inverter Started Beeping

[chasfenwick]

Drove down the Interstate for several hours this morning, then pulled off for lunch. About 20 minutes into the lunch, the inverter started beeping, something I had never heard before. There was no load on the inverter. But shutting it off did stop the beeping. Measured voltage of coach batteries as 12v. What's going on?

[MikeThompson]

Ours will beep if the battery voltage gets too low.

[chasfenwick]

Originally Posted by MikeThompson

Ours will beep if the battery voltage gets too low.

That would raise the question of WHY the battery voltage would have been too low, under these particular circumstances.

[Bassdogs]

Originally Posted by chasfenwick

That would raise the question of WHY the battery voltage would have been too low, under these particular circumstances.

Could be a number of reasons but at only 12v the batteries were definitely low. The batteries could be bad and not taking a charge or your converter is not charging while you're driving. check to see if you have normal voltage with the engine running.

[chasfenwick]

Originally Posted by Bassdogs

Could be a number of reasons but at only 12v the batteries were definitely low. The batteries could be bad and not taking a charge or your converter is not charging while you're driving. check to see if you have normal voltage with the engine running.

Will do, at next opportunity . . .

The batteries may have been damaged last winter because I was unaware of the "excessive parasitic drain" problem, and voltage got down as low as 3vdc when Precept was stored during very cold weather. My 2014 Melbourne 29D never had done anything remotely like that over 3 years of ownership, so I wasn't watching for anything like that. [Jayco Motorized CS has acknowledged this as a legitmate issue with my Precept that they are prepared to remedy].

[DonaandDon]

My new 5r does the same. It's new 12v battery but the residential fridge will drain it to 12v in about 6 hours of driving. Were going to change out to at least two 6v at our destination.

[JesseS]

That would be the low voltage warning, 12V on the house batteries is to low, but most inverters cut off is 11.5V. Start the engine and test the battery voltage, if still 12 then have your charging system checked, if 13.4 or so the batteries may be bad and not taking a charge from the alternator. If the inverter is ON then there is always some load, at idle most inverters draw <1A, but if you have your fridge on 'Auto' and not 'Gas only' it will suck the batteries dry fairly fast. Other things like TV's, Microwaves, and such have 'Vampire' power draws.