Renogy 3000W 12V Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger w/ LCD Display - FAIL

[Hrkdrivr]

2024 Paradigm 395DS, delivered last August. Upgraded solar.

The inverter is dead. LCD panel blank. Circuit breakers on the inverter seem to be in. I can't find any blown fuses or tripped breakers in the coach.

Batteries are charging off shore power. DC powered items in coach are working.

Shore AC power is not getting through the inverter, so no AC power in the coach.

Battery terminal voltage across the inverter iputs reads zero. Battery voltages are good at 13+.

From what I've found online I think it's smoked.

Doesn anyone have any advice? I've about had it with this unit.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Have you contacted Renogy? I understand the inverter came in the Alliance RV, but it is an off the shelf electronic part...that Alliance had no part in building. Electronics fail. Let us know what Renogy says about the problem.

 

[BryanValRox]

2024 Paradigm 395DS, delivered last August. Upgraded solar.

The inverter is dead. LCD panel blank. Circuit breakers on the inverter seem to be in. I can't find any blown fuses or tripped breakers in the coach.

Batteries are charging off shore power. DC powered items in coach are working.

Shore AC power is not getting through the inverter, so no AC power in the coach.

Battery terminal voltage across the inverter iputs reads zero. Battery voltages are good at 13+.

From what I've found online I think it's smoked.

Doesn anyone have any advice? I've about had it with this unit.

Hello folks, as I understand your post, the key statement is that you have no voltage across the battery inverter terminals, but your battery voltage is good.
This would support that you are missing power or ground between the batteries and the inverter.
Without a battery feed to the inverter, obviously it will be dead and have no output.
Also, don’t forget that your would have a transfer switch involved to direct current to the coach from either shore or inverter power.
I would suggest investigating your supply from the battery’s to the inverter if your voltage is missing. This should be easy to trace, 2 fairly large wires from the inverter back to the batteries.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Also, don’t forget that your would have a transfer switch involved to direct current to the coach from either shore or inverter power.

Note...some inverters (like my Victron Multiplus-II) has the transfer switch built in, so there is no external TS in the system.

 

[BryanValRox]

Note...some inverters (like my Victron Multiplus-II) has the transfer switch built in, so there is no external TS in the system.

Jim, agree one hundred percent, was just making the comment that there are other components involved in the system that would prevent power passing to the outlets.
In this case, it feels like the problem is with inverter supply(power/ground) given the statement of no voltage at the inverter input terminals. In either case regrading the transfer switch, this would be down stream in the circuit as the problem is described. As you know, battery power is key, without it the system doesn’t work.
I do not have a super solar set up, but have to make the assumption that the inverter circuit is fused between it and the battery for safety reasons.
I guess this is yet another case where published wiring diagrams would results in a self help resource that would be readily available to the customer.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Thanks for the replies. It was getting dark as I was investigating. I'll trace connections from the batteries to the inverter. It's set up with isolation switches for both the batteries and the solar setup, though I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what they isolate.

Are there potentially any fuses between the batteries and the inverter input?

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Have you contacted Renogy? I understand the inverter came in the Alliance RV, but it is an off the shelf electronic part...that Alliance had no part in building. Electronics fail. Let us know what Renogy says about the problem.

You're right; I posted in frustration. I enjoy DIY and am pretty handy with tools, but this coach has been a challenge from day 1. I'll investigate further and call Renogy and report back.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Jim, agree one hundred percent, was just making the comment that there are other components involved in the system that would prevent power passing to the outlets.
In this case, it feels like the problem is with inverter supply(power/ground) given the statement of no voltage at the inverter input terminals. In either case regrading the transfer switch, this would be down stream in the circuit as the problem is described. As you know, battery power is key, without it the system doesn’t work.
I do not have a super solar set up, but have to make the assumption that the inverter circuit is fused between it and the battery for safety reasons.
I guess this is yet another case where published wiring diagrams would results in a self help resource that would be readily available to the customer.

Yes please, a thousand times this!!!

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Are there potentially any fuses between the batteries and the inverter input?

Yes...there needs to be at least a 300amp inline fuse for a 2000w inverter or 400amp inline fuse for a 3000w inverter.

Here is a video from Alliance, talking about the solar package and when/where to check for loss of power or blown fuses

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Yes...there needs to be at least a 300amp inline fuse for a 2000w inverter or 400amp inline fuse for a 3000w inverter.

Here is a video from Alliance, talking about the solar package and when/where to check for loss of power or blown fuses

Great video, thanks. Are these the inline fuses?

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Great video, thanks. Are these the inline fuses?

Yep...those are the fuses. Grab a volt meter and see if voltage is the same on both side of each fuse.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Per Renogy tech line, I removed shore power and removed the DC/battery inputs from the inverter. Then I used jumper cables to connect the three batteries (in parallel) to the DC input poles on the inverter. Switch on or off, no response from inverter, and 14V across the poles. I sent videos to Renogy and am waiting for a call back.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Per Renogy tech line, I removed shore power and removed the DC/battery inputs from the inverter. Then I used jumper cables to connect the three batteries (in parallel) to the DC input poles on the inverter. Switch on or off, no response from inverter, and 14V across the poles. I sent videos to Renogy and am waiting for a call back.

Great trouble shooting....sure seems like a dead Renogy inverter.

 

[RockDr896]

Mine died within the first year as well. You can remove the the in and out power and wire nut them together, in order to by-pass the inverter. That is what I was told when mine quit. It was actually in one of their empowerment videos and thankfully I remembered something about a by-pass option. Otherwise, the Alliance tech would have let me hang up the phone and suffer!

 

[BryanValRox]

Great trouble shooting....sure seems like a dead Renogy inverter.

It sure does, sound like a bad unit. One other check you could make as a Hail Mary, Have you tried unplugging the remote switch input(if you have one) and run thru the same jumper cable exercise, while cycling the unit based on off switch? Your troubleshooting is sound from what I can tell, but I have to wonder about the remote switch if it hasn’t been ruled out.

Also forgot to ask, what did you find as the cause of no voltage from the batteries on the OEM wiring? You indicated you had no battery voltage to the unit in your original posts.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Per Renogy tech line, I removed shore power and removed the DC/battery inputs from the inverter. Then I used jumper cables to connect the three batteries (in parallel) to the DC input poles on the inverter. Switch on or off, no response from inverter, and 14V across the poles. I sent videos to Renogy and am waiting for a call back.

Upon further review, I didn’t have good contact from the jumper cable to the DC input posts on the inverter. It’s a tight fit to get the jumper connectors onto the poles without touching anything else metal, and to get the multimeter probes in place too. After messing with it a bit more I got the inverter to wake up with a low battery voltage warning. That warning isn’t so surprising as I’d been messing with them for a few hours and not on a charge.

That brought me back to zero volts across the poles when everything was as it started. I pulled the inline fuses. One is a 60A and one is a 300A. The 300A fuse ohmed out bad, no continuity, etc. They’re marine rated battery fuses and nobody has any within a 200 mile radius of me, including electrical supply houses and camper stores. If anyone is looking, I found Summit Racing has the best prices on the fuses and overnight shipping. Hopefully this is the solution.

Grumpy rant: the nuts securing the fuses were so loose I could remove them without a tool. Yes, things loosen with travel, but they had no washers of any kind installed. Viewing the MRBFs products online, it looks like they come with split washers.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

It sure does, sound like a bad unit. One other check you could make as a Hail Mary, Have you tried unplugging the remote switch input(if you have one) and run thru the same jumper cable exercise, while cycling the unit based on off switch? Your troubleshooting is sound from what I can tell, but I have to wonder about the remote switch if it hasn’t been ruled out.

Also forgot to ask, what did you find as the cause of no voltage from the batteries on the OEM wiring? You indicated you had no battery voltage to the unit in your original posts.

I think the 300A fuse is the culprit.

 

[Hrkdrivr]

Mine died within the first year as well. You can remove the the in and out power and wire nut them together, in order to by-pass the inverter. That is what I was told when mine quit. It was actually in one of their empowerment videos and thankfully I remembered something about a by-pass option. Otherwise, the Alliance tech would have let me hang up the phone and suffer!

Thanks. I learned this in the video Jim included above. It would be nice if the inverter had a mechanical switch to route the shore power AC on to the rest of the system in the event of an inverter failure.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

I think the 300A fuse is the culprit.

While doing all this work, I would HIGHLY recommend cleaning up the wire mess from Alliance and use a proper 400 amp busbar set and a Class T 400 amp fuse

 

[BryanValRox]

I think the 300A fuse is the culprit.

Great to hear your reset with the troubleshooting process brought you back to your original no voltage observation.
Congratulations on finding the blown fuse and better yet the likely root cause of your issue with the loose nuts that you reported.
I also found numerous loose nut on the bus bars on our 310 RL upon taking delivery.
Your findings support the reason for the blown fuse that you found and ultimately no output from the inverter.
It would make sense that tightening your connections and replacing the fuse would resolve your issue.
If this is a new unit under warranty, I would reach out to Alliance,@Bill Martin and request some sort of compensation for your troubles.
Congratulations on your findings and effort!