ac power

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msever

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Joined
Sep 28, 2017
Posts
14
We have 2001 Itasca Meridan and have no ac power from gen. or shore power. the inverter  works for plugins and app. Our repair man wants to put in a new inverter.
 
Would need more info to offer meaningful advice. You have circuits that do not pass through the inverter at all, e.g. the air conditioners and the water heater (electric mode). Do those work? Is there any 120v power anywhere in the coach?

A lot of your 120vac power runs through the inverter, so the first thing to check is the power going into the inverter and also the inverters own circuit breaker.  There is typically a 30A breaker that feeds shore/genset power to the inverter/charger. That power gets "passed thru" the inverter to the output side so that the inverter doesn't have to do any inverting when external power is present. It's possible that automatic pass thru has failed, which probably enas a new inverter (repair parts for 15+ year old inverters are probably not available).
 
Since the inverter seems to be the only 120V source that's working, it seems odd that's what the repairman wants to replace. Are you sure he didn't say "converter"?
 
Since the inverter seems to be the only 120V source that's working, it seems odd that's what the repairman wants to replace. Are you sure he didn't say "converter"?

I suspect they are one and the same unit on his Meridian. Hopefully msever will tell us the make & model of the unit they want to replace so we can be sure of that..
 
the inverter is Heart/Freedom
That is indeed a combiner inverter, converter, and charger.  If any portion of its function has failed, you may need to replace all of it. Components are available for new Freedoms, but if it is 2001 vintage I suspect parts are no longer available. Xantrex no longer provides parts & support for the older Heart products.
 
Thanks to everyone for the information. I guess we have to bite the bullet and replace the inverter
 
As I stated earlier, without more info as to exactly what doesn't work on shore power and under what circumstances, there is no way for us to guess whether your repair guy has made a correct diagnosis or not. Does nothing at all work when on shore power? No lighting, no tv, no a/c or fridge?
 
A combined inverter/charger has it's own internal transfer switch, it sends incoming AC power directly to the outlets while the inverter changes into a charger when outside AC power is present.

Does any 120 volt appliance NOT on the inverter work when the generator or shore power is available?  The air conditioner, the electric side of the hot water heater, etc?  If these work, the generator transfer switch is most likely OK and is sending power to the inverter like it should, and  the inverter's internal transfer switch is messing up and not sending that power through to the inverter outlets.

If nothing else works, it's likely the generator / shore power transfer switch is faulty.
 
As Lou has said, this sounds more like the ATS associated with the generator/shore power itself as both the outside power (in the switches released mode) and generator power (in the switches operated mode) go through it. This is, at least, the starting point for investigation as it is the one common point in this case.
 
we have no 120v when plugged in and no 120v when generator is running

Forgive me for harping on this, but how thoroughly have you (and the repair guy) checked for ac power throughout the coach?  I know you said "no 120v power", but it is absolutely critical to the diagnosis and people too often don't check all the possible 120v circuits. If the interior lighting works but there is no power to the air conditioners or the water heater in electric heat mode, then the inverter is probably NOT the problem and replacing it is a waste of money and time.
 
Everything works that is powered by the battery. Nothing works that is powered by the generator or the electric cord. the inverter will run the plugins and microwave,tv
 
There are a couple of things that could prevent A/C power from getting into the coach, and we're trying to help you narrow it down.

Please answer this... When you're plugged into shore-power, or running your generator, are your house-batteries charging? If they are, that tells me that A/C power is getting past the automatic transfer switch (ATS). If your ATS isn't working (I'm just assuming you have one) A/C power from shore-power or the generator won't get into the coach, which would explain why you have no A/C power.

Kev
 
If your house batteries aren't charging while on generator-power or shore-power, and no A/C appliances are working while on generator-power or shore-power, that tells me that A/C power isn't getting into the coach. Have you checked the "Main" circuit breaker? If you haven't, turn it off, then turn it back on - even if it looks like it's on. Circuit breakers can appear to be on, but actually be tripped.

The next thing I'd do is use a VOM to (carefully) test for power coming out of the transfer switch. That component is common to both the generator and shore-power, and it automatically switches between them depending on which one is being used. It gives priority to the generator if you're running your generator while hooked up to shore-power.

Do those things and get back to us.

Kev
 
Could the transfer switch on the alternator be bad even though the alternator will still run all appliances and plugins?
 
I suspect you mean the Inverter, not the alternator. I suspect not as is seems more like the 120V feed is not even reaching the inverter transfer switch's 120V  inputs. As mentioned in previous posts  multiple times, look at the ATS associated with the generator first. It is the first in line from the power pedestal and cord.
 

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