Inverter

dutch · 11-17-2019, 08:19 AM

We have 2013 Georgetown 378XL, went to push button to put fridge on inverter so we can leave to go south but it buzzing and the Prowatt SW 1000, showing a E 03 fault on read out and fridge is not coming on, but it will come on if coach is plug in to electric. Coach batteries are fully charged. What does the fault mean? Have no manual on it.

mwdilday · 11-17-2019, 08:30 AM

Appears to mean overload shutdown. Do you have anything else plugged into the same circuit that the inverter is powering? What is the temperature inside the RV where the refrigerator is?

dutch · 11-17-2019, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mwdilday

Appears to mean overload shutdown. Do you have anything else plugged into the same circuit that the inverter is powering? What is the temperature inside the RV where the refrigerator is?

No the only thing is the fridg that is plug into it. temp has been in to low 20 here.

mwdilday · 11-17-2019, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dutch

No the only thing is the fridg that is plug into it. temp has been in to low 20 here.

Probably need to heat up the inside of the trailer. May take a while to get the oil and temp up a bit. I would put a space heater facing the fridge and open the doors on the fridge. Just not so close it melts something. Of course you probably knew that. That would be my guess.

bubbles · 11-17-2019, 11:38 AM

Your coach batteries were to low and the converter supplied the necessary output for the inverter load. JMO

dutch · 11-17-2019, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubbles

Your coach batteries were to low and the converter supplied the necessary output for the inverter load. JMO

I have had the coach plugged in to a 120 out let to keep the fridg running, this should have also kept a charged on the coach batteries would you not think? I can also move my slides in and out now, if my coach batteries were low I would no be able to do that right?

CHICKDOE · 11-17-2019, 04:27 PM

in your first post you said you had full batteries. in you last post you said shore power should kept the batteries charged. this is true but there have been many posts about batteries not getting charged when they were on shore power. check the batteries to actually see if they have a full charge. if they are low i could see where they would not supply full power to the inverter which would then not be able to supply the required power to the refrigerator and this could be the source of your overload issue. by the way, the manual for the inverter is readily available on-line. it's possible the slides require less power than the inverter / refrigerator and that is why the slides work. check the batteries to get their actual status!

bubbles · 11-17-2019, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dutch

I have had the coach plugged in to a 120 out let to keep the fridg running, this should have also kept a charged on the coach batteries would you not think? I can also move my slides in and out now, if my coach batteries were low I would no be able to do that right?

It was just a thought and yes, you are correct. I don't have the residential fridge in my GT378. I know how switching between shore and genny power is accomplished but don't know how the switching between those and the inverter is handled. I think the inverter should be switched out when on shore/genny power and switched back when coming off of those but not sure.

**Flybob** · 11-17-2019, 04:54 PM

Try leaving the fridge off for about 20 mins before connecting to inverter. If the compressor was running when you switched there could be a hi pressure head causing the compressor the start hard and draw a higher current.

CHICKDOE · 11-17-2019, 04:55 PM

the xantrex prowatt sw series inverters do not have an internal transfer switch. but xantrex makes a small external transfer switch. you plug the refrigerator into the output of this small transfer switch. you connect the its two input to the inverter and to the cable coming from the 120 volt distribution panel. this cable is power either by shore power or generator power. when it has 120 volts on it the xantrex transfer switch passes this to the refrigerator. when this does not have 120 present and the inverter is supplying 120 volts the xantrex transfer switch passes inverter power to the refrigerator.

dutch · 11-18-2019, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

the xantrex prowatt sw series inverters do not have an internal transfer switch. but xantrex makes a small external transfer switch. you plug the refrigerator into the output of this small transfer switch. you connect the its two input to the inverter and to the cable coming from the 120 volt distribution panel. this cable is power either by shore power or generator power. when it has 120 volts on it the xantrex transfer switch passes this to the refrigerator. when this does not have 120 present and the inverter is supplying 120 volts the xantrex transfer switch passes inverter power to the refrigerator.

Yes you are right, there is a small transfer switch box, I checked for power to the transfer switch and I have 120 volts going to it. I guess the question is do I have it coming out of the plug from the transfer switch that plugs into the Prowatt SW. How would I check if it has power coming out the transfer plug?

CHICKDOE · 11-18-2019, 09:21 AM

i'll to help. we also have a prowatt sw inverter with the external transfer switch dedicated to a residential refrigerator. your original post was about an overload condition (E03). what i will say is what i think i would do but i'm sure others will have other thoughts / techniques.

first verify that the inverter is working. unplug the power cord that plugs into the inverter face. this cord will go to the transfer switch. plug in something like a light or radio and turn the inverter on. the status light should be green and the display should show the input battery voltage and output load in watts. verify that all is working. check the battery input voltage to verify that the batteries are fully charged (12.6 volts or so). it wouldn't hurt to get and independent reading to confirm what the inverter is displaying. measure at the inverter input terminal using a multimeter. you could also measure the ac output voltage at the gfci receptacle on the inverter face.

now remove your test load from the inverter and replug the cable from the transfer switch. as you do this watch the display on the inverter face. again see what the input voltage from the batteries is and what the output wattage is. the prowatt sw 1000 is only rated for 900 watts of continuous output using fully charged batteries. more than that will trigger the overload shutdown. less than full batteries may not supply enough power to the inverter. hopefully you can see what the battery input voltage and output wattage are before the overload condition occurs.

another thing you might be able to do is decrease the power the refrigerator is demanding. turn of the icemaker and any quick freeze options.

hope this helps.

again, the prowatt sw inverter manual is available at the zantrex web site.

dutch · 11-18-2019, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

i'll to help. we also have a prowatt sw inverter with the external transfer switch dedicated to a residential refrigerator. your original post was about an overload condition (E03). what i will say is what i think i would do but i'm sure others will have other thoughts / techniques.

first verify that the inverter is working. unplug the power cord that plugs into the inverter face. this cord will go to the transfer switch. plug in something like a light or radio and turn the inverter on. the status light should be green and the display should show the input battery voltage and output load in watts. verify that all is working. check the battery input voltage to verify that the batteries are fully charged (12.6 volts or so). it wouldn't hurt to get and independent reading to confirm what the inverter is displaying. measure at the inverter input terminal using a multimeter. you could also measure the ac output voltage at the gfci receptacle on the inverter face.

now remove your test load from the inverter and replug the cable from the transfer switch. as you do this watch the display on the inverter face. again see what the input voltage from the batteries is and what the output wattage is. the prowatt sw 1000 is only rated for 900 watts of continuous output using fully charged batteries. more than that will trigger the overload shutdown. less than full batteries may not supply enough power to the inverter. hopefully you can see what the battery input voltage and output wattage are before the overload condition occurs.

another thing you might be able to do is decrease the power the refrigerator is demanding. turn of the icemaker and any quick freeze options.

hope this helps.

again, the prowatt sw inverter manual is available at the zantrex web site.

Thank you for that information. I this connect the Prowatt from the batteries connection for 1 hour and then reconnect the battery connection thinking maybe it will clear the fault. It did not. (On your one remark on trying a light on the inverter I did before no power. ) Anyway after I reconnected the batteries cables I notice the fan in back not running. Called Xantrex and told them everything I did and they said sounds like the inverter is bad, ordered one from Amazon for 268. And also a charger for the unit . Parts coming in tomorrow will in stall it and hope that fixes the problem so we can leave Pa and go south.Thank everyone for all your help.

CHICKDOE · 11-18-2019, 03:34 PM

Hope it works after your reinstalls. But it is a bit hard to believe that two separate units, charger and inverter failed simultaneously.

dutch · 11-18-2019, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

Hope it works after your reinstalls. But it is a bit hard to believe that two separate units, charger and inverter failed simultaneously.

I’m going to change the inverter first. Than try to switch over the fridg from shore power to coach. If that doesn’t work it has to be the transfers unit, that is why I bought both unit it’s one or the other. The coach is a 2013 so I figure items are going to break down.

CHICKDOE · 11-18-2019, 05:58 PM

but your original post was a overload condition. very hard to believe that would be caused by the transfer switch. just off hand what make / model refrigerator do you have? our residential refrigerator has a label that says it can draw 8.5 amps which would be just over 1000 watts. we have a pro SW 2000 inverter (1800 watts continuous). are you the original owner and did it come from the factory with the refrigerator and 1000 watt inverter?

dutch · 11-19-2019, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHICKDOE

but your original post was a overload condition. very hard to believe that would be caused by the transfer switch. just off hand what make / model refrigerator do you have? our residential refrigerator has a label that says it can draw 8.5 amps which would be just over 1000 watts. we have a pro SW 2000 inverter (1800 watts continuous). are you the original owner and did it come from the factory with the refrigerator and 1000 watt inverter?

Yes we are the original owners and yes the inverter came with it. You are right our fridg said the same thing 8.5 amps. Still waiting for new inverter delivery today. I think because the little space it was in it might have overheated and burned up after all this time. There was very little air flow where it was at. I’m going to fixed that .

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