Pro Mariner Battery Charger / Inverter NOT Inverting!

[ddenver]

Good day.

Our "new to us" 2011 Ranger Tug 27' Echo has a ProMariner TruePower Combi 2500 watt Battery Charger/Inverter on board. All works fine when we are on shore power. However, I am afraid its not clear to my feeble brain how to get the inverter working correctly when we are NOT attached to shore power.

I found the following seemingly quite relevant partial post (I am only posting the Charger/Inverter portion of that entry) by "knotflying" in a thread titled "Shore Power Garmin 5212":


Re: Shore power and Garmin 5212
Postby knotflying on Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:01 pm

What inverter charger do you have? Our Promariner has the charger and inverter as one unit. If on shore power and you want the charger on push the rocker switch up. If you are on the hook and want 110v for your outlets or on shore power and do not want the charger on then put the rocker switch down. The center position is off.



The above seems fairly straight forward but, as mentioned, I cannot get our unit to invert. Perhaps I am not setting things correctly between the switch on the Charger/Inverter unit itself and the similar Remote Control connection Rocker Switch located by the helm seat.

While disconnected from the shore Power 'umbilical cord' I have tried the two sets of rocker switches in seemingly all combination of positions but have not been able to get the Inverter working. As I understand the inverter, I should be able to flip the A/C master panel switch on when in the required 'rocker switch down' position and see the A/C indicator come alive as if we were connected to shore power. However; this is not the case for us.

Any further suggestions to ger our ProMariner unit Inverting would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Take care,
Dan, Tanya, and Hannah on Echo

 

[baz]

On my previous R-25 I had a separate 1800 watt Inverter. This was the procedure I documented for myself when wanting 110v while on a cruise away from shore power...

Using the Inverter when ‘on the water’

1. Ensure Inverter main switch is ON (Inverter under port side step in cockpit)
2. On the Inverter panel next to radio set the switch ON
3. On AC Distribution panel to right of helm move slider to block the SHORE position and flip ON the GENERATOR breaker switch ON

The above may not be relevant in your R-27 case.

 

[Red Raven]

Our 2014 R27 has a separate battery charger and inverter so I don't think our switch setup is the same. However I do know that if you have tried to turn on your inverter, had the AC main breaker on, and had anything other than the microwave and outlets turned on you may have blown the external or internal inverter fuses. Don't ask me how I know this! :!: the inverter cannot handle high power circuits such as the hot water heater. It is only for the microwave and small items plugged into the outlets.

Curt

 

[Irish Mist]

On the 29 the a/c unit is run from a seperate feed and does not work through the inverter.. Even with my inverter removed a/c still worked...
On mine if you leave the switch to inverter it figures out if you have shore power or not.. I can have Microwave on and unplug shore power and all things that were on shore power do not even blink..
The power passes through the inverter all the time... the switch tells it if it is going to get power from shore or make it from the batteries.. I would be checking your connections from the batteries and checking your batteries.. See if maybe the inverter works with engine running.. That may help point at a problem
Good luck , let us know how you get it working
Mark

 

[knotflying]

It was stated above, but make sure that the inverter switch in the battery locker is in the on position otherwise you will also not get your batteries charged. Have you checked the status lights on the inverter to see what the status is of charging etc? Did you do anything that may have caused power to stop going to the inverter? In 2011 some of the inverters had a GFI outlet installed for the feed going to the panel. Is the GFI tripped?

 

[ddenver]

Thanks for all your comments.

Regrettably, besides not being able to seemingly get the inverter to Invert, my electrical skills (marine or otherwise) are capped somewhere around the level of changing an incandescent light bulb as long as my wife reminds me which way to turn the darn thing.

Anyway, I do not think we had anything switched on (especially not the water heater) when trying to use the inverter since I typically switch everything OFF on either the A/C panel or even the DC panel when I am going to flip the master panel switch on or off.

The batteries have been charging up just fine when on shore power or even after running the boat for quite awhile (via the alternator) so at least the battery charger apsect of the ProMariner Charger/Inverter is seemingly working correctly.

As to a possible GFI in the 2011 model you mentioned that would be in the feed going to the panel. I assume if the GFI to the A/C panel was tripped we wouldn't even have A/C power when plugged into shore power which is NOT the case (i.e. ALL works fine on the A/C side when we are plugged into shore power). However; I will try to eyeball the A/C Output connection side of the ProMariner box to see if I can spot such a GFI.

Thanks again for your feedback folks.

Take care,
Dan, Tanya, and Hannah on Echo

 

[baz]

Your R-27 is still likely to be under factory warranty. Rather than messing about trying to figure out things I would give the factory a call as I'm sure they can get you up and running with the Inverter issue in far less time that you could.

 

[SGIDAVE]

Hello Dan,

Recall that your ECHO is a highly modified example of an R27. Especially with regard to the electrical system. Look back at the information the former owners provided for clues to the operation and trouble shooting of the inverter. The 'for sale' listing indicated the inverter was an "upgrade" - not clear if factory installed or done by Bob. Given the extensive nature of the electrical system changes done by Bob, it seems likely the factory had no involvement with that particular inverter's installation. Of course, I could be wrong, so certainly double check with Ranger tugs factory.

I understand you have minimal electrical skills, however these can be learned over time. Get a good book or two and avail yourself of other learning opportunities (seminars at Gatherings, etc). Yes, even YOU can learn to do electrical troubleshooting and repair of your very nice boat. Books I recommend: "Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual 4/E" by Nigel Calder (note this is a 2015 version). Another good resource is Charlie Wing's book "Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook" published 2011. Becoming more knowledgeable is a LIFELONG process...but over the next 2-3 years you can learn much of this stuff and become more self sufficient and able to 'self-rescue' to some extent. That will put you more at ease as you venture out in your very nice and highly modified R27.

Keep asking questions, that's another way to learn

dave

 

[DreadKnot]

We had a similar problem with our 2014 27' because I hit the water heater switch when on inverter setting. I would call Kenny at the factory because like others said, you could have a non-factory installation. Our sitation when the inverter was blown was the same as yours. DC worked fine, AC worked fine when on shore power. I could not get the inverter remote panel to light up (the one as the helm). When trying to use inverter, nothing would light up. I tried the GFI (hidden on our model behind the hard wired plug in on the inverter unit itself. The GFI would not respond (no amount of pushing would change the setting, which is what tipped me to a blown unit after talking it through with Kenny a few times.) I ended up pulling the inverter after checking everything else including the 175 fuse in the battery compartment. There are six two prong fuses inside the inverter. Kenny walked me through removing the inverter and the inverter casing. On ours, we unplugged the unit and loosened up two screws at the top of the unit, you slide the unit up and don't do anything with the lower screws. We replaced all six fuses, which were completely fried) and got the unit up and running. Sounds complicated, but it was fairly straightforward. We discovered that once those fuses are fried, and it only took about two seconds of an alarm, there is no response from any portion of the unit. Since the alarm was sounding in the back hatch, I had no idea what was happening until it was too late. Good luck!

 

[ddenver]

Thanks for your numerous comments and suggestions gentlemen. Your knowledge, tips, and the sharing of your experiences is greatly welcomed.

I recall Bob (the former owner of the boat) stating that the ProMariner TruePower Combi 2500 watt (it's the 'QS' model) Battery Charger / Inverter in Echo was indeed installed by the factory as part of an upgrade he had requested during the purchase process since Bob knew at the time he was going to be rewiring and dramatically increasing the battery configuration and wanted the stouter wattage rating.

As far as a factory warranty, since our boat is a 2011 model and was acquired second hand - vs. a direct or used purchase from the factory/dealer- I had never even considered a warranty aspect. However, based on the few interactions I have had w/ folks working for Ranger, I am sure they would at least offer suggestions in trying to assist me in tracing down the problem.

When back at the boat, I will look for a GFI reset and try that avenue first. Failing that, I will assume I will need to follow the same path DreadKnot helpfully described.

Thanks again all!

Take care,
Dan, Tanya, and Hannah on Echo