Hiyo! new 370 owner with electrical woes.

[romakdaddy]

ok here's the story..im now the proud owner of an 89 370 airstream with a onan genset and trace u2512 inverter. I just replaced all the batteries and cant fire up the generator until I flush the stale gas out and replace some rotted fuel lines. My biggest concern is it will run AC power off the inverter on batteries but when you plug it in all I get is a click every 10/15 sec coming from the inverter. I'm assuming there's either a short somewhere or something's got too big of a load for the inverter but I'm confused why it will run fine off batteries and not on shore power.is there a switch I need to flip or is it all automatic? I'm still learning how all these systems work so ill take any advice or instructions you have to offer. I posted this issue in another section but have gotten no responses so I thought id try here. Plus I removed the breaker covers and holy cow what a mess...electrical tape everywhere and one of the breakers wasn't even hooked up anymore. I do have basic understanding of household wiring as I've wired 2 houses completely from service to outlets but the whole switchover thing is like magic to me...I did notice a relay in the bottom panel so I'm dying to get this old girl working again.

[DaveFL]

Never heard of running a/c of batteries, way too much current draw for too long, unless the battery bank is 6x8d. When a/c runs off shore power it is using about 20 amps, so off batteries it is 10x.
Household wiring doesn't have batteries in the mix, or a delay switch which the generator has. I just hooked up a new 50 amp transfer switch and it also has a delay built in, so when you are plugged in and decide to go to generator it doesn't come on until 30 seconds later, and it has enough sense to not come on if it senses a miss wired circuit.
Take your pick, too much power required of batteries, or delayed, or that breaker out of circuit has other problems in the wiring.

Pictures might help but if you check the schematic from AS you should be able to see how originally it was wired.

Good luck on your new project, looks like a great unit.

[romakdaddy]

oh you slightly misunderstood I should have put it differently...by ac I mean 110v.i can get 110v on batteries but not on shore power. Ill get some pics of the panel later today.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by romakdaddy

ok here's the story..im now the proud owner of an 89 370 airstream with a onan genset and trace u2512 inverter. I just replaced all the batteries and cant fire up the generator until I flush the stale gas out and replace some rotted fuel lines. My biggest concern is it will run AC power off the inverter on batteries but when you plug it in all I get is a click every 10/15 sec coming from the inverter. I'm assuming there's either a short somewhere or something's got too big of a load for the inverter but I'm confused why it will run fine off batteries and not on shore power.is there a switch I need to flip or is it all automatic? I'm still learning how all these systems work so ill take any advice or instructions you have to offer. I posted this issue in another section but have gotten no responses so I thought id try here. Plus I removed the breaker covers and holy cow what a mess...electrical tape everywhere and one of the breakers wasn't even hooked up anymore. I do have basic understanding of household wiring as I've wired 2 houses completely from service to outlets but the whole switchover thing is like magic to me...I did notice a relay in the bottom panel so I'm dying to get this old girl working again.

'dad,

Your Trace inverter should contain an internal transfer switch that will perform 2 functions: (and possibly 3)

First, it will allow 120VAC to pass thru the inverter into the 'inverter designated' AC circuits in the coach when either shore power or generator power is present.

Second, when no external 120VAC is present and the 'invert' switch is on, the transfer switch changes position to allow the inverter to pull 12VDC from the batteries, send it thru the FET board and transformer and produce 120VAC for the designated 'inverter circuits'. Note, this does NOT power the entire coach.

If your inverter is also a 'charger', then when on shore or generator power, it will be responsible for producing '12VDC' in varying voltage and amperages to properly charge your batteries.

This is the full function of the an inverter/charger.

If you can get 120VAC into some circuits from the inverter when NOT connected to shore power but get nothing when you ARE connected to shore power, then the problem generally lies with the internal transfer switch in the inverter. Repairs are usually not a problem........ so long as the required parts are available.

Trace is no longer in business, having been absorbed by the Xanterx megalith, so I would seriously doubt that parts are available as Xantrex no longer supports older Trace models. It is worth a shot, though.

There also may be other issues with your wiring, including but not limited to the coach's transfer switch (a different animal from the one IN the inverter) and it's ability to pass 120VAC power into the coach. This would seriously effect the inverter's function as well.

You have a bit of electrical trouble shooting to do......... Hope you're good with a multi meter...............

[DaveFL]

Originally Posted by romakdaddy

oh you slightly misunderstood I should have put it differently...by ac I mean 110v.i can get 110v on batteries but not on shore power. Ill get some pics of the panel later today.

Once you show power is getting to the input of the system, without the inverter then using lewster's good directions.

Follow ac 120v into cable and then into input box, transfer switch and out to inverter or breaker box.

You will have to go where signage will tell you to stop no non electrical experts to explore the working of sophisticated electrical switches. If you decide to use a meter to test remember with an inverter connected you will have 120 v a/c from any battery source, plus shorepower. Running right it should connect house bank, shore power, or solar to the house system.
Yes, solar will get inverted! Best bet is disconnect all batteries and solar.

Schematic important to do the tracing of system, I had the most difficulty trying to find physical 12v wire locations I could find on the schematic but not in chassis wiring due to cables bundles. 120v. much easier but still need a good meter to test. Just remember to use an insulated probe with one hand, and don't touch anything with the other.


Just keep in mind schematic will show original, not what previous owners have done. On mine schematic showed genset getting power from start battery while PO had moved to house bank.

[romakdaddy]

I got the pics of the panel today so here's what I'm dealing with...

[DaveFL]

Wow, definitely wasn't put together for anybody just casually looking at it to be able to tell where power is going. best guess would be the solenoid transfer switch was there to separate the genset from the shore power. The inverter is a charger and inverts power for some outlets, so they probably wired it back to a breaker or two not in the shore or genset power loop. When inverter is on you, should be able to identify outlets that work(plug in a portable light) That might be the breaker you mention as not connect to the rest.
The comparing of your house wiring experience to this box is that the 12v is in the box, and you have more than one input source at least two maybe three.

[romakdaddy]

24 years of patching and switching made a mess in there.

[romakdaddy]

quick update...I ran heavier wire from the house to the rv and eureka! all works normal now...I guess 150 feet of drop cord isn't enough ran 2 lengths of 125 foot 10-2 romex and a double outlet generator cord all hooked to a 30 amp breaker on the house.I still plan on reorganizing the panel boxes though.