Inverter failure????

[bderosa]

I need some help in determining if I need a new inverter.

Last year I left my boat at the dock for approximately 10 days with the radio on and a portable vacuum cleaner recharging plugged in an A/C outlet. The boat was connected to the shore A/C power.
When I came back the house batteries were dead, there was no power at any outlet and the inverter diplay had a blinking light indicating "overload".
My questions are:

What happened?? How do I find out??

How can I check the inverter to see if it is fryed??

Do I need a new inverter or just new batteries??

Any suggestion will be welcome.

Bill

[Pilgram]

First check your batteries for water and then put them on a charger to see if they will take a charge. Let them charge for 24 hrs and then disconect them. Wait about 4 hrs or more and check the voltage. Replace if bad. Should be around 12.8 Sounds like you have bad batteries, but it is possible the inverter is bad. Inverters have a sensor that turns them off when the batteries have low voltage. Pilgram

[hamiam]

Marinas are notorious for voltage spikes, reverse polarity, etc. Most, if not all, inverters, have a mechanism that shuts them down if an overload or reverse polarity situation exists. Some automatically reset themselves after a condition like this; others may require you to manually reset them and/or replace fuses, etc.