solar inverter makes screaming noise

My solar panel was working fine, then one day when I switched on the lights a screaming noise came from the invertor.
I switched both lights and invertor off. Checked battery: very low charge despite bright sunlight for days. I left it on charge
without using anything for 2 days. Checked battery again. No charge at all.
Wondered about battery fluid but the battery has no fluid holes I can see.
have checked all the obvious connections and it all seems fine.

I would be so grateful for any helpful ideas on this. My yurt's lights are all solar but for an emergency one on a long cable.

Hi Lucy; Kinda hard to say but it sounds like your inverter has died... Is your solar panel hooked directly to the battery ? Is the inverter hooked there also ? Try disconecting your inverter then let the solar panel do its thing. I think that you will find that your solar panel is working just fine( in 33 years offgrid i've never seen one totaly quit) Inverters are being mass prodused these days sadly mainly in china. They have a definate life and thats it! If your in a yurt then try 12vt led lighting , hardly any power use at all, no inverter required. Otherwise it will be off to the inverter store where i recomend going with a magnum energy inverter or an outback inverter. Yes they definetly cost more but as the old saying goes (you get what you pay for) If you can't afford a good inverter then just buy the cheepest (PURE SINE ONLY) one that you can afford and save your $ up to replace it in a year or two. The only other thing, could be your battery but its not likely.Almost all batterys can be opened up to check electrolite (fluid) If your not sure then have it tested in town. Good Luck enjoy being self suficiant ! Tom

My inverter screams and shuts down whenever the battery is too low. I'd check the battery and all the connections very carefully before replacing the inverter.

thomas rubino wrote:Hi Lucy; Kinda hard to say but it sounds like your inverter has died... Is your solar panel hooked directly to the battery ? Is the inverter hooked there also ? Try disconecting your inverter then let the solar panel do its thing. I think that you will find that your solar panel is working just fine( in 33 years offgrid i've never seen one totaly quit) Inverters are being mass prodused these days sadly mainly in china. They have a definate life and thats it! If your in a yurt then try 12vt led lighting , hardly any power use at all, no inverter required. Otherwise it will be off to the inverter store where i recomend going with a magnum energy inverter or an outback inverter. Yes they definetly cost more but as the old saying goes (you get what you pay for) If you can't afford a good inverter then just buy the cheepest (PURE SINE ONLY) one that you can afford and save your $ up to replace it in a year or two. The only other thing, could be your battery but its not likely.Almost all batterys can be opened up to check electrolite (fluid) If your not sure then have it tested in town. Good Luck enjoy being self suficiant ! Tom

Thank you both so much. I will disconnect the invertor and see what happens. It is wonderful to be able to DO something, not just feel helpless. Sun is forecast so I should not have to wait too long to see what happens.