Inverter won't shut off

[Wayne]

Our Airstream as a WFCO Electronics WF-5110R inverter. We used it the first time this weekend since we bought the trailer almost two years ago. When I attempted to shut the inverter off with the remote switch, it wouldn't turn off. Both the green light on the remote switch was on and I could faintly hear the inverter fan running. Even if I disconnected the batteries, the inverter would turn on as soon as I reconnected the batteries.

I called WFCO and talked to Larry, who is a tech. He is helpful and knowledgeable. We quickly determined we needed to test of the remote switch was stuck on. He told me to look for a RJ-11 connector on the back of the inverter, which was easy to find. As soon as I unplugged the remote switch, the inverter shut off. Pretty easy to troubleshoot. Larry is going to send me a new remote switch - thanks WFCO for the great customer support!!

There is a remote switch "disconnect" on the inverter, but that doesn't seem to disconnect the switch. Larry did say to really disconnect the switch, that it's necessary to pull the RJ-11.

Inverter:

Remote switch stuck on:

Remote switch terminal on the inverter:

Remote switch disconnect:

 

[Wayne]

I already got an email that WFCO has shipped the new remote switch. I'm impressed!

 

[dnewton3]

Good customer service!


I used to have an issue with our inverter ramping up and down intermittently, and the house lights would slightly rise and dim at the same time. Annoying, but I guess we just tolerated it for the first season.

A year after that, we were on a trip to SD and the entire RV had no power upon pulling into the campground site, even after connecting shore power. No 120v or 12v. It was raining; yuk - great timing.

Got out the multi-meter and started tracing the power. Battery was good. Went back to the connection point where it tied into the j-box where there was a 30 amp reset breaker; the breaker appeared as if it had overheated and I wanted to replace it as a precaution. Got into the truck and ran down to the local auto-parts store and got two replacement breakers (one to use; one spare). When I was replacing the original one, I noticed that there was single strand of wire from the 10ga lead coming from the battery that was outside of the wire-nut, and it likely had been touching the j-box and creating a short. A few things crossed my mind:
- the careless wiring job had cost me downtime in poor weather; curses upon the lazy slug that wired it at the factory
- I should have clued in a year prior; inverters should not run all the time and ramp up/down every few minutes
- wire nuts in a j-box on a moving vehicle??? That all was replaced with correct crimp connectors, soldered joints and proper heat-shrink tube
Not one problem after the errant wire was removed and upgrades installed.

 

[Wayne]

I noticed that there was single strand of wire from the 10ga lead coming from the battery that was outside of the wire-nut, and it likely had been touching the j-box

Very lucky you didn't have a fire. The current available from the battery is extremely high, certainly enough to start a fire quickly. Good catch

 

[Wayne]

New switch arrived today. Looks exactly like the old, but Larry said it’s a newer version and the switch does feel more positive when pushed.

Again, great service from Larry and WFCO.

 

[Formentor]

It sounds as if the relay contacts were welded.

 

[Wayne]

It sounds as if the relay contacts were welded.

Most likely