Inverter control panel isnt working

[Branderson]

Just plugged into camp site and when i turn it on nothing happens. The fridge wont work and the lights are acting weak or not working at all. All the ACs work though? 

It sat for 4 months as it got painted. Seems like a coincidence that it broke just now?

Any suggestions?

[PP]

My Heart inverter is set up so that it has to be turned off down in the basement for the switches and meters to work upstairs on the remote panel. There is a reset button on the inverter. I'm sure you checked that already. But thought I might mention that. Good luck,
Will

[Branderson]

Thanks. I did check that. Turns out my house batteries are very low. I think there is a safety shut off for the inverter. Im hoping that being connected to shore power will recharge it over night

[Branderson]

Dam painters must have turned something on and forgot to turn off.

[thomasinnv]

Thanks. I did check that. Turns out my house batteries are very low. I think there is a safety shut off for the inverter. Im hoping that being connected to shore power will recharge it over night

Do you have a stand alone charger/converter or is your charger built into the inverter? If it's part of the inverter then it will not charge unless you are able to bring the voltage up just enough to enable the charger to start.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[buswarrior]

Yup, what thomasinnv said.

Inverter/chargers often will NOT go to charge on heavily depleted or dead batteries.

Put some cheapie charger on the batts for awhile, then see if the big unit will pick up.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[Branderson]

Thats the plan tom morning if i dont get any charge tonight. Thanks guys. Will keep yall updated.

[chessie4905]

you dont have gel batteries do you? there is a particular procedure to get them to take a charge if they are completely dead.btdt

[Branderson]

I have AGM batts. Just got a charger at the store. I thought i had gel but checked receipts and they are AGM.

[Oonrahnjay]

... Inverter/chargers often will NOT go to charge on heavily depleted or dead batteries.

Put some cheapie charger on the batts for awhile, then see if the big unit will pick up.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior  

    My experience agrees with this but I ran into a situation that is probably like yours but may be different in details.  The handyman (who wasn't very handy) at a storage place I was using years ago decided to unplug my shore cord to mow/trim glass and then go away and leave it for a couple of weeks.  I came back to completely flat batteries - hot fridge, no lights, nothing - and no response from my inverter (12V/2000 Outback) when I plugged it back in.  I have an isolated direct socket so I plugged in a test light and it came on (direct from the shore cord) so that indicated to me that it was batteries.  So, without thinking, I put a small Stanley 6A charger/maintainer (plugged into the direct socket) on the house batteries.  I immediately heard a couple of relays on the inverter click, the transfer switch pull in, and then within seconds or so, the house lights came back on and the fridge kicked in; it seemed that the inverter was switched on and charging normally and the power was on pass-through to run lights, fridge, etc.
    That was good but then I thought "Should I have turned anything off and isolated any systems or components?  Was I in danger of overloading or backfeeding anything?"  Maybe I should have thought more about what I was doing and considering what risks I might be taking.  But apparently, there was enough power from the charger to kick off the inverter.  Everything worked fine then (except the batteries seemed to take only perhaps 20% of charge from then on) and the other parts of the systems (that's "other than the damaged batteries") has continued to work normally in the years since.  
    I came away with two thoughts --
1)  It appears that "showing the inverter some power" by simply putting a charger on might start the functioning/charge cycle after a major battery drawdown event, but --
2)  I'm not sure that it's a good idea to do it this way.  Did I get away with something that was in danger of overloading electronic components?  I don't know, although it seemed to work OK that time.

    Anybody have any thoughts on this?  

(PS  Unhandyman decided to move my bus as part of his grass cutting so he switched the start-batteries on but the manager told him to forget trying to move my bus, he forgot/didn't turn the battery master off.  So I had start and house batteries effectively killed.)

[bobofthenorth]

Obviously you've got something going on and you're on the trail of solving it but just so you know, the control panel you have is remarkably UN-capable of actually controlling your inverter.

http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/default/freedom-458-basic-remote.aspx

That one is a plug and play replacement for the one you have and its like having a whole new inverter. 

[Geoff]

I just yanked out a Heart Freedom that quit working.  Those things are 20 years old now.  I'm replacing it with a Magnum MS 2000 ME, pure sine.

[luvrbus]

Even the new Magnums won't charge a battery unless it see at least 9 volts 

[eagle19952]

Even the new Magnums won't charge a battery unless it see at least 9 volts 

can you trick it with a 9v battery

[Geoff]

Even the new Magnums won't charge a battery unless it see at least 9 volts 

Well, the Heart wouldn't even charge with batteries at 12v.  In fact, I was surprised the inverter did anything.  And whoever put the electrical together did some real stupid wiring I am going to have to redo.  A 1998 conversion by non-talent.  And it also had a $3,000 Sun Frost refer that ran off a 30 amp RV plug on the wall that the Sun Frost immediately converted to 12v.  Just dumb.