Tried to help a fellow RV'er with electrical problem. No luck.

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SargeW

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I am at Disney World with family and at about 8 PM last night we heard beeping coming from somewhere. The good news was that it wasn't us, but unfortunately it was the neighbors rig. He has a 2015 Coachman MH, and his CO detector was beeping.  The reason was that he had lost power on the passenger side of the coach, and the detector was slowly dying. 

Unfortunately the refer is on the same circuit. The way that Coachman wired the unit, all the circuits on the passenger side run through the Inverter. The Inverter shows getting AC power, but none is exiting the Inverter. The reset button on the front does not work. Flipping the circuit breaker in the power panel for the Inverter does not reset the Inverter either.

A part of the problem (or the cause) is that the refer is directly above the Inverter and a steady drip of water is dripping onto the Inverter. The Inverter is a Magnum Inverter, but a very small one. The coach batteries are also not being charged either.

Any other ideas how to help this gentleman while he waits for a mobile repair guy? 
 
Can you take the A/C input wires off the inverter and just wire nut them to the A/C output wires, and just bypass the inverter for A/C power altogether?
 
Bypass the inverter as kdbgoat susgests, or at least plug the fridge into another outlet (use an extension cord).

If its an RV fridge, run it on LP as long as 12v battery power remains.  And he could buy a $10 charger at Harbor Freight or Walmart to keep the battery up in the short term.

I'm guessing it is an RV fridge and the dripping water is a misplaced drain tube. Sadly, it's not real unusual for a factory or dealer tech to leave the fridge drain tube inside where water can dribble onto the floor or other components.  If its a residential fridge, something is wrong with its condensation evaporator system.
 
Unfortunately it is an unusual set up. It has no transfer switch, so all the circuits on the passenger side of the coach run through the Inverter. It is a residential refer, about apartment size.  You also can't get to the back of the refer, no access panel.  It looks like the refer would have to be pulled out to access the cord.  It is not a user friendly set up.  Even running the generator didn't help, it routes through the Inverter as well. Their handicapped son uses a breathing machine, but they were able to run a cord from the drivers side to power it up.  And the coach batteries are dying since the Inverter isn't charging the house batteries.  Tough situation.
 
I haven't tried rerouting the wires on the Inverter yet. I am a little leery about jumping in and being responsible for some major work. I will see this morning if they have a mobile repair in route yet.  Thanks for the suggestions though. 
 
Thanks Lou. The one that he has is a much smaller one in a plastic case I think. The mobile repair guy is there now and said that the current one is fried.  Not sure if it is so or not, still waiting to see what the outcome is.
 
Well, the resolution was found. The tech found that the Inverter was in a poor location and was getting a steady stream of water from a leaking kitchen sink.  The water corroded out the remote hook up cable, and several connections inside the Inverter. He unplugged the remote cable and cleaned up the connections.  Then a reset got the whole thing working again. Unknown if there will be further issues, but for now the neighbor has power back and the refer is on line.

The mobile tech was a pretty good guy, Frank from Frank's Mobile RV, out of Kissimmee, FL.  His contact # is 407-922-7302.  I talked with him for a while and feel comfortable enough to recommend his service.
 
SargeW said:
The mobile tech was a pretty good guy, Frank from Frank's Mobile RV, out of Kissimmee, FL.  His contact # is 407-922-7302.  I talked with him for a while and feel comfortable enough to recommend his service.

He does sound like a good guy. He could have sold a brand new inverter and no one would have known the difference.
 
SargeW said:
Well, the resolution was found. The tech found that the Inverter was in a poor location and was getting a steady stream of water from a leaking kitchen sink.  The water corroded out the remote hook up cable, and several connections inside the Inverter. He unplugged the remote cable and cleaned up the connections.  Then a reset got the whole thing working again. Unknown if there will be further issues, but for now the neighbor has power back and the refer is on line.

The mobile tech was a pretty good guy, Frank from Frank's Mobile RV, out of Kissimmee, FL.  His contact # is 407-922-7302.  I talked with him for a while and feel comfortable enough to recommend his service.

Maybe a topic in the service and repairs review section? That section helps finding repair help easy.
 
When my CO detector started screaming in the middle of the night, I put some tape over it until morning.  I also opened a couple of windows for ventilation, but was pretty sure it was the age of the unit, not an actual CO problem. 
 
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