Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 02-03-2014, 09:52 PM   #21
Senior Member
 
boywonder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,045
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

The hot-neutral-ground(s) are clearly marked on the transfer switch and the inverter.......I haven't checked the receptacle polarity in the coach or at the end of the shore power plug.

I cannot see how the AC polarity would be a problem even with some known GFCI issues for the tripp-lites. Please enlighten me if I'm not thinking clearly.

__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
boywonder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-03-2014, 11:35 PM   #22
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

You may be correct that the microwave is just overloading things. Most builds only use a small MW and is why I'd suggest plugging in a heater with a lower wattage rating. I would think if polarity was wrong you would have other issues when trying to plug into shore power. If the hot and neutral were reversed, the body of the van would be hot in reference to earth ground and the shore power ground. What exactly is tripping and coming back on...something in the microwave?
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 06:39 AM   #23
Senior Member
 
Scalf77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,490
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

What setting to you have the inverter on; Auto/remote - DC Off - Charge Only? DC off should be pretty much bypass mode. What is the exact model # of inverter?

-greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
Scalf77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 08:05 AM   #24
Senior Member
 
boywonder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,045
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

Quote:
Originally Posted by daveb
What exactly is tripping and coming back on...something in the microwave?
That's a great question, and you'd think we would have figured that out......I don't know......

I set say 10 seconds on the MW, push start, the entire thing blinks out, and about 1 second later the display lights back up flashing zeros where the clock is usually displayed. Something is clearly tripping and resetting.
__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
boywonder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 09:09 AM   #25
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

Well it does sound like the inverter tripping off. That's why I say replace the microwave with a heater that has different settings and see if the inverter trips. I'm not familiar with different inverters...when mine trips out I have to manually reset it but the display is interactive and shows the problem. I would think there is some kind of an indication display. Greg is familiar with Tripplite so get the model number. Maybe you've just set up the inverter wrong.
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 12:49 PM   #26
Senior Member
 
boywonder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,045
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalf77
What is the exact model # of inverter?

-greg
The inverter is an APS2012, here is the PDF manual



Based on Dave's comments above, I'm now wondering about the "low voltage switch over to battery" dip switch....we have it set for 95V.......so with the gen running, starting the MW may be pulling the voltage lower than 95V.........we can set it for 75V and see what happens.

We also have battery charger limiting dip switches to play with as well.....
Attached Files
File Type: pdf Tripp lite APS manual.pdf (1.50 MB, 7 views)
__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
boywonder is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 02:04 PM   #27
Senior Member
 
Scalf77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,490
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

I think I would try the DC off switch first, as that would be "AC by pass mode", no inverter or charger,
Once you know that works, I would try it with the charge only setting, that would rule out capacity issues with MW & Charger. If that does not work then there is no real reason to go any further. Happy hunting.

-greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
Scalf77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-04-2014, 08:53 PM   #28
Site Team
 
daveb's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Turlock Ca
Posts: 10,407
Garage
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

Quote:
Originally Posted by boywonder
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalf77
What is the exact model # of inverter?

-greg
The inverter is an APS2012, here is the PDF manual



Based on Dave's comments above, I'm now wondering about the "low voltage switch over to battery" dip switch....we have it set for 95V.......so with the gen running, starting the MW may be pulling the voltage lower than 95V.........we can set it for 75V and see what happens.

We also have battery charger limiting dip switches to play with as well.....
Well it won't hurt to do as Greg says but you should be seeing an indicator flashing on the inverter. The load shouldn't be pulling the generator (or shore power) down. Perhaps stick a voltmeter on the generator output and watch it. Reading the inverter manual, it should be able to go to 150% or more of max load for 30 seconds. That's why I suggest a similar but lower load be applied to see if you have the same issues or better yet do an amp check above the transfer switch and after it. Then do the same on the output side of the inverter.

Myself I would want the charging rate to be set to charge restriction. Let the AC load have priority. How often are you planning to use a heavy AC load?

Still, I'm wondering why it trips so fast after you hook it on the downstream side of the transfer switch. It's acting like a direct short
__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures
daveb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2014, 07:54 AM   #29
Senior Member
 
Scalf77's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,490
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

I may be miss-interpreting the error. My thought is that when you moved the transfer switch before the Inverter, that now you could no longer run the microwave off of the generator, still works off of shore power and when running with the inverter off of the battery. I am pretty much aligned with the your first assessment of microwave + charger exceeds output of the generator.

To simplify things you do not need to have the inverter involved, your AC input is coming from generator. So putting the inverter off puts the AC - in to AC -out (bypassing ) the inverter. This should be as close as possible to the configuration where the transfer switch was on the output of the Inverter.

If it does not work in that configuration I would have to look back at wiring. If it does then by moving the switch to charge only will now add the charger (power draw) into the equation, but still keep the inverter part out of the equation. This would also mimic the previous configuration of just having a charger. Note: the charger draw is going to depend on the battery level, if the batteries are fully charged you would not expect much power draw.


If that does work, then you are appropriately looking at the correct DIP switches for the "Low AC Input Voltage Point for Switching to Battery" as it is most likely that the load is bringing down the output of the generator. Are there and indicator lights on the inverter? It should be switching over to battery which the MW may not be handling the switch over.

If you are on shore power or a generator the only reason you need to have the inverter on, is incase you have critical equipment running that needs to always be on.


My normal position for the inverter switch is charge only, I only turn it to inverter when I want to run something off of the inverter, otherwise there is just unnecessary power draw, when not hooked up.

greg
__________________
-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
Scalf77 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-05-2014, 11:40 AM   #30
Senior Member
 
boywonder's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,045
Re: Replacing a converter/charger with an inverter

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scalf77

I may be miss-interpreting the error. My thought is that when you moved the transfer switch before the Inverter, that now you could no longer run the microwave off of the generator, still works off of shore power and when running with the inverter off of the battery. I am pretty much aligned with the your first assessment of microwave + charger exceeds output of the generator.


greg
That is exactly the behavior.

We did not move the slider switch on the inverter....we had the remote panel connected, so we never tried the MW from generator with the inverter switch in the off position. We can try that, as well as setting the low voltage cut-over lower, to say, 75V.

One new piece of info from the neighbor......the generator is rated at 3600W, so that blows holes in the charger+MW exceeding the current draw of the generator theory.......
__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
boywonder is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 11:09 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.