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INVERTER FAIL

Yahoo Message Number: 106578
Ok, I know this is going to be bad. I was cleaning house batt terminals (one had minor corrosion) and accidentially "arked" wrench across terminal. It sparked pretty big. Finished up, and only one inverter will come on (although panel inside side is working - actual unit in bay will not turn on). Tried to turn on manually at inverter. No lights/sound, nothing. Checked house breakers, I'm hooked to shore where I store it, pushed in breaker on unit as well as "reset" type switches. Also, at same time, now GFI plus in bedroom wont reset to allow shore power to work outlets. Any ideas???? Thanks

Jody Briggs

2001 CC Affinity 42'

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106579
There is a hi amp catastrophic fuse on the positive feed to each inverter, you may have blown that fuse. It is easily checked with a 12 volt test light. There is also catastrophic resettable breakers in a row above your house batteries that reset with a real hard push. You may need to use the plastic end of a screwdriver to push on those breakers. I doubt if you have done any internal or serious damage. You need to find the right breaker if the in line fuse is good.
Fred formally a Magna

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106580
I put a volt meter on "T" fuse which is an in-line type, and has 14v on both sides. Then checked at pos/neg cables going into the inverter itself, and also has 14 volts. So, I obviously have power from batt into Inverter (I think thats what that means?). But, no power from inverter and GFI wont reset (somehow related). Other than 30 amp push button reset on inverter, would there be another?

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106582
Did you check the breakers on the right hand (passenger side) rear basement storage compartment, they are on the rear wall.

Alex Ritchey CC Affinity B&B 42' tag #5377

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106593
Does anyone know what the smaller gray colored boxes are mounted ontop of the inverter? opened it up, looks like a silver metallic battery of sorts. Has romex type wire going through it...

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106600
With all you've tried I suggest youre internal bypass relays in the inverter are toast or if it wont invert as well, the Inverter is bad as well. Might be time for a magnum

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #7 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106602
I'm afraid that might be the case. I will call Xantrex tomorrow to see if they have any ideas. Do they/anyone refurb them? I see these unit all over eBay, is that the best way to go if buying new...

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #8 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106603
Very honestly I wouldn't bother with a Zantrex, it's throwing good money after bad money. I personally went through three Xantrex inverters before switching to the Magnum. My Xantrex problems were covered by warranty but they were still a pain in the butt and I had to pay for labor. once I went to the Magnum, my problems went away and that was 3 years ago. Remember Xantrex is now holding house and all the good engineers went over and started Magnum

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #9 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106608
Are those (Magnum) plug & play? I'm installing myself and not sure I could figure out if I had to reconfigure anything. Is there a specific one that is an exact replacement? Does it work with Link 2000 remote panel?

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #10 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106612
Unfortunately no and no. The Magnum uses a different control panel and it's not compatible to the zantrex I believe the soundtrack to use the cat 6 cable and you need a cat 4 cable, so it should be adaptable from what I remember it is not that difficult and I'm not sure where you're located but I moved line into a midday with some cooling fans and it works great the one other problem is if you have a Silverleaf you will need the adapter that is made by Silverleaf Silverleaf seeing a large number of these come thru, and are very helpful mine was only more difficult because of moving all the cables, but I suspect you can do in about 4 hours and then forget about it even being there!

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #11 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106614
We have a 14-year old Xantrex inverter in our 2002 Intrigue and it was starting to shut itself off intermittently so I called Xantrex. When it was working, which was 99.99 percent of the time, it worked perfectly, but it would periodically shut off. Xantrex provided me with an authorized repair center and since I was in southern California, I took it to them. I removed the inverter from the coach, took pictures and made notes so that I reinstalled it properly, and dropped it off for an overhaul. They went through it with a fine-tooth comb, replaced some relays where the contacts were beginning to show wear, replaced the fan, ran all sorts of check, replaced something on the "board", and had it back to me in a matter of days. That was in December and we've had no problem since.

Biobenefit Energy, ask for Eric, 714-809-4003, located in Costa Mesa, they have a shop right at their residence, but they are recommended and sanctioned by Xantrex.

I did contemplate a new Xantrex inverter which would have been quite a bit more expensive and would have involved some adapters for the ends of the cable that runs from the inverter to the inside control panel. I also considered switching over to a Magnum but that would have involved inverter mounting changes, wiring changes in the inverter bay, and I believe a different cable between the inverter and the control panel. I can't swear to that but if so it would have been a nightmare to run a new cable.

Just an option for you to consider ... check it out.

Steve B

2002 Intrigue #11382

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #12 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106623
You are right, Your inverter was built by the Magnum boys when they were still there at zantrex. My statpower in my Allure 470 Blew Up 3 weeks after I took delivery because the inverter is located on the wall next to the exhaust system. Because statpower was no longer being made, I was sent a Xantrex Inverter, the first of three that went bad over a five-year period. Rebuilding an older one might be a good option, but I wouldn't trust a new Xantrex. The last one they sent me was their newest 3000 which I promptly put on Craigslist and bought the Magnum 2800. That was three years ago and it runs flawlessly. John frederiksen who works in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach on the yachts here won't use anything but magnum because they take the Heat and are trouble free.

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #13 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106624
I am also a Magnum fan. However, they are not immune to heat. When I bought my coach in 2013, the PO replaced a failed Xantrex with a new ME 2800 psw. It was 2 years old when it died on me due to the excessive heat in that battery compartment. Our Allure 470 is well made but putting the inverter in that compartment next to the engine and not far above that big, hot muffler was not a good design decision.

I replaced the cooked Magnum with another Magnum 2800 but added two more fans. (the OEM installation has two fans, one pulling air in, one pulling air out. I cut a hole in the wall between the inverter bay and the battery bay to exhaust air from the small and very hot inverter bay. I then added another, higher flow box fan in the door of the battery compartment that exhausts to the outside. Both of them come on at about 95 F and so far so good. It is amazing how long the fans run after coach shut down..... there is a lot of heat in those bays.

Gary

07 Allure 470 Siskiyou Summit

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #14 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106625
Hi Gary I am very familiar with the allure 470 having bought mine new. That was an insane location for an inverter. I rewired mine and moved it into A midbay. It sits on the floor has the exhaust thru the bottom of the floor with a fan and rear facing exhaust Scuffer.. custom-made an expanded steel cage around it so nothing can be on top of it or around it. This works flawlessly and has for the last three years. By the way in the 2008 Allure they moved the inverter up into the same bay. this was a major change as I had to buy cabling and all, but well worth it in the long run. The original location is entirely wrong for an inverter. In its present location I can have it on the ground in 15 minutes and thank God for that because the first two inverters I replaced were zantrex and in that location. I now have 43,000 miles on my coach and been across the United States three times over the last 8 years. It took a lot of work and time to square away my coach to do this. I have another friend with the 2006 Allure 470 as well and we have both suffered the same situations and problems. The sharing of information that's done on this site is great benefit to all who own these coaches

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #15 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106626
Brian,

I considered relocating mine to under the bed, thinking that the additional wiring involved would be less than moving it to one of the storage bays forward. I decided to roll the dice and take my chances with the current location and just add the fans. When I was at CC in summer of 2014, they complimented my install of the fan in the battery compartment door.

Coming up on 3 years of my install and two trips out west in some pretty hot weather.... so far, so good.

Saw coach identical to ours in Tucson in February. RV tech was replacing the inverter and cussing the location.

Gary

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #16 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106631
Gary: it's funny but my coach was the last delivery before Country Coach went under and they had installed a fan behind the rear tag axle into that area to cool it, which was even dumber because of the hot brakes and then blowing that into that compartment. One suggestion I might have for you that really helped tremendously for that area to cool it as well as the bedroom area, is that I had a guy wrap the exhaust with a thermal wrap. The Company located here does thermal wrapping for power plants and he custom made the wrapping for both my buddy's couch in Mine. The results were amazing. I can drive 4 hours and go to bed without the bedroom being overheated. The entire battery compartment cooler as well. Sounds like you've got things well in order though, so what I say if it ain't broke don't fix it! The first outing I had was June in Palm Springs where it was 115 degrees and the exhaust heat combined we're no match for my poor inverter. I have just about completely rebuilt my coach!

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #17 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106657
Just to follow up....I contacted Inverter Service Center in TN as recommended by one of our CC members. While they refurbish/repair, I've ordered a new one as I have a trip planned in the next few weeks. I plan to send the old one back for repairs so I'll have an extra. Its nice being able to actually talk to a tech about the issues, but I had already tried everything he suggested...

I do not like that my coach house circuits (GFCI) are wired directly through the Inverter so that when it goes down, I have no inside power. We sometimes go into very cold climates (snow skiing), and if the inverter goes down as well as the Hurricane, would have no way to heat (using ceramic plug-in heaters) which could be dangerous. All that to ask this:

In emergency situations, can I bypass the failed inverter by connecting AC input line to AC output line, while on shore or gen, and have inside power/outlets work?

And/or....could I simply disconnect output line from failed inverter and reconnect to/with AC output line on 2nd inverter (which is identical)?

01' Affinity - all elec.

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #18 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106659
On my 05 Magna, I was able to bypass the inverter when it failed. I then had AC power in the coach until I was able to replace the inverter. On my coach, there are some relatively large connector plugs which I was able to unplug from the inverter & then connect incoming power to the inverter directly to the plug providing power from the inverter to the coach. If you have the same arrangement, this is a relatively simple temporary solution. Keep in mind that your batteries are not being charged while you have bypassed the inverter. I hooked a charger up directly to my house batteries during the time I had bypassed the inverter. I did replace my inverter with a Magnum & am very pleased with it.

Fred Compton
05 Magna #6454

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #19 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106660
No plugs on mine...hard wired...but I think I can still do it that way in a pinch (white-to-white; black-to-black; ground-to-ground..with all power off 1st of course!)...thanks for confirming.

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #20 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106663
You might want to go back and read my emails regarding my bypass circuit for the inverter.I have done this for multiple reasons!

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #21 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106665
My Freedom 25, might be the same as jkbriggs, has two 110 volt inputs. One to the charger and the other to the inverter. If the charger side is still working, bypassing the inverter input would still allow battery charging while on shore or generator power..

pete

2000 40' Magna CAT C-10, #5892
Pete
 2000 40'  Magna #5892  CAT C-10

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #22 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106667
Anyway you can link those to me?...I see many of your discussions but not on the bypass, Thanks

It looks to me, as I have 2 identical inverters w/dual input & output, that only one inverter is actually needed. Wouldn't one 2500 watt be enough to charge all 4 AGM's? As for inverting, we only use for refridg and outlets when driving IF the gen is off.
 

Re: INVERTER FAIL

Reply #24 –
Yahoo Message Number: 106721
FOLLOW-UP......I installed new Xantrex this weekend....all appears good for now ($1,287.00 from Inverter Services in Tennessee with shipping). Pretty easy install. Link 2000 seemed to remember batt type and other inputs which was nice not to have to re-set. Still don't like that if inverter goes down, so does all 110v inside, even if on shore/gen. Thank you for all of your inputs.