Anybody with Tundra Inverter problems?

I hope this will not be considered as advertising, but I was just checking to see public opinion on Tundra and found this forum.

I just wanted to let you know that if you have any technical questions on Tundra Inverters, be it issues like these or any others, you can contact me via e-mail at xbeaupre@tundrainternational.com, I will be glad to help. I don't take care of garantees or anything like that, but I can get you an answer for technical questions.

And, if any moderator sees this, keep in mind, this is simply a message meant to help out, not advertise anything.

 

Well, alright, but it's a very long post, make sure to read through it!

1. First, lubricating wouldn't really help. It could even worsen the issue.

2. Second, if you are getting crackling sounds from the inverter, it is a good idea to report it.
Do you use a power-bar or an extension cord? Most people will have one. Cable quality is important to ensure power-delivery in a modified sine-wave inverter. For an E2000, I suggest using a "AWG 14" gage cable. You can generally find the gage on the cable or its packaging. If the cable is of a different gage, there will be heat build-up and it will concentrate on the connexion point.
Personally, I'd reduce direct "plugging-unplugging" in the inverter to a minimum: get a power-bar or extension cord and keep it plugged in. It's not a dramatic change, but I've noticed it can help.

3. Lastly, and it is the bigger issue here, bar-fridges and inverters, in a truck, mix pretty badly. I'm not helping the inverter industry saying this, but here are the issues with that set-up:
- Bar-fridges will tend to reduce an inverter's lifespan considerably because of the compressor. A compressor tends to start up and stop a lot, causing spikes in the power being drawn from the inverter and slowly eating away at its durability.
- Then you have to take into account the very short lifespan of a mini-fridge if it's not "Truck-ready". In my experience, a regular bar-fridge will last, on average, less than 6 months. A bar fridge is designed to be stationary and any sort of repeated shock or vibration will cause the copper tubing to break.
- A bar-fridge and inverter set-up will tend to draw five times the power needed for a 12V fridge. I'm betting most of you need to charge up your batteries overnight or shut the inverter off when the alarm starts beeping in the middle of the night.

Tundra inverters are designed for trucks and to protect them. To prevent battery damage, it will tell you (in the form of a beeping alarm) when the battery voltage reaches less than 11.5V and will shut off entirely at less than 11V. All that is to make sure you have enough juice to start it up again in the morning.
My advice on that: acquire a 12V fridge in parallel to your inverter or get your fleet to do so. It will be more efficient, will draw less power from your batteries and will ensure your food will stay cold throughout the night. As a secondary precaution, you can get a LVD (low voltage disconnect) for it, ensuring continued battery protection. This set-up is more expensive, but calculate how much time and money is spent by your fleet to set you up with a new inverter. You have to pay the mechanic, pay for the down time...in the end, you can easily argue it would be a good investment.
If it isn't possible, than I advise to at least get an HD2500 inverter. They are made heavy-duty and will take more punishment than the "E" series.

Make sure the proper troubleshooting steps are followed when you notice something wrong with the set-up. We do offer a warranty, but we tend to receive working inverters because the proper tests were not conducted. That's a lot of paperwork and costs for everybody. Just the other day we received a few and four (more than half) were in perfect working conditions. We double-checked and found that they had simply been replaced by others of the same Tundra model.

I hope that was useful!

 

And keep in mind, the recommendations about lubricating, cable and bar-fridges apply to ALL truck-ready inverters, not just Tundra.

 

I have E1500 installed in mine, but when testing a 750 watt microwave the display only reads 41w, using an indoor/outdoor 3 prong extension cord, the oven produces all the behavior of a normal small microwave, but doesn't hear anything. I made sure to test the oven at home before putting it in the truck.

 

I have a Tundra E1500 Inverter and only have my sound bar, a printer, and on occasion my cellphone....it starts beeping and the lights go from green to amber...what could be the problem? Thx for your input.

 

You might want to unplug one of those items.

My current truck has the same exact inverter as my old freightliner, but when I moved into this truck I went and bought a small 700 watt microwave and it works much better. The other microwave I had needed almost almost all of the inverter's output to start up, while this one only requires 1000 watts or so.

 

Hate to necro an old thread, but mine just died less than two weeks after installation. The LED blinks green once, and gives me a beep when I flip the switch, then nothing. I checked the input and it’s getting 12 volts to the terminals.