CB base Station picking up interfence with inverter

First, I'm not a Coachmen RV Tech. (but most DC to AC inverters are not brand specific.)
* Check inverter fuse (on actual inverter frame). Replace.
* Check DC voltage at inverter. Should be 12 (or 24 VDC) depending on your system battery supply and inverter.
* Check the DC cable connections; crusty, dirty? Cut all power. Remove and clean terminals. Re-connect and check.
* DC okay? Check 110 VAC power at output of inverter. No power? Replace inverter. (possible power spike damaged it or it over heated)
* 110 VAC okay? Check the power panel breakers. If stuck in middle then turn all the way off to reset and turn all the way back on to activate. Check AC power at outlet(s)
* Still no power (at outlet)? Check all outlets. If some still works then there is a problem with the power (wires) distribution. You will need an electrician to trace the wires back to the break in circuit.
* Be safe. check your warranty and call for service.
* Note; your inverter may be on a separate warranty.
Aloha, ukeboy57

John,

It's shorted out, either replace the part or buy a new one.

If you need UPS, Surge, or Power Related help don't hesitate to contact me!
Daniel • [email protected] • Power & Systems Innovations • 800.260.2259 • www.psihq.com

voltage regulator is bad. Most likey bad caps.

Please understand that the generator produces power from fuel with an engine wheras the invertor is one which genrerates power from a stored battery using the principle of frequency switching a DC source to induct and produce AC.
Now you can have an uninterupted power supply setting with the invertor backed up by the generator so that when the battery voltage goes down you can start and charge the invertor and also supply the extra energy .
the ratings of both must also be considered.

no you need to know the wattage of the item you are trying to power. To find the wattage of the item you are trying to power is simple. Some will say directly others will give you the amps (ie. .5amps, 1.2 amps.) you take the amps and multiply it by the volts that it says. All this info is on the item you are trying to power with the inverter. The answer is what it will take to power that item. example .5amps x 240v = 120 w so in this instance you would need an inverter that would produce at least 120w so in this case the 150w inverter would work. Good Luck, have a grt day

If the inverter is blowing the fuse immediately upon plugging in the inverter (before you even plug something into the inverter) you most likely have a short in the 12V power cord. If you have an Ohm meter, you should be able to check the resistance across the two contacts on the 12V plug of the power cord. Wiggle it around some. If you get a very low reading, and especially if it's intermittent, you have a bad cord, which should be pretty easy and cheap to replace. My experience with these cords has been that their quality is pretty poor.
If that is the problem, maybe you can cannibalize a cord from an old CB radio, but here's a fairly heavy duty one on Amazon (they don't give an amp rating though) http://www.amazon.com/Truckspec-TSPSCBH-2CP-12-Volt-Platinum-Replacement/dp/B001JT5QF0

you inverter was not fully charged because it requires a 110/220 v ac as specified in the manual; to charge it so it is impossible for the aircraft 15vdc to charge it

i dont know what AC DC adator your using. you should look into a 12V power supply. or plugging that into a RF canceling power strip, like a monster power strip. TV's that are on or other appliances may cause high noise levels on the CB, make sure your coax is good, your antennas good, and all jumpers are good. its hard to tell with out looking at it, but do a quick once over of the system.... you are using a base antenna right? if not you need to create radials for a mobile you plan on using for a base.

Make sure the connectors on the coax are all on right, this causes problems a lot of the time. sometimes even brand new coax have bad connectors installed.

If you want to get more precise, figure out everything in terms of power (watts).

Basic electrical rule 1, 2 and 3:

voltage x current = power

or re-arranged:

current = power divided by voltage

or re-arranged:

voltage = power divided by current


For example, 12V X 2 amps = 24 watts.

or another example, 400 watts divided by 120 Volts = 3.33 amps

A 55W headlight that uses 12V would draw 55 /12 = 4.6 amps @ 12V

A 55 watt light bulb in a lamp at home would draw 55 / 120 = 0.46 amps @ 120V


As the previous post mentioned, inverters are not perfect when convertering 12V into 120V. If the converter consumes 1000W from the 12V battery, then a 90% effecient converter would generate 900W of 120V AC power best case. The other 100W is lost primarily as heat.

The other thing that gets tricky is that these ratings and the formula above are used for resistive loads, like light bulbs or hair dryers. Anything with a motor or transformer is considered an inductive load and can get much more tricky to calculate.

Consequently you need to give your self a safety margin when figuring out how big an inverter you need.

How does work in a practical sense?

Lets say you want an inverter for TV, DVD and Sat. Receiver. Look at the back of TV or in the manual. It should say how many watts it consumes. Lets say it is 400W. The DVD might be 100W and the Sat. receiver 50W - just as an example.

400 + 100 + 50 = 550 Watts. (just as an example)

You might think, well no problem, I'll use a 600 Watt inverter and have 50 watts left over. Depending on your inverter, that 600W might really be 600 x 90% effecient = 540 Watts of AC, less a 20% margin of error for the inductive transformers in the electronic of the TV, DVD and Sat. receiver 540 - 20% = 432 Watts.

Now you can see your 600 Watt inverter isn't big enough to do the job.

If we really need 550 watts of AC, add 10% to make up the effiency loss, then add a safety margin for inductive loads.

550 + 10% = 605 + 20% = 726 Watts.

Sounds more like an 800W inverter fits the job.

What does that mean in terms of wiring the 12V batteries to the inverter?

from the formula above:

current = power divided by voltage

In our example, we have an 800W inverter that runs on 12V

The current would thererfore be:

current = power divided by voltage
current = 800 watts divided by 12V
current = 66 amps.

That is important info because you can not use light gauge wire to carry 66 amps worth of 12V to the inverter nor could you use a 20A fuse to protect your inverter.

Now that's a lot of science for a guy who just wants to run a toaster on an inverter right?

800W / 120V = 6.66 amps

Using garryp's ratio 11:1, 6.66 x 11 = 73 amps.

That is a good ratio with a good safety margin.

This is all just MHO and should not taken as solid technical advise. In other words, don't blame me if you blow yourself up.

If this is a high-pitched tone it probaly is from the DC-AC inverter that provides the high voltage to light up the front panel. Normally, this is barely audible, but I've seen a few that are loud enough to be annoying. It may be possible to install a small filter in the power line to the inverter, inside the radio. I've never tried this but if the inverter is the source of the noise, this will be the most practical way to isolate ite & eliminate the problem.
This should onlty be attempted byan experienced CB technician.