House batteries not charging while c

[Sensfan]

The good news … the Air Conditioner and Hot Water Heater (both AC only) are working. However the microwave (also AC only) is not working; and, the house batteries do not appear to be charging ( the green full charger indicator light normally lit up when we are plugged into AC, is off). And, we do not know whether our two way Norcold fridge is currently running on AC or DC.
Our Progressive Monitoring System gives the local 30 Amp source a clean bill of health. The power cord to the van indicates that electricity is passing through it at its connection with the van. I have looked at the circuit breakers that I know about and they are in the on position. I expect that there are others that need checking.
Assuming no other problems surface, we expect to be able to continue our trip if the batteries continue to charge via alternator when we are on the road between stops.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated

[booster]

Originally Posted by Sensfan

The good news … the Air Conditioner and Hot Water Heater (both AC only) are working. However the microwave (also AC only) is not working; and, the house batteries do not appear to be charging ( the green full charger indicator light normally lit up when we are plugged into AC, is off). And, we do not know whether our two way Norcold fridge is currently running on AC or DC.
Our Progressive Monitoring System gives the local 30 Amp source a clean bill of health. The power cord to the van indicates that electricity is passing through it at its connection with the van. I have looked at the circuit breakers that I know about and they are in the on position. I expect that there are others that need checking.
Assuming no other problems surface, we expect to be able to continue our trip if the batteries continue to charge via alternator when we are on the road between stops.
Any feedback will be greatly appreciated

Always be sure to cycle the breakers to off then back on. They often can look like they are in the on position but are really tripped.

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by booster

Always be sure to cycle the breakers to off then back on. They often can look like they are in the on position but are really tripped.

I cycled the panel breakers (30 Amp main; 20 amp AC; 15 amp water heater;
15 amp refrigerator; 20 amp ps,gly,mic,BChg,drrf; and 15 amp dsrr rcpt.) with no visible change.
Our progressive monitor continues to indicate 0 amps. Are there other breakers to check?

[booster]

Originally Posted by Sensfan

I cycled the panel breakers (30 Amp main; 20 amp AC; 15 amp water heater;
15 amp refrigerator; 20 amp ps,gly,mic,BChg,drrf; and 15 amp dsrr rcpt.) with no visible change.
Our progressive monitor continues to indicate 0 amps. Are there other breakers to check?

Do you have a standalone inverter to go with the PD charger?


I found a reference that says it has a 1250watt inverter in it from the factory. Unconfirmed though.


If it does, it is likely that the inverter has AC from shore power/generator to it and an internal transfer switch to switch between shore and inverter for the outlets in the van.


The AC and water heater are high drain so would bypass the inverter most likely as it wouldn't be able to supply enough power.


If this is the case check the inverter for resets or breakers on it for the input and output. If it has an internal transfer switch it may have failed also.


A model and brand would help if this is the case.

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by booster

Do you have a standalone inverter to go with the PD charger?
I found a reference that says it has a 1250watt inverter in it from the factory. Unconfirmed though.
If it does, it is likely that the inverter has AC from shore power/generator to it and an internal transfer switch to switch between shore and inverter for the outlets in the van.
The AC and water heater are high drain so would bypass the inverter most likely as it wouldn't be able to supply enough power.
If this is the case check the inverter for resets or breakers on it for the input and output. If it has an internal transfer switch it may have failed also.
A model and brand would help if this is the case.

Thanks.
We do have the factory installed 1250 inverter, however we do not have the operations manual on board. I will check for breakers and resets. Either way we are good. We can use the plug for the hot water heater to use the coffee maker. We get three to four days out of the AGMs and seldom pass more than three days in the same place. If it is not a breaker or reset, we will take it to Mobilife in Kitchener this fall. IMHO, they are as good as it gets when it comes to trouble shooting and repairing older Roadtreks.

[booster]

All the 1250 watt, affordable, inverters I could find were modified sine wave, and had no AC input which would mean no internal automatic transfer switch.


You probably have a separate (second after the shore/generator one if you have a generator) transfer switch that the output of the inverter would go to and shore power would go to. Output of the switch would go to the outlets in the van except for the AC and water heater.


Have you tried seeing if the AC comes on from the inverter if you are unplugged?

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by booster

All the 1250 watt, affordable, inverters I could find were modified sine wave, and had no AC input which would mean no internal automatic transfer switch.
You probably have a separate (second after the shore/generator one if you have a generator) transfer switch that the output of the inverter would go to and shore power would go to. Output of the switch would go to the outlets in the van except for the AC and water heater.
Have you tried seeing if the AC comes on from the inverter if you are unplugged?

It’s been a while since we ran the AC with the generator, however I recall that the AC does not go through the inverter. The weather here is really crappy with the remnants of the hurricane passing overhead, so I’ll wait for some sunshine before running a test (the generator does not like heavy rain, lol). Please standby for an update.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Sensfan

It’s been a while since we ran the AC with the generator, however I recall that the AC does not go through the inverter. The weather here is really crappy with the remnants of the hurricane passing overhead, so I’ll wait for some sunshine before running a test (the generator does not like heavy rain, lol). Please standby for an update.

Terminology glitch here. When I said AC, I meant the 120v AC coming out of the inverter. Not the cooling one


It would be interesting to know if you get power from the inverter or not, when not on shore power or generator. That would tell if a transfer switch is working or not.

[Celine]

2014 RT CS resides Campbell CA
no power to the house.
The AGM batteries are several years old.
2 batteries in a tray under the RV
Where are the other batteries if it has 4 ?
Any advice where to take for replacing the batteries

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by booster

Terminology glitch here. When I said AC, I meant the 120v AC coming out of the inverter. Not the cooling one
It would be interesting to know if you get power from the inverter or not, when not on shore power or generator. That would tell if a transfer switch is working or not.

That’s the risk of having technical discussions with someone who is technically challenged, lol.
The inverter appears to be operating normally, since the microwave functions when the inverter is on and there is no shore power. FWIW, before the problem showed up, any time the van was plugged into shore power there was a discernable switching noise followed by a fan starting up and running for a few minutes. I believe that the source of these noises is located behind the right rear wheel under the bed.
Just an uneducated guess … could the problem be with the battery separator. I am hesitant to look around back there for a breaker without any diagrams or knowledge of the equipment.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Sensfan

That’s the risk of having technical discussions with someone who is technically challenged, lol.
The inverter appears to be operating normally, since the microwave functions when the inverter is on and there is no shore power. FWIW, before the problem showed up, any time the van was plugged into shore power there was a discernable switching noise followed by a fan starting up and running for a few minutes. I believe that the source of these noises is located behind the right rear wheel under the bed.
Just an uneducated guess … could the problem be with the battery separator. I am hesitant to look around back there for a breaker without any diagrams or knowledge of the equipment.

The clicking you heard is probably an automatic transfer relay, which not as easy as tripping a breaker to fix, should be a fairly easy and under $100 fix.


Hardest part is always getting to the stuff to fix it.

[Sensfan]

Originally Posted by booster

The clicking you heard is probably an automatic transfer relay, which not as easy as tripping a breaker to fix, should be a fairly easy and under $100 fix.
Hardest part is always getting to the stuff to fix it.

Good news. Nothing was broken. All is back to normal operation. The inverter plug was half in/out of its receptacle. My guess is that it became dislodged after we passed over nine homemade speed bumps (about 3 inches by 3 inches) on a country road.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Sensfan

Good news. Nothing was broken. All is back to normal operation. The inverter plug was half in/out of its receptacle. My guess is that it became dislodged after we passed over nine homemade speed bumps (about 3 inches by 3 inches) on a country road.

Thanks for letting us know what the solution was, and also that the inverter has a 120v input cord which tells us a lot about it.


The 120v input would mean that it has an internal automatic transfer switch and that almost certainly would be the clicking you heard when it did work.


Easy fix, but also shows how vulnerable plug in cords can be over time and rough roads. I wish they would use some kind of twist lock on that kind of stuff, or hardwire them.