inverter issue

[UNIQUE_NAME]

my norcold fridge died after 20 years of faithful service. decided to go a little bigger and bought a magic chef 10.1cu from the depot. a little over 1amp running, 5-6 to start.
i run a xantrex 2000, also about 20 years old, never had a problem running anything including computers.
magic chef literature says its not designed to run on an inverter. i figured it was like the warnings about running computers on inverters.
the 2000 is supposed to put out a true sine so how would the fridge know? well apparently it does.
inverter is powered by 2 golf carts, about 200ah. i know its not much but it served my purpose.
the battery cells all test good with a hydrometer. inverter panel lights up like an xmas tree and then shows 'low bus voltage' error.
i can reset the inverter by clearing the error. this happens when the compressor kicks in.

i thought maybe it was the inverter switching from idle to on when the compressor kicked in.
so i turned on a light to activate the inverter and then opened the fridge door and waited for the compressor to kick.
same result.

i have no issues running on shore power.

any ideas what to look for or what to try?

 

[Scarlett]

Put a volt meter on the batteries and see what the voltage goes down to when the fridge kicks on, may need to add a couple more batteries or new batteries. If the voltage gets to low the inverter will kick off usually somewhere around 11 volts. Varies with inverter. John

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

john,

when i reset the inverter the panel has been reading around 12.6v.
i think i have it set for 10.6 low cutout but ill try the meter and see what it says when the compressor tries to kick in.
thanks

 

[Pascal]

How old are the batteries? Sounds like the problem to me... they may test ok with an hydrometer bt may not be able to to handle the extra load of the compressor starting

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

i would like for that to be the problem but dont want to throw a couple hundred at batteries and its not.

batteries are 6 years old.
were either plugged in somewhere or on day trips so they never get discharged a lot.

 

[Pascal]

6 years old. I think that s your answer.

 

[johnjen50]

Unless those are well maintained Rolls I would agree.

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

yes, they are not rolls and yes its the batteries.
i jumped the inverter batts to the starters today for a test and presto magic the fridge works.
dc volts dropped into the low 11's and was pulling 68 dc amps when the compressor kicked in.
i have the inverter low voltage cutoff set at 10.0 so its not a stretch to think it hits that without the starter jump.

thanks to all who replied. off battery shopping i go

 

[drburke]

Jim,

I am glad you found your problem, but would suggest avoiding future issues by reviewing:

https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/how_to_measure_state_of_charge

The choice for low cutout is for a really flattened battery; perhaps you want to disable the inverter at about 25% which may have given you a better clue.

What was you hygrometer reading? Did it reflect surface charge phenomenon and/or specific gravity unique to deep cycle golf cart batteries?

I offer the above so that you can fine-tune your new set when the chemistry is fresh, and avoid perplexing issues down the road!

Best,
DAN

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

dan,

thanks for the good info. i didnt know about the special electrolyte the deep cycles use possibly effecting the gravity reading.
ill make sure i take a reading on the new ones for a baseline.

jim

 

[oscarvan]

So the answer was found before I read this all, but my question would have been.....

A 20 year old Xantrex inverter that is pure sine?

 

[UNIQUE_NAME]

according to my manual, it is. i installed one in '02. it failed and i had it refurbished by them in '05.

 

[34Hatt]

6 years old. I think that s your answer.

Why my golf cart batteries are on their 12 year and finally looks like maybe next year for replacement.
Trojans...