1986 Californian 48 inverter question

It's a 2kw inverter located in the state room under the floor. It's defective, but so many things on this boat don't work. Any idea what it powers?

I was looking at an Island Packet with a Heart Interface Freedom Marine 10 inverter charger the owner said did not work. It was in a difficult location where one could touch it but not much else. Took a picture of one end and found it was switched off. Switched it on and it worked fine. Owner thought it might have been good if we had met a few years earlier;-)

When I want to test an inverter or see if it functions I unplug the boat and have the generator off, big loads like ACs and water heaters turned off then switch on the inverter. Typically I find they are powering just a few items like refrigerators and galley outlets. Not always the case though...

Boater Mike said:

It's a 2kw inverter located in the state room under the floor. It's defective, but so many things on this boat don't work. Any idea what it powers?

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The power switch is on and wires disconnected. It goes into alarm over current with no high voltage ever produced. I have wired an extension cord to it, but I'm still puzzled as to what it powers. I'll check the aft deck refer. Thanks.

After powering the load side of the inverter without the inverter connected. I still have no power to aft deck refer or the state room. Sure wish I had a wiring diagram. So the adventure continues...

entertainment units?

100% likelihood this was installed by a previous owner. So you are in for some continuity testing to see where the output goes, and what goes from there.

Boater Mike said:

It's a 2kw inverter located in the state room under the floor. It's defective, but so many things on this boat don't work. Any idea what it powers?

Click to expand...

No but why don't you see what doesn't work? Then you can connect 120 volts AC to the wires on the output of the inverter (after disconnecting them from the inverter) and see if those things start working.

If you dont mind my asking Mike, what brand of inverter? You mentioned It's defective, but so many things on this boat don't work", what else is not working? Was wondering if the inverter could be supplying a sub panel or maybe a "split" buss in your AC panel??
Some inverters have "pass thru" current to so that when on shore power they feed a small amount of circuits seamless of having to flip any switches etc.these would also be the circuits that would be powered while the inverter is on DC power. Many installs I have come across have breakers in very strange places! Hope it is something simple, one newbie to another.

I forget the brand. I'll look this weekend. I'm still learning about the boat. So far I have no power in the state room, but that's 12v. I also have no power to a 24v battery charger. Neither of which would be related to the inverter. I've determined most of the 12v light ballast are defective. So that narrows down, the so many things not working statement.

I'm thinking this inverter powers an aft deck frig/ice maker. I have powered the AC side of the inverter, with the inverter disconnected. No power to frig. I think I'm missing a switch or a breaker yet. I'm slowly but surely making my way through it. I appreciate everyone's help. Thank you!

Or a GFCI problem! If you have one bad or tripped others downstream will not power up either...

Boater Mike said:

I forget the brand. I'll look this weekend. I'm still learning about the boat. So far I have no power in the state room, but that's 12v. I also have no power to a 24v battery charger. Neither of which would be related to the inverter. I've determined most of the 12v light ballast are defective. So that narrows down, the so many things not working statement.

I'm thinking this inverter powers an aft deck frig/ice maker. I have powered the AC side of the inverter, with the inverter disconnected. No power to frig. I think I'm missing a switch or a breaker yet. I'm slowly but surely making my way through it. I appreciate everyone's help. Thank you!

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Greetings,
Mr. BM. "...most of the 12v light ballast are defective". Can't help with the inverter but "ballast" suggest fluorescent lights. We recently experienced a ballast melt down in our galley fluorescent fixture. A direct replacement was not available. I simply removed all the "guts" and replaced with two LED strips which had adhesive already attached (peel and stick). Pretty well plug and play and according to the literature usable with either 12v or 24v simply by where you cut the roll.