Plugged into Shore Power for a wk but can't start??? - Page 2

Scalf77 · 07-20-2015, 04:58 PM

ucsundog.,
So if the GFI was tripped, you would have had to reset it to read the power that you say was there in beginning post. You mentioned Tripplite so, I expect means you’re talking about one of their inverter/chargers. If so then the SMB GFI circuit would be after the inverter. When you say the circuit breaker was tripped, which circuit breaker are we talking about, the DC circuit breaker from battery to fuse distribution? Also if the radio switch was set to Van, than I would expect that it was just off, do to accessory power going away. Being set on house, could cause you some issues, but I do not see being on Van as a issue. The fridge on 5 would have drained the house battery, if the charger was not on pretty quickly. Even with that if the separator was working correctly I would have assumed you would have saved you’re van batteries.
If the batteries are really low the Tripplite will not even start to charge them. but you should get some blinking lights on the inverter/charger. A common failure mode of the separator is to stick in the on position, this of course could relate in a issue that would take down all the batteries. So I would check that out also. I am not sure what Peter is trying to tell you about charging from inside and then grounding, but yes if you get the house battery up a little then it should be able to charge, again you should have some indicators on your Tripplite.

Greg

**daveb** · 07-20-2015, 08:57 PM

I'd be closely looking at the inverter for a reset button and test that AC power is getting to the inverter.

ucsundog · 07-21-2015, 12:21 AM

Hey Guys,

So it's seems like Peter was right in that the GFI circuit tripped and caused no power to go into the van despite being connected to Shore power. I did what he recommended and connected a charger directly to the terminals of the separator. The moment I turned on the charger immediately the Inverter powered on or at least I heard it "reset" and then go off. I then plugged back shore power back into the side of the van and I'm NOW seeing power being delivered to the VAN, House batteries, and I noticed that the Mircrowave is on.

I'm going to leave it connected to charge her back up and I'm hoping that I didn't "loose" my batteries(Van and House) in this whole ordeal!

thanks for the responses everyone!

btw, here's a link to some pics I took of where my Separator was which was pretty easy to get to minus a couple of screws.

https://www.evernote.com/l/AITI0rOgGjlL ... tWGe4CnHWE

**daveb** · 07-21-2015, 09:54 AM

I'd still check that separator. Unless there was a draw off both battery systems, the separator should have opened up protecting the battery system that didn't have a load being pulled. But if you did have something pulling power off both systems it would explain things. Simple to check your separator, just pull the ground wire off and see if you can hear it operate [edit] if a charge is being supplied. After pulling the ground and plugged into shore power or charging from a different source, you should see a difference in voltage on each side of the separator when applying a load on one side or the other with the ground off.

Glad you found the problem.