MEP-831a Inverter Problem

[DonInPanama]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to the MEP-831a and bought one on e-bay, shipped it down here to Panama. I love the concept and the design, everything is great except for one small problem - it does not produce power. I went through the troubleshooting sections carefully and everything seemed to point to the inverter being bad. I then had two inverters shipped down here, and the first one I tried also displayed the same symptoms as follows:

1) All the alternator coils produce the same voltage and all have resistance within the spec.
2) The battle switch does not cause the engine to slow down at all.
3) The battery charger has a good supply and charges the battery.
4) All the indicator lights look normal. Low oil pressure light comes on when stopped, goes out when running, then all lights are out.
5) No voltage on the meter, none on any of the output terminals.


Several questions for anyone who is familiar with this unit:

1) The generator's inverter is the newer design, the replacements are the older design. Does anyone know if there are any interoperability problems?
2) Does this problem sound familiar? Any ideas?
3) When I originally changed out the inverter, on startup the overload light came on briefly. I then thought I might have smelled a bit of roast electronics but it was not clear. I can't help but think that maybe there is something killing a perfectly good inverter so i am a little reluctant to plug in the second replacement until I get some advice, or a new dose of courage!
4) I have nothing hooked to the outputs and the unit is not yet grounded. Could that cause a problem?

I would really appreciate any help I can get. I just love this unit and really want to get it working.

Best regards,

Don

 

[DieselAddict]

Can you take apart the two inverters and look for problems?

Are you sure all the wires between the PMA and inverter are correct?

 

[DonInPanama]

I took apart my inverter partially. I saw no evidence of damage, it looked just fine, but I was reluctant to take it completely apart. That might be the next step. Same with the inverter that I just tried - the replacement had a lot of iraq-style dust inside but the guy I bought it from swore that it worked.

Before I started, my unit looked like new inside. And the wiring was all pretty simple so it seemed to me that there was little chance that I had miswired the replacement.

 

[DieselAddict]

The only way to know for sure is to compare it to the manual. Errors do happen.

 

[Guyfang]

When ever hooking up wires, it pays to have the wire diagram next to the job, and recheck things when you are done. And if your name is guyfang, you check again. Just the way I am.