Dear Dave,
I am looking to sell my motorhome and purchase a travel trailer. There are a few repairs to the motorhome that I felt should be made and contacted my local dealer for advice and an estimate. I was floored by the cost of the quote. Can you take a look at this and let me know what should be fixed and if it is fair. —Terry, 2016 Thor Challenger
From Dave:
This motorhome is actually the rig we used to shoot RV Lifestyle & Repair Club (RVLR) videos a few years ago installing new lithium batteries, Progressive Dynamics converter, smart TV, and several other upgrades as well as maintenance projects.
Normally I do not get involved with issues related to the price of quotes or work performed by a dealer or service center. There are too many variables such as labor rates and the “gremlins” of diagnostics.
Also, I am not an “ambulance chaser” or “influencer” looking for hot buttons to sensationalize issues for views.
However, this is a unit that I have spent a considerable amount of time upgrading and maintaining. The quote that I reviewed did not make sense.
Defective inverter
Here is the actual description on the estimate:
Voltage Drop On Inverter
Correction: Checked voltage after being plugged in for almost 2 days and voltage was at 12.9 VDC going to the inverter, but no 120VAC coming out. The remote switch doesn’t work either. Inverter has gone bad and is now defective and will need replaced, quote 2.5 hrs to replace inverter and controller.
| Labor | ||
| Diagnostic | .15 hr @ $210 | $31.50 |
| R&R Inverter and controller | 2.5 hr @ $210 | $525 |
| Parts | ||
| 69-8093 Xantrex Inverter | $801.22 | |
| 69-8105 Xantrex Battery Monitor | $516.35 | |
| Total | $1,874.07 |
Wow. This is a Xantrex XM 1800 that was mounted in an exterior compartment on the driver side, which we had an issue with during the initial RVLR shootings.
The display inside the rig was showing nothing, no voltage or battery State of Charge (SOC).
The first step was to verify there was voltage at the new batteries, which were Expion 360 Lithium. The meter read 14.6 volts. We took off the access plate on the inverter and connected the display directly to the inverter, disconnecting the longer cord. The display worked, verifying there was an open circuit somewhere in the cord.
After troubleshooting the cord, we found the $1.25 female/female connection had gone bad!
Now the dealership is stating that the inverter is bad as it is only showing 12.9 volts after being plugged in for two days. These are new lithium batteries that have 14.6 volts when fully charged. According to the State Of Charge chart below, this means the batteries are below 80% discharged and the BMS (battery management system) has shut off any charge going into or out of the battery bank.
Batteries
Upon my suggestion, my friend took the unit to another dealership. They did more troubleshooting and stated that the batteries were no good. They installed two new flooded lead acid (FLA) batteries and, guess what, the inverter was in perfect working condition!
However, I had him save the batteries as they are guaranteed for 10 years and it has only been 3 years. I believe they just went into low voltage shutdown, as the BMS protected them from a total drain. The batteries just need to be charged at 14-volt or higher charge to wake them up. Leaving them plugged in for two days was a red flag that they did not know what they were doing—especially when there was no verification of the charge profile.
This unit also got a new Progressive Dynamics converter that can be programmed for a lithium charge profile. I believe it had reset to FLA charge.
So, not only was the inverter diagnostics wrong, I believe the battery was misdiagnosed. I will verify that this summer when I get the batteries back for testing.
Who can you trust when the fix is simply swapping parts?
You might also enjoy these posts from Dave
- Why do new RV batteries show yellow bars at 12.4 volts with everything off?
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- How to fix inverter control panel that does not work
- Can two 6-volt house batteries run a 2,000W inverter?
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Shows lack of true troubleshooting on the techs part. Probably trained at the school of replace parts until it works.
Electrical connections are always suspect when things quit working after functioning for a long time.
Less than 15 minutes of “diagnostics” led to total replacement? Nope. Even I know better than to believe that.