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Old 07-04-2016, 11:13 AM   #1
LnG
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not sure what my electrical problem is

Good morning & Happy 4th of July. Not that I'm wishing someone else has had trouble. BUT! I have asked RV techs, Winnebago & the inverter manufacturer without any luck. I have no idea how to set it, when or how to use it. I'm talking about my inverter in our 2005 Winnebago Journey 39F. I have a Dimensions WIN-12x20B3R1T. The owners manual tells me what it will do but not how to do it or when I should do it. (normal operating settings) Should I turn it on, when I should I turn it on, should I leave it on 24/7, what amp setting should be used. We have owned this coach for almost a year & have had no trouble regardless of the settings until last night when I smelled a hot battery. I have 3 house batteries, the center one was hot & smoking & the control panel read 14.4. I disconnected the battery and removed it from the coach, NOW WHAT?? Anyone with any input would be most welcome to comment. Thanks to any who have taken the time to read my rant.
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Old 07-04-2016, 11:55 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LnG View Post
Good morning & Happy 4th of July. Not that I'm wishing someone else has had trouble. BUT! I have asked RV techs, Winnebago & the inverter manufacturer without any luck. I have no idea how to set it, when or how to use it. I'm talking about my inverter in our 2005 Winnebago Journey 39F. I have a Dimensions WIN-12x20B3R1T. The owners manual tells me what it will do but not how to do it or when I should do it. (normal operating settings) Should I turn it on, when I should I turn it on, should I leave it on 24/7, what amp setting should be used. We have owned this coach for almost a year & have had no trouble regardless of the settings until last night when I smelled a hot battery. I have 3 house batteries, the center one was hot & smoking & the control panel read 14.4. I disconnected the battery and removed it from the coach, NOW WHAT?? Anyone with any input would be most welcome to comment. Thanks to any who have taken the time to read my rant.
LnG
See "OPERATION" on pages 16 & 17 of this pdf:
http://www.rvtechlibrary.com/electri...ons_owners.pdf
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Old 07-04-2016, 12:38 PM   #3
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1 hot battery would lead me to 1 bad battery. If they have been in service a number of years they all may fail.

Have all 3 checked.
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Old 07-04-2016, 01:54 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LnG View Post
Good morning & Happy 4th of July. Not that I'm wishing someone else has had trouble. BUT! I have asked RV techs, Winnebago & the inverter manufacturer without any luck. I have no idea how to set it, when or how to use it. I'm talking about my inverter in our 2005 Winnebago Journey 39F. I have a Dimensions WIN-12x20B3R1T. The owners manual tells me what it will do but not how to do it or when I should do it. (normal operating settings) Should I turn it on, when I should I turn it on, should I leave it on 24/7, what amp setting should be used. We have owned this coach for almost a year & have had no trouble regardless of the settings until last night when I smelled a hot battery. I have 3 house batteries, the center one was hot & smoking & the control panel read 14.4. I disconnected the battery and removed it from the coach, NOW WHAT?? Anyone with any input would be most welcome to comment. Thanks to any who have taken the time to read my rant.

I believe your center battery shorted out. Mine smelt like rotten eggs. I would have all batteries tested and replace if needed.
Jesse
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Old 07-04-2016, 03:09 PM   #5
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You need to replace all the batteries. The new one will be ruined by the other ones. It sounds like it just shorted out under load. Is 14.5 amps or volts? 4.5 voltage would be a normal charge voltage and 14.5 amps is a pretty high draw for batteries.
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Old 07-04-2016, 07:41 PM   #6
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Replace the batteries first thing. There is a switch on the inverter to set for what batteries you have, flooded vs. agm etc. and battery bank size in amp hours. It's in the manual. I switched my 3 12v batteries for 4 6 volts. More amp hours. As far as the remote panel there is not much to do there. You can choose input amps to the batteries 25 to 100 amps. I leave it on 100 Amps that seems to be the default. Works fine. I turn the inverter on as needed as it uses power just idling. If you are hooked to shore power there is no need for the inverter same with generator power as the inverter will be overridden anytime 120v power is detected. If you are dry camping and don't need the inverter I turn mine off to conserve power. If the wife is watching tv on the inverter I let it go until the batteries reach 11.9 volts and then start the generator. When the batteries are full I shut the generator down and the inverter takes over again automatically as long as it was left on. I'm going to install an auto generator start next as we dry camp a lot, I won't need to monitor the batteries the auto start will do it for me and start the generator at a preset battery level. If you need 120v while driving the inverter will be fine left on because the alternator is continuously charging the batteries.
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Old 07-05-2016, 02:14 AM   #7
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If your inverter is not running the refrigerator and you are not doing the Dry Camping thing, then you don't even need to turn it on. I've turned mine on only to see if works, it does not run the fridge but supplies power to the Bedroom and living room TV.
As others have stated, if you are on Shore Power then you don' need it, if you are running the generator then you don't need it. It's for dry camping unless you have a normal house refrigerator then it runs the fridge until you connect to Shore power or run the generator.
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Old 07-07-2016, 08:05 PM   #8
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Time for new battery's. You will get the volt readings but the amps will red very high ti indicate a shorted cell. I had one like that and pulled it out and it was so hot it scared the crap out of me. Stayed hot for 8 hours and still read 12.6 volts!
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