2001 Beaver Monterey Seacliff Electical Problem or Problems

[Brent Harte]

I would truly Appreciate help from you guys.

1.  Installed 4 new house batteries and a new Victron MultiPlus 3000 Watt 12 Volt Inverter & 120 Amp.  Additionally added Victron Energy VE.Bus Smart dongle,  connects temperature sensor to positive terminal on house battery bank and uses a CAT5 cable back to Inverter to provide battery temperature for charging (Uses blue Tooth to provide simple info on battery status).   EVERYTHING  WORKED PERFECT for 1 YEAR.

2.  TOOK 7 Day trip to Colorado Rockies, freezing cold weather, everything worked fine.

3.  Returned home and plugged into shore power,  Inverter stayed on Bulk Charge for 3 days for house batteries, would not cycle to Absorption mode.

4.  Replaced 4 house batteries with new batteries.  New batteries did not fix the problem, Inverter continued to stay on bulk charge.

5.  Battery cables at Inverter connection show under 1 volt, with shore power disconnected then the inverter indicates LOW BATTERY and shuts off (does NOT start Inverting like it does when everything worked)

6. Battery cables at House Battery connection show 14 to 15 volts with Inverter in Bulk charge mode.

7. With shore power connected and Inverter/Charger on I have both DC power and have power through AC panel.  If I shut off the Inverter I lose both AC and DC power.  NOTE:  Shore power runs directly to TRANSFER SWITCH(TS) and TS is wired directly to AC Panel, the AC panel provides a 20amp line to the INVERTER for pass through when on shore power. 

8.  Note: there is 2 long beeps I think from our fridge or somewhere in the ceiling, when I shut the Inverter off and then all AC shuts off,  Air Condition Units, Fridge ETC.  -  The INVERTER is not wired between shore power and the AC panel so the loss of DC power is somehow involved. 

[Steve Huber]

Check for blown 250 amp ANL fuse between inverter and house batteries. Should be located on the isolator board near the batteries. See sheet 43 of the 2002-03 Patriot wiring diagrams in Coach Assist. If fuse is ok check for a wiring error between battery bank and isolator board inverter connection.
Steve

[Brent Harte]

Hello Steve,

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction,  so I checked all the ANL fuses on "isolator board", all fuses check GOOD.  The "isolator board" is located under my passenger side 2nd storage bay from the front.

I had the positive battery cable disconnected overnight to keep the Inverter from continuously Bulk Charging the new HOUSE BATTERIES.  When I went to reconnect the positive cable I tapped the cable to the post a couple times creating a pretty good spark(just confirming batteries and cable where making good connection).  EVERYTHING WORKS. 

I'm sure this problem will re occur, What part should I look at? I have attached a picture of my isolator board. If the component is not on the isolator board where should I look?  I have also attached an image of solenoid mounted in back of my battery bay.

[Steve Huber]

Brent,
First off, I would not recommend arcing 12v at the batteries, (unless you like spending untold hours tracking down blown fuses).

Your isolator board is more basic than the Patriot one I referred to. House battery voltage comes in through a fuse on the left most connection of the buss bar on the right half of the photo and goes directly to the inverter from the buss bar through another fuse. So if you measured ~0V at the inverter input the following are about the only possibilities;
   -Faulty ground to the inverter (Move ground lead of meter to a separate ground to verify)
   -Bad connection in either 12v or ground wiring. Use meter with needle to pierce insulation to track down
   -Poor meter connections at inverter when taking initial measurements.
If it happens again go to isolator board and verify 12v house battery input at buss bar and 12v on inverter side of fuse.
Steve