Inverter quit working- is it dead?

jrdbutler15 · 10-30-2022, 12:02 PM

Good Day SMB Community,

We have a 2006 Ford E-350 SMB that we picked up used in 2019. Recently we went on a camping trip and in route to the campsite a couple of weird things happened. About 30 minutes into the drive there seemed to be a power surge for the entire electrical. Everything shutdown then started back up seeming to be operating fine. A couple of hours later I heard I high pitched whine that was coming from the refrigerator. This only lasted a couple of minutes before all house power shutoff. The fridge quit working and I have not been able to turn the inverter/charger on since.

Currently installed and not working:
Tripplite Inverter/Charger
Model: RV2012UL
Series: AGAP200012MV3
Dimensions: 7.25" x 8.5" x 16.25"

My questions are:

Can the inverter store electricity?
I have manual battery disconnects installed on both the house and van battery. Even after I disconnect the fully charged batteries I get a reading from the inverter of about 10v, reconnect it to battery and it jumps to 12.6v.

Is there a life expectancy of an inverter/charger? Is it possible that it has just died and I need to replace it?
I checked the main inline fuses and seem to be fine. The fuses on the unit are not popped out.
Are there other fuses I should be looking for?
Is there a way for me to test the inverter to see if it is bad vs a fuse or something simple to repair?

IF the inverter is bad, do you have recommendations on what to use as a replacement?
Is there a specific inverter/charger that I should be looking at?
Should I look at a separate charger and inverter instead of a combined unit?

I have been looking at upgrading but am still new to RV electrical systems. It is looking like replacing it with the same unit would be the simplest (if I can find one) just due to size and space limitations. It's currently under the rear seat/bed with limited access space, will have to remove the seat to replace inverter.

We are also looking at getting some of the fold out solar panels that we can put out when boondocking, not sure if there are any special considerations I should keep in mind as I look into the inverter/charger issue.

Thanks for reading and appreciate any advice you can give on this topic.

-J

Bellpilot · 10-30-2022, 12:08 PM

Just a quick thought before I read your entire post. Did you hit the reset breaker button? It is red under where you see what looks like a phone jack wire is plugged in.

marret · 10-30-2022, 03:48 PM

You should be able to measure charging voltage with a multimeter or better, a battery monitor. As Bellpilot mentioned, you can try to reset.

I replaced my Tripplite a year ago with a Xantrex Freedom XC 2000. I was not happy with how it was charging.

Scalf77 · 10-30-2022, 08:18 PM

My first question is was the inverter running at the time of failure? Unless I needed something to run off of AC, I didn't have the inverter on. The charger doesn't work unless plugged into shore power.

What position do you have the inverter switch in, do you have the remote

What did the LED's look like?

Does your refrigerator run off of 12 volts only? 12 Volts and AC, or 3 Way.

What kind of alternator to house charging system do you have Surepower 1315, Blue Sea ACR?

As Battery disconnects are not really a standard SMB implementation, how are these hooked up.

If the battery voltage is low enough , neither the charger or inverter will work.

I would start looking for loose connections , how are you reading voltage and where?

The Triplite is still a solid modified sine wave inverter, the charger is for standard wet cell batteries but generally close enough for AGM use, it is also temperature compensated if temp sensor is hooked up. While it could have gone bad, it would not be my first choice.

-greg

jrdbutler15 · 10-31-2022, 11:20 AM

Thanks for the responses.

I checked the reset button and it was not out.

This is an inverter/charger so had it set to auto while driving so that it would charge the battery, think the fridge is only 12v as the inverter does not need to be on for it to work but it will drain the house battery.

None of the inverter LED's light up anymore, where they did before when switching from auto, off, or charge.

I installed a manual disconnect switch between the battery and inverter on the red side so that I could disconnect for storage.

Alternator to house charging system is the tripplite inverter/charger, all one unit. The owners manual says their is a charge wizard but I have yet to locate that.

Battery voltages are full, inverter/charger just won't turn on to run fridge, lights, or ac power.

I have been checking voltage of the batteries themselves with a multimeter. I then check the power going out of the inverter from the unit just past the disconnect to confirm that the battery power has been shut off, this is where there is a drop of 12.6v of the full battery to about 10v after turning the disconnect off. I have also noticed that there are still some low voltage lights on such as for CO and propane monitors, and the water pump still gets power. These are the things that really have me confused since the batteries are disconnected I am not sure where the power is coming from except if it is stored in the inverter.

I am trying to work out all the simple solutions before I start taking things apart to gain deeper access to wires, etc.

Thanks again,

-J

Bellpilot · 10-31-2022, 11:32 AM

I leave mine on charge only other than if I am going to need some 110 volts for the micro or plugging in a computer for some reason. What I have heard on forum as well is if your house battery is bad it can cause issues with your inverter. How old is your house battery and have you checked it lately? Your inverter is not a battery and will not hold any charge. Have you tried disconnecting the switch you installed and revert it back to the original wiring?

Scalf77 · 10-31-2022, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrdbutler15

Thanks for the responses.

I checked the reset button and it was not out.

This is an inverter/charger so had it set to auto while driving so that it would charge the battery, think the fridge is only 12v as the inverter does not need to be on for it to work but it will drain the house battery.

The Inverter/charger charges off of shore power or 120 volt AC. While possible to have a secondary inverter hooked to your alternator that would provide 120 to the House Inverter/Charger. That is not part of any Sportsmobile method, and also not usually practical with E-series, unless you have a larger aftermarket alternator.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrdbutler15

None of the inverter LED's light up anymore, where they did before when switching from auto, off, or charge.

I installed a manual disconnect switch between the battery and inverter on the red side so that I could disconnect for storage.

Once you turned off, any error codes are probably gone.

Alternator to house charging system is the tripplite inverter/charger, all one unit. The owners manual says their is a charge wizard but I have yet to locate that.

Battery voltages are full, inverter/charger just won't turn on to run fridge, lights, or ac power.

I have been checking voltage of the batteries themselves with a multimeter. I then check the power going out of the inverter from the unit just past the disconnect to confirm that the battery power has been shut off, this is where there is a drop of 12.6v of the full battery to about 10v after turning the disconnect off. I have also noticed that there are still some low voltage lights on such as for CO and propane monitors, and the water pump still gets power. These are the things that really have me confused since the batteries are disconnected I am not sure where the power is coming from except if it is stored in the inverter.

I am trying to work out all the simple solutions before I start taking things apart to gain deeper access to wires, etc.

Thanks again,

So I don't believe the disconnect is in the correct location. It certainly is not disconnecting the other loads on your van. I am not sure where you are picking up the 12.6 volts at. 10 volts is certainly to low for the refrigerator to work, nor will the inverter work. Your Disconnect would have be installed between the battery and any other device or junction. Many times the battery cable goes to a Class T or SNL fuse or holder, there may be a branch circuit of of the battery side of fuse that goes to the fuse panel distribution. If there is more than one positive cable on the battery that also could be the issue.

When is the last time you plugged in to shore power to charge the battery?

There is no all in one charger unit from Tripp-lite, based on the year of the van, I would expect it to have a Surepower 1315, if it has not been replaced or upgraded by now, its life span is about used up.

So I would trace wires from starting battery system to back to the house electrical system. Plenty of data on the forum about the Surepower and Bluesea ACR.

With the Tripp-lite you won't have a charge wizard.

more pictures could be helpful, move the rubber boots out of the way if possible, where are the battery (ies) located , and what kind?

Sorry I don't have a simple answer.

-greg

jrdbutler15 · 11-02-2022, 08:52 PM

Thanks again for the responses. I didn't think it was the disconnect as I have had it installed over a year and it worked great. I replaced the battery about 18 months ago (Lifeline 4DL AGM I think? Replaced with same that was there...) which is why I installed the disconnect, didn't want it to drain while stored. I could clearly use the disconnect to shutoff power from the battery to the inverter and it would shut off. This worked for over a year and with multiple trips.

The disconnect is connected directly to the red line from the battery before it goes to the inverter. I get 12.6v when I turn the disconnect on and touch red connection from the battery to the inverter and ground it. When I turn the disconnect off and measure from the same place I should get zero but am getting about 10v, telling me either there is a leak from the disconnect (which didn't click in my head until your comments) or the inverter is holding some power.

With that said, you guys might be onto something with it being related to the disconnect. I'll remove it and see if that helps anything. Thank you for that suggestion.

Unfortunately the battery is under the van and difficult to get to but I can access the cables under the seat. When I measure the battery directly from there it is reading a full charge of 12.6v.

The battery absolutely charges from the alternator while driving, better when lights are off, but it gets the job done. I'm not sure what inverter you have that it only charges from shore power, I don't want that one if I have to replace.

I have tried hooking up shore power, but the inverter stays off (no led's), so don't get power to anything else.

I'll tinker with it some more this week to see if I can find out where the power is leaking from that runs the water pump, CO detector, and propane detector.

Things I have read say that an inverter can go bad, and as with all things nothing lasts forever. Hoping it isn't the case, but might be.

Scalf77 · 11-02-2022, 11:03 PM

So if your disconnect was in the correct place, you wouldn't have any power to anything. A properly installed disconnect would also disconnect power from the water pump, lights, CO det.

Your inverter/charger does not charge anything when you are driving. The inverter takes 12 volt DC power and converts to 120 AC power. The charger take 120 volt AC power or (shore power) and converts it to a 12 volt charger. The charger is useless unless plugged into shore power. That is how it is designed to work.

Sure, the inverter/charger can go bad?

So it sounds as if your disconnect is closer to the inverter not the battery?

Have you measured voltage at your fuse panel? what do you get there.

Yes, it is possible that there is capacitance holding some voltage up, on the inverter.

So when not disconnected what is the voltage across the terminals of the inverter. This generally has to be above 10 volts for the charger to work when plugged into shore power.

You should have a couple of cables bringing power in, One from your house battery, and of course one from the Van alternator. Generally for a 2006 that would have been via a SurePower 1315-200 . That is a smart relay that connects then two battery systems together. The output of the Smart Relay has to connect somewhere as does the fuse panel for your DC distribution.

-greg

moorefc · 11-06-2022, 12:05 PM

rdbutler, Do you have the sportsmobile manual and cartoon/schematic wiring for the vehicle? Greg kindly posted some here... https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...nuals-116.html Looking at that will clarify how it is wired, and how the Surepower or other smart switch etc is configured.

You can find the (two part) reset procedure in the attachment from Greg....Don't know why you need a aux battery disconnect other than to disconnect the CO etc....They can be disconnected via pulling a fuse, and if the tripplite is off (which it typically should be unless charging from shore power or creating 120 from aux batts) it does not draw.
You can disconnect the starter battery to determine what it is powering..and pull Sportsmoble installed 12v fuses to help identify the house circuit that might be contributing.

Not clear, but have you turned on the switch to charge only (#2) on the tripplite, plug in the van...Does the tripplite come on? Make sure the AC gets to the tripplite....Your driving scenario sounds more like a surepower failure or inline large fuse...

I have a 2006 Texas build that was completed in 08, and it had the surepower (got very hot in desert use) that was replaced with a bluesea..

Also you can sometimes find a tripplite used. They have been listed here in the buy sell.