[whited44]

New guy here again. Coach #454.  I have an outback inverter in it.  It usually shows some time of AC coach load on it when it’s plugged into shore power.  My question is why??  
Also I went to make coffee this morning and the volt gauge in the inverter went from 13.5 down to the lbco at 12.5 and started charging again..  if it’s on shore power why would it be acting this way??  
I’ll include pics of the inverter readout and main gauge panel
I’ve tested the batteries (house and chassis) with the meter and the charger seems to be charging them and the readout at the inverter panel seems to be correct

[smagown]

May be the battery charger in the Outback?

[Richard]

Dennis

Are the two LEDs in the last photo Red? Indicating an issue?

As far as amperage pull when on shore power something could be on. The two likely sources would be the water heater or the inverter itself trying to charge the batteries. Go to the AC breaker box and turn off the breakers one at a time until the amp draw goes away to narrow the search.

[TJ Clark]

I have the same inverter. It does the same thing. I think it inverts the DC always. I don't think it has passthrough capabilities at all.

My is flaky in that when shore power (gen set or grid power) it will turn off the inverter and restart the inverter constantly. The charge side is not having any issues.

That leads me to think the inverter side and the charge side have very little communication with each other. JMHO

I have a new inverter Victron to replace the Outback.

[whited44]

I have the same inverter. It does the same thing. I think it inverts the DC always. I don't think it has passthrough capabilities at all.

My is flaky in that when shore power (gen set or grid power) it will turn off the inverter and restart the inverter constantly. The charge side is not having any issues.

That leads me to think the inverter side and the charge side have very little communication with each other. JMHO

I have a new inverter Victron to replace the Outback.

it says that it has a pass thru in the book.  The red light that is on was an old over temp error that is stored in the system that I have to go into the advanced settings to remove. 

[whited44]

So here's an update. Inverter seems to be working, charger seems to be charging. Inverter does have a pass thru which is why it's showing AC loads going thru it.

So I think my problem is the alternator on the motor is not charging, or not charging enough. Without the generator running the Volts gauge goes down and down and down. I put a meter on the alternator (red wire, and ground) while it is running but it's around 13.6 or so. Is there a way to test this alternator?? What should the voltage be while it's running??

[[email protected]]

So here's an update.  Inverter seems to be working, charger seems to be charging.  Inverter does have a pass thru which is why it's showing AC loads going thru it.

So I think my problem is the alternator on the motor is not charging, or not charging enough.  Without the generator running the Volts gauge goes down and down and down.  I put a meter on the alternator (red wire, and ground) while it is running but it's around 13.6 or so.  Is there a way to test this alternator??  What should the voltage be while it's running??

Generally you should be seeing over 14v is best. Have you checked it when its on high idle? Some alternators are slow to excite until they see a bit higher RPM.  
The other option is pull it off and take it down to the auto parts store and have them put it on their test machine to validate that its bad.

[Richard]

My sanity test would be to put my voltmeter on the chassis batteries and record the voltage. Crank the engine, put on high idle, and measure voltage at the batteries again. It should go up a tenth or more if the alternator is alternating.

[whited44]

Thank you guys. I’ll try both methods and report back

[Richard]

Dennis,

First of all thank you for following up and posting what you find. It helps others who may find this thread in the future.

Given the year of your coach, you MAY have a PennTex alternator, and you may have the standard double belt which routes around the AC comp and alternator. Before I go off in the weeds about other potential causes, let’s see what the voltage tests reveal. Could you also post a pic of the back of the engine. It will help us see your alternator setup. Cause Newell made a handful of different setups on the alternator on the Series 60 engine.