Prosine Xantrex inverter kicks off

[Terry Melot]

Gerald,
We are new to this. Just bought our Marquis a few months ago.
First trip lasted a month. No problems with inverter. Went home and set for a month in the drive way, with shore power hooked up.
First time out after sitting a month, the Prosine Xantrex inverter kicks off after 1-4 hours of being on line. Book says to shut down all power, shore and battery, to reset the Prosine.
Always resets but trips off again after an hour or so.
The 102 code says to check the batteries.  They are full of water (added a small amount of distilled water) and look fine but have not had a load checker on them.
Seems odd that the prosine would kick off when most needed (if the batteries are week).

Fortunately we are not dry camping so only need the inverter as a battery charger.  We've had plenty of sun recently and the solar panels have kept the house batteries charged.

Any thoughts?  Thanks for the info that if it needs replacing, use a Magnum.


Terry Melot
2002 Marquis
505 CAT

[Gerald Farris]

Terry,
From your description, I can not tell what your problem is because you did not give the house battery voltage when the inverter kicks off. If you are discharging the house batteries too much, the condition is normal.

As a general rule of thumb, you should not discharge your house batteries below 12 volts before starting the generator to recharge the batteries. If the inverter is saying to check the batteries, it is a reference to low voltage in the house batteries. Therefore, from your description, I would say that there is nothing wrong with your inverter unless it is kicking off with fully charged batteries.

Gerald

[Terry Melot]

Gerald, thanks for the help.  The bat voltage never got below 12. Every time the inverter tripped, the inverter code said to check the batteries. While checking the batteries, the water was visible so I assumed that was ok, altho I had not filled them for over two months. I was about ready to replace the Prosine with a new Magnum inverter. As one last shot, I then filled up the batteries to the indicator (about a half inch down) and the inverter has not tripped since.
Who'd have thought the inverter was so sensitive that it could detect low water?

[Gerald Farris]

Terry,
The inverter has no way to tell the water level in the batteries, unless the water is low enough to affect the performance of the batteries. The batteries performance would be measured by voltage output at a specific amperage load, and if you could still water in all battery cells, the water was not low enough to affect battery performance. Therefore, the inverter problem must have been related to a connection issue that was affected by the battery servicing or it was a "glitch" in the inverter program that resolved itself. Regardless, it is working now and if it is a connection issue, it will almost certainly happen again if it is not repaired properly. But if it was just a "glitch" in the inverter program, it may never happen again.  

Gerald

[Larry and Heidi Lee]

Hi Terry, congratulations on the new rig! A complete service and safety checkup would be on my "to do" list. For your own peace of mind...  

[Dick Simonis]

I don't know about the Prosine but some inverters have an adjustable low voltage setting for inverter operation.  Once the voltage drops below that level the inverter cuts out.  You might check your setting and see if you have this function and, if so, what it set at.