functions. The all-in-one (transfer switch, charger, inverter) unit's temperature protection kicked in. The fix is to cool the device but you can't even run the air conditioner to do so.

These heavy transformer based inverter/charger units tend to be warm in the best of circumstances and unfortunately often get installed with less than optimal ventilation making it worse. Add a heat wave and it's a show stopper. Dangerous too, if relying on cooling during a heat wave.

There are several ways to increasing reliability ranging from improving ventilation to installing a workaround.

Thomas1234 · 07-03-2021, 04:33 PM

What suggestions would you offer for workarounds?

markopolo · 07-03-2021, 05:32 PM

If your electricity knowledge level is sufficient and the need is for campground/shore/grid power then an inexpensive workaround would require 3 crimp on connectors suitable to join the hot, neutral & ground inverter/charger campground (shore/grid) input wires to the corresponding hot, neutral & ground inverter/charger electrical panel output wires. All six wires would have been removed from the inverter charger. You'd be physically bypassing the inverter/charger. Campground (shore/grid) input would go straight to the RV's electrical panel as is done in the majority of RV's.

A step up from that would be install a manual transfer switch that allows you to choose to send (campground shore/grid) to and through the inverter/charger for normal operation and bypass the inverter/charger for emergency operation. Couple that with a portable plug type battery charger of around 10A to 20A or so and the RV would be quite functional as a temporary workaround even in the event of complete inverter/charger failure. (no inverting function)

It's always a good idea to use use a professional to do electrical work.

Thomas1234 · 07-03-2021, 05:47 PM

Thanks for the suggestion but that’s a bit more than I could do. Temps have cooled down at the moment and all is good but was curious as to a workaround.

It appears that the temperature sensor that runs to the inverter/charger is connected via an rj style telephone plug. Wondering if simply unplugging that cable would stop the error momentarily and then allow for the multistage/shore power connection to take place. I could plug that back in later once temps cool down thus allowing me to use shore power. Thoughts?

markopolo · 07-03-2021, 07:45 PM

I don't know the answer. I don't know the specifics of the unit being discussed and of course have no experience operating it. I can't think of reason to not try it though. If it's a sensor that is attached to the battery you would lose temperature compensation on charging. That wouldn't stop me from trying it though.

Maybe there will be some other opinions on this.

StevieV · 07-10-2021, 07:08 PM

Had a similar situation yesterday driving my '14 Roadtrek from Phoenix to CA. It was HOT. Now I have no power. The indicator lights will not turn on. How do I reset the inverter and where might it be. If anyone thinks this might be a different issue, please advise

Thomas1234 · 07-10-2021, 08:08 PM

On our unit there is a reset button on the back of the actual inverter, not on the remote.

The only solution we were able to find at this time was to find some shade and get that unit cooler. It seems like there should be another way but that was what we did. Once that switch over to multistage happens, we were fine. Not sure on your unit. We have a Gopower unit. Good luck.

StevieV · 07-10-2021, 08:51 PM

Where might the inverter be? Sorry, very new to this. Thank you

Thomas1234 · 07-10-2021, 08:56 PM

Ours is located under the coach/bed near the passenger side rear tire, inside the cabin. I believe it was relocated there from its original location.

Jon in AZ · 07-11-2021, 03:08 PM

I have a 2014 RT190P and the location described by Thomas1234 is correct: the Tripplite inverter/converter is in a box in the rear curbside corner behind the wheel well. The cover has ventilation slots and pops off IIRC.

StevieV · 07-11-2021, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

I have a 2014 RT190P and the location described by Thomas1234 is correct: the Tripplite inverter/converter is in a box in the rear curbside corner behind the wheel well. The cover has ventilation slots and pops off IIRC.

Found it, ty. reset it. Had RV plugged into home 110 for 24 hours and still no power. Time to call the mobile RV repairman I guess

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