Battery full but inverter only showing 4-ish volts.

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Hey guys. I just purchased a 2019 1640esp and am having issues figuring out how to get the inverter to work. I pushed the remote on/off button and nothing happened so I popped off the seats and measured the voltage to the inverter and am only seeing 4.1volts. The manual says it needs at least 11.9volts so I assume this is the issue. There is only a single battery which is fully charged and connected to a maintainer and showing 12.6volts. The lift, lights, stereo, and fan all work fine.

It is a WF-5110R True Sine Wave Inverter.

Any help or tips on where to begin would be greatly appreciated!

[SeaDog]

12.6 volts is not charged you should see somewhere around 13.4 Volts

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Originally Posted by SeaDog

12.6 volts is not charged you should see somewhere around 13.4 Volts

Sorry you are correct, that is the reading I got when I first plugged it into the charger and it was in my mind as I was typing. I see 13.2volts now,
I am assumming the battery has a little degradation is all.

[Bama Rambler]

There is possibly a tripped DC breaker or bad connection between the battery and inverter. Check for breakers and check all the connections in the wiring, including the negative connections to the frame and inverter.

[MtBiker]

Originally Posted by SeaDog

12.6 volts is not charged you should see somewhere around 13.4 Volts

12.6 is a good charged voltage. 13.4 or higher would be a charging voltage.

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

There is possibly a tripped DC breaker or bad connection between the battery and inverter. Check for breakers and check all the connections in the wiring, including the negative connections to the frame and inverter.

Well this sounds like quite a task.. thanks for the tips!

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Originally Posted by MtBiker

12.6 is a good charged voltage. 13.4 or higher would be a charging voltage.

Right on I would have been wondering if something was wrong without this comment. It was 13.2 when I unhooked the battery maintainer a few hours ago and now its 12.8

There is a solar panel which might be charging it somewhat but I get minimal light through the windows in my garage.

[rsdata]

There is a solar panel which might be charging it somewhat but I get minimal light through the windows in my garage.

solar panels generally need direct sunlight to charge anything

# 1 disconnect the inverter from the 12 V power leads and measure the voltage of the two wires with a cheap meter ( any hardware store $10) you should see the same voltage reading that you can read directly off the battery.

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Originally Posted by rsdata

solar panels generally need direct sunlight to charge anything

# 1 disconnect the inverter from the 12 V power leads and measure the voltage of the two wires with a cheap meter ( any hardware store $10) you should see the same voltage reading that you can read directly off the battery.

Is this going to be different than the reading I have already taken? The inverter is off and it looks like I am touching the same contacts that the 12V power leads are connected to so I’m just curious before I try.

[rsdata]

YES
disconnect the inverter ( 1 lead will do) from the 12 V power leads... take the inverter out of the circuit to measure just the voltage available at the leads

IF you have 12+ VDC at the battery you SHOULD have nearly the same voltage at the ends of the power leads... 4 VDC reading makes no sense at all... makes me think that either something is wrong with the terminal connections at either end of the wire or possibly the inverter is bad...

with no current draw voltage at battery and at the end of the leads should be the same

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by PhilipJayyFryy

Is this going to be different than the reading I have already taken? The inverter is off and it looks like I am touching the same contacts that the 12V power leads are connected to so I’m just curious before I try.

I'd make SURE I was measuring the right wires before tearing into the system. It's not uncommon to get weird voltage readings by touching wires in two different circuits.

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by PhilipJayyFryy

Hey guys. I just purchased a 2019 1640esp and am having issues figuring out how to get the inverter to work. I pushed the remote on/off button and nothing happened so I popped off the seats and measured the voltage to the inverter and am only seeing 4.1volts. The manual says it needs at least 11.9volts so I assume this is the issue. There is only a single battery which is fully charged and connected to a maintainer and showing 12.6volts. The lift, lights, stereo, and fan all work fine.

It is a WF-5110R True Sine Wave Inverter.

Any help or tips on where to begin would be greatly appreciated!

Aren't there controls on the inverter and a built in voltage meter? Forget the remote and see if it functions using the on unit controls? there should usually be circuit breakers on the inverter unit itself.

Double check, as others have said that you are getting the proper voltage from the battery. If the battery is good and the wires to the inverter from the battery are connected properly then your converter has probably blown a fuse or circuit breaker.

As Mike said, your 4 volt reading seems like a bad or improper probe placement issue.

[robo44]

You have 12VDC (plus) at the battery there better be nearly the same voltage at the power leads.
My guess something is wrong at the terminal connections or your inverter is causing the issue.
Seeing you cant turn on your inverter with your remote, that would be my guess.
My inverter (different model) has a fuse built in, somehow I blew that fuse. That gave me some wonky readings while trying to diagnose my problem. (until I changed the fuse)
Like others disconnect the inverter, check the Pos/Neg Input wires, should be 12+ VDC. If yes, you your Inverter needs a closer look or replacement.
If no, then you have another issue upstream

[mac1_131]

The inverters are usually connected with a big 150 amp fusible link to the battery due to their high current draw, which is separate from the rest of the red wires. See if you can find it and check voltage on both sides of it.

It's probably fairly close to the battery.

[Half Ton Heavy]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

I'd make SURE I was measuring the right wires before tearing into the system. It's not uncommon to get weird voltage readings by touching wires in two different circuits.

This.
Are you measuring at the thickest two wires? I am thinking the 4 volt is from a control circuit.

[PhilipJayyFryy]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Originally Posted by rsdata

YES
disconnect the inverter ( 1 lead will do) from the 12 V power leads... take the inverter out of the circuit to measure just the voltage available at the leads

IF you have 12+ VDC at the battery you SHOULD have nearly the same voltage at the ends of the power leads... 4 VDC reading makes no sense at all... makes me think that either something is wrong with the terminal connections at either end of the wire or possibly the inverter is bad...

with no current draw voltage at battery and at the end of the leads should be the same

Well I just pulled out those 2 big gauge wires and checked the voltage there and low and behold I'm seeing 0 Volts. I'm not sure how I lost 4 volts but I guess thats progress. I will start tracing towards the battery then.

Originally Posted by PhilFromMaine

Aren't there controls on the inverter and a built in voltage meter? Forget the remote and see if it functions using the on unit controls? there should usually be circuit breakers on the inverter unit itself.

Double check, as others have said that you are getting the proper voltage from the battery. If the battery is good and the wires to the inverter from the battery are connected properly then your converter has probably blown a fuse or circuit breaker.

As Mike said, your 4 volt reading seems like a bad or improper probe placement issue.

No I cant check the display on the inverter because it won't power up.

Originally Posted by robo44

You have 12VDC (plus) at the battery there better be nearly the same voltage at the power leads.
My guess something is wrong at the terminal connections or your inverter is causing the issue.
Seeing you cant turn on your inverter with your remote, that would be my guess.
My inverter (different model) has a fuse built in, somehow I blew that fuse. That gave me some wonky readings while trying to diagnose my problem. (until I changed the fuse)
Like others disconnect the inverter, check the Pos/Neg Input wires, should be 12+ VDC. If yes, you your Inverter needs a closer look or replacement.
If no, then you have another issue upstream

Looks to be another issue upstream!

Originally Posted by mac1_131

The inverters are usually connected with a big 150 amp fusible link to the battery due to their high current draw, which is separate from the rest of the red wires. See if you can find it and check voltage on both sides of it.

It's probably fairly close to the battery.

This is my next move I think. I have no idea what it looks like though, some research is required.

Originally Posted by Half Ton Heavy

This.
Are you measuring at the thickest two wires? I am thinking the 4 volt is from a control circuit.

I was measuring the terminals just above the two really thick wires which were attached to it.

[Grumpy7159]

Is the inverter connected directly to the battery or does it go through the battery disconnect switch. And there should be a high amp fuse in the supply (DC to the inverter) circuit. Those would be quick and easy to check.