Inverter Issues & Answering The Question(s) You Ask the Most.
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- čas přidán 22. 06. 2024
- My inverter has decided to run at a higher than usual wattage and is now tripping an alarm when trying to run heavier loads. Also, I answer questions that were asked ALOT in last weeks video.
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Just to be safe, if I were you, I would not use that inverter, I would disconnect it, replace it with a new one. It's not worth your safety, and you could have that old one fixed, possibly, and keep it as a spare. You should always have two inverters. You know the old saying, two is one, one is none.❤
That critter that you showed chewing on the wood is called a bald face hornet. If you've ever seen the beehives hanging up in the trees about the size of a basketball or even bigger, that's what they make and they are pretty vicious.
Yikes!
They are pure evil they like to go and sting people in the face....
Yupper!! And they are bad news too, mean little buggers. Had some of those in some 100 year old elms and oaks when i lived in Wallah Wallah Washington. These trees were 100 footers, and those wasps are mean as hell, they get big too, bad juju!! Do something to annoy them and it is game on baby, they get missile lock and don't stop.
Yes, and their stings really hurt! Don't mess with those!!
Word of advice. That Damp Rid stuff is good but whatever you do, don't ever spill it indoors once it has collected all the water. It makes a horrible mess and is extremely difficult to clean up! I made the mistake of having some in my bedroom refrigerator door and dropped it when taking it out. Took me several hours to clean and I was still trying to scrub that stuff off of everything it touched for days.
If the inverter can't handle the load(s) it used to it is dying. It is probably mis-reporting the load but you still might want to find out what the phantom load is in the trailer even though it probably isn't 140 watts. Bad enough aninverter has a built in running loss at idle you don't want small loads in the trailer either if you can help it.
The first $100,000.00 is the hardest. :-)
The issue with the rv is power converter for the unit is going bad,Need to rip it out and put a breaker panel and a seperate fuse panel ince your basicly off grid set up. Those converter in the rv is a major power hog and they generate a ton of heat. If you dont want to rip out the unit run a few exstention cords and ditch the camper breaker system since it is going wonky. This is why i like power station that have a built in battery and all the tech to charge ,all you have to do is plug in a solar panel and the loads.
Simpler is better sometimes for sure
Turn each breaker on individually with the others off (minus the main breaker) to isolate the bad circuit on your trailer.
I just did it. Unfortunately, I guess the inverter is already damaged since it still couldn't handle my hair dryer only 😞
@@gypsyjenna That sucks! Nothing lasts forever though these days. Make sure you verify the integrity of the trailer wiring before replacing your inverter - would hate to another one up in smoke if there is a short somewhere. Hi from Saskatoon!
Try hair dryer plugged direct to inverter. Bypass camper wiring.
@fdx997 yup, I did that in the video 👍
@@gypsyjenna then the next thing I would check would be the wiring from the inverter to the batteries. It may be powering up and running small things, but like a car with a bad battery connection not enough to start the engine or in your case a dryer or microwave. And definitely check the ones on the back of the inverter. I’ve had mine come loose before.
I’m staying on family land also; but I’ll get 1/3 of it someday. I’ve already made arrangements to buy my 2 siblings out, but since we’re in California I’m starting to change my mind! Great video, just shows the struggles of being off-grid
Hi Jenna, maybe try going through each breaker to see where the draw is coming from, I am down to only having 3 breakers out of 8 on in my "house". If you are still powering your on board converter, they do a constant pull. ( That is the box under/ behind your 12 volt system, but it pulls from the regular power, and when they fail/ short they can cause all kinds of issues) . But once you figure out which breaker is pulling power it will shorten up the hunt to see where your power is going.
Try leaving your RV plugged into the inverter, and run charging to the batteries from
your generator, to make sure the inverter is getting enough power to run the load
that is causing the inverter to trip and alarm. Give it a few minutes on the generator
charging the batteries and leave the generator running for the load test of the
inverter. If the inverter still trips and alarms, the inverter is probably bad since
the inverter should have plenty of power at its input from batteries being boosted
by the generator and charger. If the inverter keeps running under the load test
that it was failing before, then one or more of your batteries is going bad or
already gone and is not providing enough current to the inverter under big loads.
its tripping because the batteries arent at a high charge rate as you mentioned, they are lead acid and 12.5v will dip into 10v when trying to pull more than 1000w which her hair dryer would be attempting to pull. If the sun were out and similar situation with having her run the generator to charge the batteries, battery would sit at a higher voltage because there would be enough amps to supplement the dip.
@rookm13 it was tripping at 12.8 too though..
@@gypsyjenna I saw 11.2 last but a transient input low power issue could
be tripping the shutdown before the visual display shows the last reading.
That hair dryer or microwave could be drawing over 100 amps into a 12V
inverter. It is like a situation where a a car battery is weak and will operate
the lights, but when you try the starter with that huge load everything dies.
@@artpatronforever
personally, i dont trust the meters that come with inverters. i have suggested(probably lost in the comments) using a shunt for a more accurate reading of her power consumption. lead acid batteries need to be measured without a load for a certain amount of time to get an approximate state of charge(using just voltage). from my understanding the actual state of charge also affects the amount of power you can draw from the battery. if the state of charge is below the optimal range (above ~80%), it’s harder to pull high loads. im assuming a lot here but im willing to bet in the past her system was able to handle the load because the sun supplemented her power consumption. if her hair dryer pulls 1200W on high then at a dip of 11V(no solar) that would require 110 amps from the battery to the inverter but those amps drop to 96amps when the battery voltage can sustain 12.5v so if her charge controller was supplying 200W, that's 15 amps going into her battery, which brings down the amps to 81. i think i have also mentioned in the past to use the lfp as her main battery and use lead acid battery to trickle charge her flp(yes a few losses from converting but worth it) along with using the higher wattage panels on the lfp because of how much faster it is to charge them vs lead acid. i think if she were to connect her inverter to the lfp battery it would not trip because they sustain a higher voltage down to like 15% state of charge but if it does, then its definitive proof that the inverter has become weak.
@@gypsyjenna
thats based on the inverter reading, right?
you can see if its accurate/fast enough by connecting a volt meter along side it.
if its not too much of a hassle can you try moving the inverter to the lfp battery and use the hair dryer again? if it is, arts suggestion on using your generator to power a battery charger will be fine for testing too.
the idea is to attempt at isolating the components to figure out what is actually wrong
weak battery cell could be bringing down your system or it can also just be your inverter failing.
Hi Jenna. If I try to suggest what is wrong with your inverter, I would only be guessing and I would likely be wrong. Instead, what I would do is check ALL my wires and connections. Check that nothing has been chewed on by a critter and everything is clean and tight. Secondly, I would charge my batteries to 100% and try the hair dryer test again. Keep in mind a fully charged battery can still be weak on the inside. Like a cell phone that says 100% when plugged in but immediately drops to 80% when disconnected. I would also check the fuse on the inverter and if you have a fuse between the inverter and the batteries, check that one too.
Bonus comment:
And if you don't mind me sounding like an older brother for a moment...(pun intended😁), I would change all the pinch clamps at the batteries to crimp on ring terminals/connectors. I have zero expectations that it will change the inverter situation. More than likely, the inverter already has ring terminals. Nevertheless, ring connectors in general are more secure, and give more contact surface area to provide better electrical conductivity. Just saying.😉
For goodness sake people! Your excess power draw is coming from your ecoflow charging through mains power which automatically kicks in when enough power is available. It's called (priority charging) disconnect your ecoflow from your mains outlet and try again. You should find a major power draw drop on your inverter immediately. How do I know? I'm offgrid and specialise in solar and I own a ecoflow unit.
Further I should add. There is nothing wrong with your inverter. The reason it's going into overload protection is because the combined power draw of ANY heat source AND your ecoflow charging is exceeding the inverters capabilities that's all... ecoflow units draw massive power when charging off mains power. Much more than even I expected them to draw when I first got mine. Whether you have them set on fast or slow charge. Not to mention at 12.3 volt running a hair dryer even direct on (high) with surge ratings extremely high will also trip your inverter because it drops your already low battery to protection mode levels.
Thank you fir the information
The ecoflow was unplugged when testing it out several times. Turns out the power draw is coming from a certain breaker in the control panel
@@gypsyjenna then my question is, what is the breaker connected to? And why is it's load constantly on all of a sudden? And thanks for replying 😊 very cool
@Truthspreader-Official it powers all outlets and I just came to realize that it is also triggering the built in battery charger. Maybe previously I didn't hear the fans or notice a load because the batteries were full. Still trying to figure it all out, electrical confuses me lol
Plug the trailer in. Turn all the breakers off. Turn the breakers on one at a time until you discover the load. Determine what's connected to that breaker. Look to see that all wired connections on that circuit are in good condition with no breaks or missing insulation.
It has to be tough to live off grid? You’re fighting to keep charged, panels working, rain, overcast, haul water, etc, etc. wishing you all the best success out there GJ. Love when yiu talk to the cats like you expect them to answer, lol
You started out in the right direction for troubleshooting the inverter when you shut off all the breakers, where you got sideways was turning them all back on at the same time. Shut them all back off and turn them on one at a time checking the inverter each time to see when you start seeing the watts appear, that will narrow it down considerably. My guess is the wattage is the fridge plus toasting inverter. Good luck...
To find your electrical problem try isolating the circuit. Shut off all your breakers then plug in your inverter, next try each breaker one at a time. when you turn the one with the problem that's when you can find the cause.!!😉
Depending on the soil and the water table depth, a shallow driven well may
provide potable water for a depth of 60 feet or less. Dig a test hole with
post hole diggers and see what the subsoil looks like down four feet and
if it is sandy and moist then you are probably in business good to go for
a driven well point 1 1/4" galvanized 5 feet long sections sledge hammered
into the ground. For a few hundred bucks you could have good water and
not need to get a well drilling company. It would beat having to haul water.
Hi Jenna, Rory 🐈⬛, Ramsey 🐈 👋🏻 Sorry to hear about the inverter issues, hope you get that sorted out my friend 🤞🏻Stay safe and take care 🙏🏻God Bless 🫶🏻Appreciate you my friends! 😊
At 6min and 40 seconds in, I felt compelled to pause the video and start typing.
Yes, you do have an inverter issue. No, I don't know EXACTLY what the whole problem with it is, but right off the bat, I spotted grime and crap on the electrical prongs of the (adaptor-reducer) that you plug into it. I'm not saying that the corrosion on the prongs is the whole problem, but it's a problem. Unplug it at your convenience, take a medium aggressive brillo pad or something like a pot scrubby pad, and clean up the prongs. If you feel adventurous, find a way to do the same with the outlet socket on the inverter too (power disconnected, of course). That sort of corrosion leads to high resistance, arcing, and eventually, possibly a fire. I don't recommend coating the prongs with any greases to prevent corrosion, it's just an outdoor location thing. Get used to it, prepare yourself to need to do this periodically to keep the corrosion at bay.
I'm not saying this is THE problem, but high resistance at connections, can fool the circuits into believing that a higher demand is taking place, and also, resistance allows less of the current to flow easily to where you want it doing the work.
As for the hornet/wasp, I would have popped that sucker with a fly swatter. It is eating your structure (albeit in very small amounts).
Now, back to the rest of the video.
I’d say squirrels may have chewed a wire 🤷♀️ Also, not know much about inverters BUT the cover being metal… it’ll draw heat could it may just be overheated? You’ll get it figured out I’ve no doubt. But do unplug when you go to bed or work 🙏 middle of the night- electrical fire in my wall took my house and some pets and my son needed skin grafts cause if getting me and some pets out. I hate electric 😡. Insurance won’t cover you if you burn only wood and candles YET making me hook Power back up or else took my house. I guess it’s mandatory to have insurance when you have a mortgage … so is why I hooked back in. Just be careful hunni while you’re figuring this out. 🙏 be safe. Very glad you have a door at the other end of your camper. I only have the one door 😕. It’s a 1964 Glendale Falcon ( she compared it to can of ham 🤷♀️🤷♀️😄 )
Stay safe in the ham can 🙃
@@gypsyjenna Having 2 inverters(one spare) or have 1 that`s over the maximum amount you use daily so it`s not struggling with any unexpected loads....
Also keeping the connections clean stops any issues like heat build up....
You have a sweet deal on the no rent situation. I use mostly DIY solar power to run this 3 bedroom 2 bath home. My electric bills average $14-$20/mo. Before my electric bills were $50-$200/mo.
Pretty sweet and small bill!
Sorry, but it looks like your inverter is done for! Since it wouldn't run your hair dryer with the trailer disconnected, it's not a sort in your wiring. That's my best guess!
Thanks for the info!
Howdy lady. So glad so many folks asked those questions and you answered because I was wondering most of questions myself but didn't want to ask because of respect to you. It also gives me a better better understanding of why you don't cut down a few more trees. About the inverter problem good luck. I drove long haul truck 13 years and went through a few a few inverters. It was always a love/hate relationship with them. You go through the process of trying to figure out what's wrong but sometimes it's just that they went to crap on you. MADDENING. So good luck. Hears my question for You today. Do you ever keep and take home to cook any of your fish? Catch and release is great. But catch & fillet is pretty good also 😂. Have a great day.
Thanks for the info ! I don't actually eat fish so I always do catch and release, haha
12.5 volts on the battery. If the batteries connected to that inverter are lead acid or agm, your voltage will drop below 12 volts with a high load on it and the inverter will shut down due to low voltage. You might consider running those high loads with your power station or off of your lithium battery.
I have one of those 3000 watt inverters, the problem with them is there not 3000 total, they are 3 - 1000 watt. Each plug is like a separate inverter but the max is usually 1000 watts, that’s how they fool you into thinking it can handle big loads but it no better than a single 1000 watt. I have both, 1k and the 3k and there not very good, not even close to the Bluetti I have which can power a full 2200 watt, even your Ecoflow has more power, so the other inverters are gathering dust. The issue with the draw, as someone said, turn each breaker on 1 at a time till you find the draw and investigate that circuit, I would say there must be a wire problem. Love your videos, if you wanted another inverter I’ve got 1 sitting here for free, I doubt I’ll ever use it again. Fellow Nova Scotian here.
Thank you, it's just odd because it always ran my hair dryer before no problem, also ran the microwave no problem, which is a lower watter microwave as well. Something to investigate for sure
Hi Jenna! Haven't watched to the end yet but I think you need to switch off the breaker that is powering your 12V converter underneath the breaker box. Since you are now running your 12V system directly off the other solar and lithium batteries, you don't want to be charging it off your lead system anymore. Let me know if that makes sense!
Edit: the 12V converter also explains the 160 watt load - it's probably a 10A converter
That makes sense to me. It would be easy to test for the mystery load. The inverter may already be a little crispy though.
I admirer your opening up on your living situation. Your family member that is letting you stay there is very generous but, that's what family does if they can. Can't wait to know what you have planned and please don't jinks yourself but, can't wait and hope you continue your station. Thank you Jenna!
Thank you! 😊
Hi Jenna, The inverter issue could be one of your batteries has a bad cell or maybe the inverter is ready to take a shit. Since we moved on to our off-grid property 3 months ago, our debt has gone to zero. of course we sold the condo in the Florida Keys for $1.6 million so that helped. We actually started construction of our new house, it's going to be a dome house built from sandbags. It will be about 1500 sq. ft. and it will be two stories. The reason we went with a dome house and sandbags, we are only 3 hours north of Panama City, Florida and the hurricanes come right up through this area. According to the architect and contractor, the way this house is being built, it should be able to withstand winds of 220 mph.
i think you may have a couple issues, 1st and foremost check and recheck as well as clean your battery connections. battery terminals. connectors and where the wires plug into the inverter. there is likely corrosion beginning. when I worked at Coveys junkyard we had a similar mastercraft inverter in the yard truck and it was VERY fussy about proper connections, as for the trailer i think there is something unknowingly on mistakenly turned on or plugged in drawing that power(it may not be functioning), try turning off all your breakers with the trailer plugged in then turn them on one by one until you find which circuit is causing the draw, then you can isolate it and trace it down to the source much easier. other thing is the inverter could also be crapping the bed, but Id try those things first before getting a new one and potentially having the same problem
I noticed when you turned the gray breaker back on your lights dimmed for a second. If you're not using anything that's 220v turn it off and see if that fixes it. There might be something from the air conditioner drawing amperage.
Thanks, the lights do dim when running generator too. I will look into this 👍
i was thinking the same thing an old dead fan or something perhaps?
So the air conditioner breaking doesn't have a draw but I determined that the main branch breaker does. This is the one that brings power to all my outlets. Sounds like it could be a maze to try and find the problem lol
Jenna,
Could your inverter be looping power into your homes converter. If so … it would be consistently forming a loop of power from the batteries… into the inverter… into the homes converter… which in turn is trying to recharge your batteries. Could also be that your refrigerator is in defrost mode ?
Check your breaker panel and switch off the breaker for your converter….
If this is not the issue… then turn off all the breakers… all at the same time , then one by one turn the breaker on until you find out which the problem child is.
I hope this helps 😁
I love the problem child 😂
Clean all your battery connections and also turn all your breakers off and turn them on one at a time to see witch circuit is causing the problem
Hey girl, life is nothing if you have no dreams, go for it. Wishing you the best from the deep south.
Thank you so much and I totally agree!! 👍
came for the off grid living.........stayed for the gypsy eyes
I'm always looking myself, good luck in the search
get rid of that inverter'
put it in the garbage! and do your best to get another'
Nice to see Mr. squerriel . I would keep a close eye on the inverter . something is going on with it ,and it might catch on fire !!! Just saying .
Sometimes when you pull a lot of amperage out of a inverter the batteries drop voltage and shut down. Or bad inverter 😢
You could also plug the rv into your ecoflow, just to test for the same result. If the ecoflow shows no power draw problem then you've isolated the problem to your faulty inverter. Seems like you've pretty much drawn that conclusion anyway, but good luck!
I stumbled upon your videos and found a fellow Nova Scotian! Very entertaining and great humor! Fun to watch.
Thank you, and I never thought of that! Good idea!
Genna, About the inverter. Turn all the breakers off as you did in the early part of this video. Plug your camper back in. Then turn on only one breaker at a time and check the inverter on each breaker, you should find your phantom load. Secondly those canadian tire inverters are ok at best, and you probably know they are a modified sine wave,
not a pure sine wave (dirtier power) Pure sine wave inverters have come down alot in price since we both started our off grid journey. you might want to think about an upgrade I use Renogy inverters now, and find them to be very good. I am running a freezer and a fridge off them. they have a Canadian website. Good luck Sunshine, always enjoy your content !!
Thank you!
Oh yah. Speaking of extra door, when you were answering questions, I spied the door. Backed up paused and tried to see how you attached the little roof. Mine is only the roof on the camper but wondering could I still somehow attach a small overhang on my door BECAUSE I have my dog EHO when out and it’s raining, I call her with door open snd she says HANG ON BE RIGHT THERE. I’d love to not get wet 😄 WAITING. 😄She has a good recall so I let her loose 95% of the time but still need to watch her- close- she’s a husky ~~ need I say more 😂😂🐾. She stays around WHEN she knows I’m watching. Do I trust her alone outside HECK NO. If she finds the opportunity to stretch her legs, it could be hours ( surrounded by woods ) once coming back and $400 later to have her de-quilled.
Totally understand the need to keep a close eye on her. Maybe a small material awning would do the trick? Or even a 10x10 tent shelter pulled up to the door for temporary use 🙂
OLP = Over Load Protection.
I noticed the battery voltage displayed is 12.4VDC.
A fully charged battery, off charge, should be 12.6 minimum.
The lower the battery voltage, the more current is required to drive the inverter.
You may need a new or larger inverter, more battery capacity, and PV panels.
The 170 watts may be the trailer’s built in battery charger.
Gotcha. It doesn't seem to have a built in charger and it never ran at that before with no load on it
@@gypsyjenna Good catch ;-)
30Amp RV load centers typically have an AC/DC converter built-in, so to power both the 120Vac and the 12Vdc loads.
Your 30A Plug that goes into the inverter leads into a 30Amp RV load center. The load center is inside the trailer and is what has the circuit breakers in it; typically it should have Fuses in it too.
Cheers!
Hi Jenna, you definitely have a built in RV charger because when you plug the trailer into the generator your ceiling lights flicker and then stay powered on until you shut of the generator, then they flicker again and are now powered by the 12V battery bank.
Like others have mentioned, turn off one breaker at a time, if the lights flicker when you turn off the breaker for the RV charger you have found your parasitic load.
Leave that breaker off when the RV plug is inserted into the outdoor inverter.
@@carld3184 Also, if the RV internal 12 volt battery is tired, it may be pulling constantly and adding to the condition.
Try checking that battery too ;-)
@carld3184 I think the problem is the breaker happens to be the one that powers all my outlets which I need to plug in and power my fridge off the inverter. I don't know where to disconnect the built in batter RV charger
The big plug to the trailer is rather corroded. It's probably not the cause of this problem, but might as well eliminate it by cleaning it. I have a can of QD (for Quick Drying) CRC Electronic Cleaner: lasts forever and has solved many problems with poor electrical contacts.
Hi Jenna hope the problem with your inventory get solved for you and enjoyed your video you make me laugh some times every one needs a chuckle now and then thank you
I learned something new about the wasp today, plus lots of solar information. As always, worth the watch!
Love the video! I get about 3-4 weeks with those damprid bags when they're hanging in my basement. They do help a ton. As always, looking forward to more great videos!
Awesome! I have to remember to check mine, haha
You got it right a place away from everyone to much development here, can't do you want without a permit even to put a water heater in cray cray. Cabin in the woods yup
My hat is off to you!! You are making the decisions to move forward in life a rare quality today!
Also, shut off all the breakers. Turn one on at a time and see which 1 pulls the most.
Apparently the "all purpose branch" one does and that is what gives power to all of my outlets
If you have a converter breaker shut it off
plug it back in to ur trailer and turn off all breakers, then turn each one on by itsself to figure out what circuit is using the 170 watts
hope inverter problem solved
hope not 4 weeks to find out how you made out
You are fortunate to have the setup you have but you do put your energy into it
be careful around the hornet and maybe check your area close to trailer and out building for nest
😗
Jenna , does your generator have a watt meter ? If so you could compare that to what your inverter is displaying. It may be the inverter that has gone bad . another thing you can do is turn all your breakers off , then turn them back on one at a time . while checking the inverter display. I don't think it is a short , that would kick your inverter right away , also your generator would fault . Hope that helps .
Thank you
To test your inverter take the hairdryer outside and plug it directly into both outlets on the inverter.
If neither outlet can successfully power up the hairdryer then we have to assume that the inverter is failing because you mentioned that originally that inverter had no problems with that hairdryer.
From many of the other comments, it could be one or all three things: A bad breaker, a faulty inverter or the inverter is getting too hot. Put a thermometer in the inverter box to see what the temp is in there. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing and have a great day.
Thanks Moses!
Love your go get em attitude. I am full time rving for basically the same reasons as you. Right now at my site I have electric and water. I'm learning, through you to go completely off grid, your troubles are my benefit, lol. Keep up the good work. I look forward to your posts, highlight of my weekend
Awe, thanks very much and glad to hear it! Learn from my mistakes, I don't mind that at all! 😄
Your very welcome.
Good post Jenna. Hope you are able to figure out the
power converter problem. Take care.
Thats exactly how i thought of it i am staying in my car until i can afford property then save and buy a camper cause at the end of the day renting only means you will never own it and also to me throwing money away love the videos 👍 side note my grandmother had 10 anchors for all family members until my uncle stole it under her then got it taken from all of us cause he grew 1000 Marijuana plants and was raided and lost it
I'm sorry to hear that, keep on keeping on and I hope things work out for you and you find your land ❤️
@gypsyjenna thank you but I must say when I do get property I hope I am as proactive as you cause to me watching you do all that makes me love the way you live problem solving and improving your living condition 👍
Long before my aging Mom died all of us discussed what would happen with her home on her passing. We all agreed that if was to be a family home where any of us siblings could live should the need arise, but it would be in one siblings name due to legal technicalities. I'll give you a free guess of what happened once Mom passed and the Deed was signed over. Which is why I now live in a camper on my own because I have no other options.
@P_RO_ I am so sorry. That seems to happen alot and death can often separate families due to greed.
@P_RO_ I'm sorry to hear that too, and I hope the best for you, and what makes it worse is that it's family and I would think that they woukd honor the parent's and or grandparents wishes be safe
Unplug things in the trailer one at a time then look at the inverter display. That's how you isolate the cause of that 170 display. You may still have to address battery issues but the only way to troubleshoot is to take one thing at a time.
I'm always impressed by your determination.
Thank you 🙂
Your doing pretty well Jenna good for you.....lm sure your on the up and up when it comes to YT too. Go get it gurl. xx ❤️
Start turning 1 breaker off at a time see if the drain is on one of them. Try to narrow it down
You can use lump charcoal instead of damp rid. It's much cheaper, imo.
Cool, I didn't know that, thanks!
I live on family property also. It is a dream come true. The struggle is real though. Solar is spotty in the PNW.
Genna - Voltage X Amperage = your power ( Watts ) plug in your RV plug to the Inverter again , turn your breakers on one at a time and write down the watts showing on the Inverter , do this for every breaker separately and comtinue to write the Watts showing . I feel its more than likely your RV fridge useing alot of power ,,,, in any case leave them all off . Turn on only the breaker you need to use at that time of use , when done using that item turn it off again .. Theres something using that 170 ish Watts thats killing your Batteries thus why your batties are dead all the time , > Eliminate tThe Big Power Draw > Elimates Dead Batteries . Hope this Helps Yoy Bill
Thanks Bill
@@gypsyjenna Hope it works for you :)
The inverter isn't capable of handling the starting current either that or the voltage drop from the battery to inverter due to undersized wiring (edit) the 170 watts running when you have the camper plugged in is the charge converter for the 12v accessories in the camper as well as charging the battery so the battery is trying to charge itself from itself
Which cat is more of an electrician, get that one to fix the inverter, you are paying for cat management so use it. Thank you for another great video.
Overload Protection Indicator, is an error code that appears on some power inverters to indicate that the inverter is overloaded or has experienced a short circuit and will shut down for protection. To restore normal operation, you can try these steps:
Disconnect the excessive load
Turn the unit off and on again using the power button
Hi Jenna
Clean all DC and AC connection, the Ac plug that connects to the trailer looked coroaded sand all copper aluminum what ever connects.
And then look up The Magnum 2812 inverter my first has a Mastercratf 3000 watt return the same day all the best.
I'm all of grid 😅
On the inverter, I have several around here doing different things. Many I only use in a pinch. I will have to say that I agree with what some others have said. I think the inverter is on its last leg and is dying. I had a 2500 watt unit out in my barn for years that I ran everything off of that exhibited the same symptoms before it died. The barn runs on solar and deep cycle batteries with a charge controller. A mini setup of what you have. One other possibility is your batteries or your battery connections are not good. I have seen some inverters display the same OLP message when the input (battery voltage) falls below a certain point.
In a similar situation here, where an old friend lets me stay on the property free, but being on-grid I have to pay half the power bill. Great free well water but I have to get it down here in jugs. Ain't complaining but if something happens to my friend I may be forced to move, and as of now I have nowhere else to go that I can afford. Having lost the cheap rentals I had previously lived in several times through no fault of my own, this arrangement isn't much different but my friend will be here till death so I should be good for a long time to come.
For those wanting to follow this path too before you lay out one dime for anything you need to check legalities; in the US most land is 'zoned' and you can't live in a camper on a lot of it. There may also be restrictions for living in a camper anywhere except at an RY park in that location. RV parks ain't cheap and often cost as much as renting a small home without the advantages of someone else doing repairs and maintenance. My situation here is semi-legal; no direct prohibitions on me and my camper being here but no permanent utility hookups can be legally made, and being off-grid without water and sewer hookups raises some potential code issues.I know seasonal residence in a camper is allowed but maybe not year-round. I have some work-arounds which should alleviate any of those problems but I keep the lowest of profiles so hopefully those problems won't arise. Don't make the mistake of buying a camper first- find out everything you need to know then make a plan before spending one dime.
On the inverter or any power issue, the first thing is to check all the connected wiring. Not just visual but physical testing all connections and either amperage capacity or out-of-circuit resistance testing in needed. Wiggle wires and connections while you're doing that. This is where most power problems occur. Once you're sure that's good hook up something else to power the inverter which you are certain has more than enough capacity- in your case the new Lithium batter fully charged will be perfect. Disconnect the output side of the inverter and test a high load tied in to it directly; that will confirm the inverter's condition. If it's good then reconnect with all breakers off and everything unplugged / turned off; you should see zero current flow. Flip one circuit at a time to isolate the hidden draw. I'll bet when you energize the circuit which runs the trailer 120V to 12VDC converter / battery charger you'll find that is the problem. At this age it's likely to have issues- especially if you're charging a battery off of it. Since you have an off-grid system just tap your 12VDC lighting into one of your 12V batteries being charged by solar and disconnect the rest, tying the 120V output stuff into your inverter directly.
Another issue you may be having is trying to use those old AGM batteries. They may seem OK on output voltage but have enough internal resistance to charging that they are overloading their charging system. Their internal resistance may be enough to screw with the inverter's programming logic, which necessarily has limits to what it can do in a sub-optimum situation. Things which are barely in spec need to be addressed anyway because they will be out-of-spec from wear soon. Batteries are the big 'wear item' in off-grid power and they all wear out in time. Panels wear too but very slowly and are not going to be part of this problem.
Always check for tech support options; the better inverter companies will have that to some degree and if it isn't enough, there are several very competent solar power forums with excellent peer-support and knowledge. I'm no expert but it seems that the usual recommendations now is to run a 24V or 48V single system with a large enough efficient inverter to handle all your load, using LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries. Piece-meal systems seem to have more problems as nothing is really designed to be used that way. Its not the cheapest way for up-front costs but pays handsomely in the long run.
ThankS for all your knowledge and info!
Best of luck with your 'plan' cheers!
Cheers!
I think maybe your inverter is on its way out😮
🙁
Thank you for your post... I enjoy
OLP means Over Load Protection. Hairdryers and microwaves and devices with a motor, take a hugh surge current when they start up, not every inverter likes that.
When a motor starts from zero, it acts like a dead short for a short periode of time. Grtz
microwaves and hair dryers are resistive loads, not inductive
@@rookm13 learn your homework. A microwave (old generation) contains a big transformer, and a transformer is a inductive load. A hairdryer is a resistive (heating element) AND inductive (motor) load. Both devices draw a surge current, and if one of these devices is powered on, at peak value of the sine wave, the surge current is the highest.
Always love your videos. Your a lucky girl to live this way
Thank you 😊
You got to trip off one breaker at a time to find the power hog.
Hi Jenna, love when yo give updates on your daily living and what it means to live off grid. Love your story of how you got your spot to live on, very envious. ❤🍁
Thank you, Christina 🙂
Hi Jenna, I hope the inverter issue is an easy fix. If you decide, try to pull up the user manual for it online and keyword search olp (overload protection) to see if there are any troubleshooting steps recommended by the manufacturer. I am no expert in those, but if it has any fuses, I would check them to see if they are burnt out. Some people go as far as to take those units apart to see if there are any replacable parts that fried, but its an extreme shock/death risk. At that point its probably best to just buy a new one. Be careful and best wishes! 🤟🍻
Edit/add on. You may have already tried this, but some inverters also have a reset sequence that usually requires you to disconnect the battery and holding down the power button for 20 seconds. Your unit may vary. Hope this helps! ✌️
I think what your doing is amazing girl.
Thank you!
You have the most interesting problems, lol. I'm definitely wanting to know what's wrong with the electric, keep us informed. Something tells me that one day your own property is going to sit between a stream and a lake and they will be totally stocked with fish! Maybe even a brewery on another side :) Thanks GJ, Love your vids
That sounds like a fabulous place to live! Haha
Another Super Vid. Love your work.
I hope your plan and dream and goal all come true! Wishing u all the best! 🌻
Thank you 😊
OLp only has four digits. It should translate to GULP. Put the cats in the car and sit at the end of the driveway. If there is no smoke go back and prod it with a long stick. Usually works 😂😂😂
Kidding. Nice video 👍👍
😅😂
You answered the Question I had in my Head but didn’t ask. Thank You, I was curious because I want to live off Grid like you do but Im in California so it would possibly be here anyway take it easy 🤘🏼
Love your channel! Have you thought about a tiny house on wheels? I have lived in mine for 9 years and love it! I had mine built for my needs and it has been great. I live 35 miles southwest of Seattle....we have hot and cold weather and I'm cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I have never regretted my decision.
Tiny Homes are great! All you need, eh!?
Try turning off your breakers one of the time and see each time whether anything changes
Leave RV plugged in and turn off breakers one at at time. Check inverter every time you turn one off. This will tell you which circuit is drawing so much power. I suspect an appliance inside
Thank you
@@gypsyjenna You're welcome! Please let us know what you find out!
Hi I think you should get rid of that mono sinewave inverter and get a pure sine wave inverter it will run cooler and last longer and you can run your sensitive appliances because if you plug a tv to that thing it will burn up the tv.
Hi Jenna ... I have one of those inverters it's old tech and mine did the same thing. Modified sine wave really can't handle loads like fridge microwave ect. Just get a reliable brand 12v pure sine wave inverter and be done with it . I use them and I have a few videos about them. Your inverter is showing one side of the diodes has one failed
Thank you for the info. I got that inverter as a gift so figured I would use it until it crapped out and apparently here we are lol
@gypsyjenna actually they are quite tough but they can't handle loads such as microwave or fridge kills the diodes.
The reliable electric inverter is a great price and will last you for years a small 2000w will do you just fine and run everything without issues
I really admire your determination to live off grid and get yourself out of debt. You make it look quite comfortable, your set up is quite cozy. You are an inspiration to many who are struggling to live comfortably without accumulating massive debt.
Thank you so much 😊
@@gypsyjennahow great was the feeling to be debt free?
Amazing! I waited years to feel it and it was as great as I imagined. Knowing you owe nothing is spectacular and felt like a weight was lifted!
Maybe your family would allow you to purchase your plot that you are on. Still keeping it in the family that way. However, still extremely kind and you are a lucky Gypsy Jenna, Ramsey and Rory...Good luck to all 3 of you!
Thank you so much!
Okay, an inverter takes DC (direct current) from the battery and chops it up into a square wave that is smoothed into a sine wave (AC or alternating current). The circuit that creates this sine wave uses a bank of transistors in parallel so they share the work. It's possible some of those transistors may have failed. The inverter might still work but at a lower power level. It may be time to look into a larger inverter. However, there may be a repair shop that works on those inverters. You are smart so I know you'll figure it out. 🍻
Thank you 🍻
I don't consider you a mooch if someone ask you and you accept a generous offer that's taking advantage of a good situation not trying to screw someone else something anyway love the video and I hope things work out some of these comments sound like some of them may know what you're talking about I have no clue
I would check your battery side voltage when you turn on a larger load like the microwave or dryer. Chances are it's dropping too low and sagging the AC side too. When you tested your hairdryer alone it looks like it dropped to 11.2, that's too low. That or you have a bad inverter. Getting voltages from the DC and AC side will tell you more of the story.
Living the dream ✨️ Sending love and light 🫶
I enjoyed the video Jenna.
It's a beautiful spot Jenna. And hopefully, one day I can make my way back into Canada. Don't jinx it, lol.
Hi Jenna. Nice one best of luck to you. Stay safe and see you in the next one 🫶👍🇬🇧
Well hello it's your regular visitor from oakville Ontario Canada thanks for sharing this video always appreciate it, i have never lived off the grid but this episode was very informative and an 👁 opener
Hi Stephen, I visited Oakville once! Enjoyed my time there!
I have a 3000 watt inverter. I baby it to no more than 800 watts draw. Once in a while I'll take it up to 1400 watts to warm up something in the microwave.
It's normal for an inverter to draw 17 watts during idle. 175 watts is not normal. Something internally has failed. It's probably time to replace it with a 5000 watt inverter. You can use it at higher watts without being too cautious.