Inverter Problem

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Arby49

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Nov 16, 2016
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Katy, TX
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Changed the house batteries yesterday and apparently created a problem.  After making the switch, turned the power back on and everything is fine.  Started generator and had no power throughout the coach.  Finally traced the problem to no power to the inverter.  As a last resort, put a jumper from the battery to the inverter.  Powered up, everything works. Inverter indicates it is float charging, house batteries show 13 + volts, and shore power shows 123v on both legs.  However, the magnum energy display cannot be switched on.  Any help would be appreciated.
 
At a guess, you may have blown the large fuse which typically lies between battery & inverter, but that doesn't explain the lack of the remote display.

After making the switch, turned the power back on and everything is fine.  Started generator and had no power throughout the coach.
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"Everything is fine" means what, exactly?  If there was "no power throughout", something wasn't all that fine!  Please provide more detail so we can help better.  Loss of 12v can often appear to be "no power" because almost everything in an RV needs at least a little 12v power to operate.  Did you have interior lighting after the changeover?  Would the inverter power tv, microwave, or outlets?  After starting the genset, did these things still work, or did something change? 
 
Sorry Gary, I do tend to take shortcuts in my thinking.  When we turned power back on after replacing the batteries, Everything came on, fully powered.  After cranking the generator, we noticed that no lights were on, so started investigating further to find that power was off the entire subpanel which controls microwave, and most lights.  After much searching and phone calls, decided to jump the inverter which seemed to have worked.  We now have full power, with the inverter showing float charging, the shore power has 123v on both legs, house batteries showing 13+ volts, but the magnum energy panel will not turn on.  Also, can't find the large fuse between battery and inverter.  Not sure what I am looking for in that regard.  There is a 10amp fuse at the battery terminal which is good.
 
I blew the class T fuse once because when I wired the inverter I used to small of wire. It should be a 300 amp fuse or at least mine was.
 
I'm still struggling to understand.  The lights are 12v while many of the other things are 120v. Are you saying the 12v lighting when out after you started the generator? Do they come back on when the generator is turned off.

How did you "jump the inverter"?  Did you put battery jumper cables from somewhere on it to the battery bank? Or do you mean you connected the inverter's 120v power source directly to its output side, bypassing the inverter's built in power transfer switch?

This is a very complex system that both uses and produces 120v and 12v power and automatically switches from use to produce as needed. Details are extremely important to the diagnosis.
 
As I remember the events, replaced batteries, turned power back on (both shore and chasis),  and everything came on.  In hind sight, it was probably due to shore power, not the inverter.  Once we started the generator, that's when we noticed nothing was working.  I have since found a breaker in the engine bay that had tripped.  It will not reset, so have ordered a replacement.
 
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