Micro Minnie FLX Xantrex/Go Power! Parameters

[SactoSteve]

In my efforts to restore our FLX system to full charge I have found the Apps for the Xantrex, and Go Power “boxes” show parameters that seem incorrect. Example for battery type; Go Power! shows Gel and Xantrex shows Flooded, neither is correct. Several of the other parameters are obviously incorrect (i.e., AH), some may not matter, but others may matter and may also be wrong. These apps are capable of changing the configuration of their “boxes”, BUT,… without knowing what the configuration should be, I am reluctant to change anything. I have reached out to our dealer for configuration information.

-steve

[creativepart]

Steve, those setting will not work as you found them. I'd assume you have only one Lithium setting for both the GoPower and the Xantrex - by the way the "boxes" are a GoPower Solar Charge Controller and a Xantrex Inverter.

I think you should call Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052 to get all the specific settings for your TT.

Perhaps someone here with a FLX that is all configured will chime in and provide the numbers.

But you should have 320ah of Lithium - I think is Lithionics brand.

Other than calling Winnebago you could call GoPower, Xantrex or Lithionics and get some info from them.

[SactoSteve]

Thank you-
I have been advised by our dealers service dept that both the Xantrex inverter/charger, and the Go Power! Solar MPPT Charger should have LiFePo battery selected and 320 AH. They thought that was all that was required, but they had no configuration files from Winnebago. The “system” does work, but I’m not sure its optimal or “recommended”.
Called towables and the message said “they we’re all in a meeting for the next hr”.

Thanks, again for your help!
-steve

[creativepart]

Sound good. They are on Central Time because they are in Indiana, at least I think that's where they are at.

You should do better when you set those parameters they provided. But there may be other options, too. So, it will be good to speak to someone at the TT Factory. While you are at it tell them the info the dealers provide with your new FLX is sorely lacking in information and the dealers don't know much about it either.

[SactoSteve]

I spoke with Winnebago Warranty Dept and want to share what I learned,…

Apparently their is a known issue with the Winnebago solar implementation which requires an update to the battery (firmware, I think) and also changes to the configuration settings of the Xantrex inverter/charger and also the Go Power! Solar charger. Apparently these charging components were shipped with their default settings without the factory making the required settings for the Winnebago system.
When I gave the rep I was talking with the VIN she was able to confirm ours is one of the units that needs these configurations made. She requested I schedule a service appt with our dealer and notify Winnebago Warranty when it is scheduled and they would contact the service dept with the needed information.

[RovingMedics]

Originally Posted by SactoSteve

When I gave the rep I was talking with the VIN she was able to confirm ours is one of the units that needs these configurations made. She requested I schedule a service appt with our dealer and notify Winnebago Warranty when it is scheduled and they would contact the service dept with the needed information.

Just wondering if your dealer was able to do this and if they gave you any more information.

We're also learning about the whole solar setup. Thanks!

[JMotto]

Following. I also hade to make changes to the inverter setting for battery type. Just picked up our 2100BH FLX last week. All settings seem default.

[SactoSteve]

I suggest starting with Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052.
If you give them the last 5 of your VIN they can tell you if your unit requires the update.
I’d also ask if your unit has any other known issues.

Good luck,
-steve

[creativepart]

The FLX model is a really great new option. It's really sad that Winnebago and it's dealers are not able to communicate the features and setup this model for new owners. This is a time when I wish Winnebago employees monitored this website to gain insight into how things are working out in the marketplace.

[naturopath]

I've spent a lot of time working on these settings. This is from an engineer at Lithionics (The battery) after telling them my GoPower and Xantrex came with defaults:

Xantrex:

LFP (LiFePO 4 ) YES, PLEASE SET TO LFP...WE HELPED XANTREX WRITE THESE SETTINGS 3 YEARS AGO. WE DON'T SELL WTOW THESE INVERTERS AND WE DO NOW HOW OR WHERE THE SETTINGS ARE BEING SELECTED. FOR SURE, PLEASE GET THE WORD OUT THAT YOU NEED TO USE THE LFP SETTINGS.

GoPower:

It is on Flooded. Would that be the best choice? NO, ACTUALLY, AGM OR GEL WOULD BE MUCH BETTER THAN FLOODED. FLOODED MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A LEAD-ACID "EQUALIZE" FUNCTION WHICH SENDS HIGH VOLTAGE WAVES TO THE BATTERY FOR DE-SULFATION. IF SO, OUR BMS WILL REACT BY SHUTTING OFF THE CHARGE TO THE BATTER, BUT AGAIN, WE WOULD HAVE TO STUDY THE 'FLOODED' SETTING TO SEE IF IT ATTEMPTS DE-SULFATION. WE WILL SEND YOUR IMPORTANT NOTES TO THE FACTORY.

-UPDATE...NOW THAT WE KNOW THIS IS A GO-POWER AND NOT A XANTREX, THE GEL WILL ACTUALLY NOT FILL THE BATTERY ALL THE WAY. GO WITH THE AGM SETTING PER ATTACHED.

And Wtow actually confirmed all of this as well.

I personally used Custom on GoPower and made the settings very specific for the battery.

In any event, when I made these changes my battery went from 60% charged to 100% in a matter of hours!

Wtow and Lithionics have great service but it takes time to get all of this sorted out. These things never should have been shipped with default settings!

Larry

[SactoSteve]

Hello Naturopath-
I am unclear what you mean by “ NOW THAT WE KNOW THIS IS A GO-POWER AND NOT A XANTREX” ?
The FLX solar system consists of the Lithionics battery, a GoPower charger, a xantrex inverter/charger, and the panels. The xantrex unit charges the battery when on shore power, and, of course, handles the inverter function. If the xantrex is powered on.
-steve

[naturopath]

Lithionics thought the charge controller that came with the FLX was by Xantrex. They got confused until they understood it was GoPower and then suggested what they did. GoPower is what regulates the charge going from the solar panels to the battery. There is a phone App for the GoPower and the Xantrex that makes changing settings very easy. There is also an App for the Lithionics battery to look at what it's doing.

Larry

[creativepart]

The FLX solar system consists of the Lithionics battery, a GoPower charger, a xantrex inverter/charger, and the panels.

To be extra clear... The FLX Power system consists of

A Lithionics LiFePo4 Battery
A GoPower Solar Charge Controller and Solar Panels
A Xantrex Inverter/Charger

You would need to configure both the GoPower Solar Charge Controler AND the Xantrex Inverter/Charger for the LiFePo4 Lithionics battery.

[SactoSteve]

We had a problem and resolved it.
There has been enough questions and concerns about the FLX elect system I wanted to share what I think I know.

Some Background
Our previous trailer was a Nu Camp T@B400. A very nice trailer, well built with a great combined Water heater and trailer radiant heating system by Alde, and a modest but capable solar implementation. The T@B400 was towed almost effortlessly by our Audi Q5. We had the trailer for 2 years before determining it was too small for our comfort. Quite by accident we met a couple on one trip who had a Micro Minnie, which we had never heard of. After poking around online we thought the Hike would be a an acceptable size upgrade and still be towable by the Audi. We put a deposit on a new Hike at our local dealer. Shortly after we saw the MicroMinnie 2108DS floorplan we decided to “bite the bullet” and upgrade the Tow vehicle and Trailer and asked the dealer to move our deposit to the Micro Minnie 2108DS. We realized we would not be getting the nice Alde system nor the Solar system the T@B400 had, but felt the 2108DS floorplan made it worth it. And then,… Winnebago introduced the FLX and we were overwhelmed with the total package (still are)! We, again asked the dealer to move our deposit this time to the MicroMinnie 2108DS FLX. and waited,…

Delivery
We were the First, at our dealer, to have placed a deposit on a “new” FLX so we were delighted to get the call in early April 2022, that they were in! However,… being “first” carries some “risk”.

The dealers really don’t know much about these, but that was not a surprise. We scheduled our appointment for the day after they were to have received factory training. When we came in to look at the new trailer the dealer staff had not received any training, or really had any, knowledge of the upgraded systems of the FLX. I was hoping the training session they were to receive the day before from a Winnebago trainer would be helpful. And also hopeful that the Winnebago “pouch” would contain helpful information with regards to Winnebago’s solar implementation (it doesn’t). Regarding the battery, a QR code sticker on the box housing the Xantrex inverter/charger and Lithionics battery was the entirety of the information. So we walked them through what we knew from (obsessively) reading everything we could find on line and watching every video dealers, and new owners, posted.

The Dealers Service department advised us the only problem they noted in their PDI was that the Fresh tank was not reporting correctly, and would require a new panel, which should be there within 2 weeks.(thats another whole story!) We asked for a walk through of the Solar system operation but were told they had not received any training. We completed the “overview” of the trailer verifying that lights worked, water flowed, heaters heated, AC cooled, etc. with the trailer operating on battery and that only minor “fit and finish” issues were noted.
With the sensor reading being the only apparent problem needing to be addressed, and having experience with flaky sensors reading we said we’d would accept delivery. After a long day at the dealer, we took ‘er home and attempted to unhitch, No power to operate the tongue Jack!
and here our story begins,…

Issues with the FLX Electrical System
The Lithionics App showed the battery was at 0% charge. This sent us off on a mad scramble to charge the battery during which we discovered;

- The Xantrex remote panel was non operational and thats the interface to their App, so that wasn’t helpful.
- the lithionics site is very helpful, but doesn’t directly address the FLX system
- The black circuit breaker was OFF and it doesn’t do what I thought it would. Based on our experience with the NuCamp T@B400 implementation I thought it would isolate the loads, but allow charging. It does not.
- The Battery needs to be ON! The blue LED button turns the battery Off and On.
- The Xantrex inverter/charger charges the battery when attached to “shore power”, and turned on.

Flipping the circuit breaker on and turning the battery on, along with Plugging into Shore Power over night was enough to get unhitched!

What was wrong?
Further examination found the “phone cord” between the Xantrex Inverter/Charger and the panel was not connected at the panel. Easy fix - we plugged it in allowing the panel to work and there fore the Xantrex App to work. Using the GoPower! and Xantrex apps we saw enough significant, and obviously erroneous, configuration setting to make us suspect the system was configured incorrectly.

Notable Incorrect Parameters

GoPower!
- Battery type: Gel
- Capacity: 200Ah
Xantrex
- Battery type: Flooded

These were obviously erroneous but we had no way of knowing what the other parameters should be, or which, if any were not applicable to LiFePo batteries. After poking around the internet, and this site, we were advised by creativepart to call Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052 which we did.

The following is a slight edit from a previous post of mine to remove a couple of speculations I previously made which were wrong or incomplete.

The representative advised us that there is/(was?) a known issue with the Winnebago solar implementation which requires a reset of the battery and also changes to the configuration settings of the Xantrex inverter/charger and also the Go Power! Solar charger. Apparently these charging components were shipped with a couple of key parameters being incorrect. When I gave the rep I was talking with the VIN she was able to confirm ours is/was one of the units that needs these configurations made. She requested I schedule a service appt with our dealer and notify Winnebago Warranty when it is scheduled and they would contact the service dept with the needed information.

Note: If you have, or suspect you have, an incorrectly configured system I believe the first course of action is to contact Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052. Ask if yours is one of the units with the known misconfiguration. They are very helpful. Have the last 5 of your VIN.

Resolving the misconfiguration
The coordination between me, Factory and Our dealer service department was “cumbersome” but fruitful.

Correcting the configuration and some “findings”
From coordination between Factory and Our service department it appears that

- Xantrex engineers, working with Lithionics and GoPower! designed the FLX solar configuration.
- Winnebago configures the system via a flash drive containing the parameters for the GoPower! and Xantrex elements.
- The initial flash drive omitted (left as presumably default) a couple of key settings. Notably Battery Type and Ah.
- My before/after comparison showed the following changes;
- Xantrex
- BattType: LFP (was Flooded)
- BattTemp: warm (was Hot)
- GoPower!
- Battery Type: LiFePo (was Gel)
- Capacity: 320Ah (was 200Ah)

IMPORTANT Note and Caveate;
These are only what I was able to note as changed, some that didn’t change may have been correct and some, may be “don’t care” defaults which are irrelevant to the Lithionics battery.
This system is sophisticated, flexible and capable of being updated. I would hope when and if changes are recommended Winnebago will proactively inform the community either through the dealer network or directly to the users.

Changing Focus
Once the system configuration is correct, we can move on to using the system. It’s straightforward, but different enough from our previous experience to make me want to capture it.

FLX Electrical System Overview and Operation
Overview
* Components
* Black Circuit Breaker, Main battery disconnect
* 2 190 Watt Solar Panels
* Lithionics 320 AH LiFePo Battery
* Go Power! Solar MPPT Charger
* Xantrex Inverter/Charger
* Operations Modes
* Off/Storage
* Battery disconnected (system unpowered)
* No charging, and no 12 V DC or 110 V AC available
* ON
* 12 V DC available, and 110 V AC provided when required
* Battery automatically charged as required when external power source available (Sunlight and/or Shore Power)


Operations
System Overview
* ON/OFF of System controlled by Battery (blue led button)
* Battery Automatically Charged by Solar and/or Shore Power
* Xantrex Inverter/Charger Automatically provides 110 V power as required

System On/Off
* Black Circuit Breaker/Main battery disconnect
* Nominally ON except during >3 Mo storage
* Blue LED on Battery Box is system control
* 1 second press ON
* solid = on
* flashing = charging
* 3 second press OFF
* unlit

Charging
Automatic via Solar/Shore Power
* Solar
* battery is charged as needed/determined by Battery and Solar power availability
* Go Power! Solar MPPT Charger provides current to battery
* Shore Power
* Xantrex must be ON
* Button on Xantrex panel
* Up = STANDBY/OFF
* Down = ON
* battery is charged as needed/determined by Battery
* Xantrex Inverter/Charger provides current to battery

Power Delivery
* 12 V Power
* Automatic
* Battery provides 12 V power to 12 V appliances/loads

* 110 V power
* Xantrex must be ON
* Button on Xantrex panel
* Up = STANDBY/OFF
* Down = ON
* Battery/Inverter Mode
* Automatic
* Xantrex converts 12 V DC (battery) provides conditioned 110 Volt power to appliances/loads, when required
* Shore Power Mode
* Automatic
* Xantrex conditions 110 V power and provides directly to appliances/loads
* Transitioning Modes are automatic
* Shore Power to Battery
* upon loss of shore power
* Battery to Shore Power
* Upon acquistion of Shore power (20 seconds)
Storage
State
* Battery disconnected (system unpowered)
* No charging, and no 12 V DC or 110 V AC available to loads
* no parasitic loads on battery

Enter Storage Mode
* Fully Charge Battery
* <3 Mo turn off Battery (3 second press of blue LED)
* >3 Mo also turn off Black Circuit Breaker / Main battery disconnect

[SactoSteve]

FLX Electrical System Overview and Operation
Overview

Components

- Black Circuit Breaker, Main battery disconnect
- 2 190 Watt Solar Panels
- Lithionics 320 AH LiFePo Battery
- Go Power! Solar MPPT Charger
- Xantrex Inverter/Charger

Operations Modes

Off/Storage

- Battery disconnected (system unpowered)
- No charging, and no 12 V DC or 110 V AC available

ON

- 12 V DC available, and 110 V AC provided when required
- Battery automatically charged as required when external power source available (Sunlight and/or Shore Power)

Operations
Overview

- ON/OFF of System controlled by Battery (blue led button)
- Battery Automatically Charged by Solar and/or Shore Power
- Xantrex Inverter/Charger Automatically provides 110 V power and Battery charge current, as required

System On/Off

- Black Circuit Breaker/Main battery disconnect

- Nominally ON except during >3 Mo storage

- Blue LED on Battery Box is system control

- 1 second press ON

- LED solid = On
- LED flashing = Charging

-3 second press OFF

- LED unlit = System OFF

Charging of Battery
Automatic via Solar and/or Shore Power
Solar

- battery is charged as needed/determined by Battery and Solar power availability
- Go Power! Solar MPPT Charger provides current to battery

Shore Power

- Xantrex must be ON

- Button on Xantrex panel

- Up = STANDBY/OFF
- Down = ON

- Battery is charged as needed/determined by Battery
- Xantrex Inverter/Charger provides current to Battery

Power Delivery

- 12 V Power

- Automatic
- Battery provides 12 V power to 12 V appliances/loads

- 110 V (AC) power

2 Modes; Battery/Inverter Mode, and Shore Power Mode
Transitioning Modes is automatic

Shore Power to Battery

- upon loss of shore power

Battery to Shore Power

- Upon acquisition of Shore power (20 seconds)

- Xantrex must be ON

- Button on Xantrex panel

-Up = STANDBY/OFF
- Down = ON

Battery/Inverter Mode

- Automatic
- Xantrex converts 12 V DC (battery) provides conditioned 110 Volt power to appliances/loads, when required

Shore Power Mode

- Automatic
- Xantrex conditions 110 V power and provides directly to appliances/loads

Storage
State

- Battery disconnected (system unpowered)
- No charging, and no 12 V DC or 110 V AC available to loads
- no parasitic loads on battery

Enter Storage Mode

- Fully Charge Battery (some sources say 50%)
- <3 Mo turn off Battery (3 second press of blue LED)
- >3 Mo also turn off Black Circuit Breaker / Main battery disconnect

[RovingMedics]

This was great information to have. I didn't know the Xantrex needed to be "On" when plugged into shore power to charge the battery, for example.

One thing I've been trying to figure out on the Micro Minnie FLX is the "Solar on the Side" pre-wired setup. Has anyone figured out which of the GoPower portable solar panels are plug & play? The GP-PSK-130 looks like it might be a sweet spot.

GP Electric told me "The port is limited to 20 amps of power input and should be wired directly to your batteries." Without dismantling the wall around the battery in the FLX, has anyone figured out where this is wired? is it wired to the MPPT controller or is the "solar on the side" port wired to the battery directly?

They also said "We recommend wiring directly to the batteries and using the controller included in our portable kits, since panels connected in parallel with different output voltages results in an inefficient system." which makes sense to me.

The goal we have is to simply add more solar capacity to our FLX specifically via a portable panel we can plug into the existing port on the side. We're out west and nearly everywhere we go has plentiful sunshine to use, and one that we can simply move around to capture more sun would be great.

[creativepart]

RovingMedics, the easy way to tell how the port on the side of the RV is wired is to put a voltage meter on the connections. If it's 13.5v or there abouts it is wired directly to the battery. If it's 17v - 21v then it's wired to the Solar Charge Control.

This assumes the sun is out and you're parked in the sun. If it's dark or there is coverage on the rooftop panels then it would read somewhere between 0v and perhaps 5v or a little higher.

I would assume it's wired to the Solar Charge Controller. But that's just a SWAG.

You could call Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052 and ask them but you'll need to find someone to talk to that is well versed in the FLX model.

[Gregt]

Originally Posted by SactoSteve

I suggest starting with Winnebago Towables Customer Service (574) 825-8052.
If you give them the last 5 of your VIN they can tell you if your unit requires the update.
I’d also ask if your unit has any other known issues.

Good luck,
-steve

Excellent thread, thanks to all! I just called Winnebago and gave them my VIN and the rep told me they do not have a list of units that need settings updated (odd). She told me I needed to download the Xantrex configuration and email their support group.

Should I try later and hope to speak to someone else or has their resources changed?

[SactoSteve]

Gregt-
Just guessing here,…
I assume you have the Xantrex, GoPower, and Lithionics apps and you have determined key settings are wrong. Those would be;
Notable Incorrect Parameters
GoPower!
- Battery type: Gel
- Capacity: 200Ah
Xantrex
- Battery type: Flooded

If these are wrong I would expect Winnebago would be able to look at the build date and determine if is before they implemented the “fix”. But it sounds like the rep didn't or wouldn’t?
It also may be that yours is after they corrected the missed settings?
In another post on this thread I detailed my experience with the resets.
-steve

[Gregt]

Originally Posted by SactoSteve

Gregt-
Just guessing here,…
I assume you have the Xantrex, GoPower, and Lithionics apps and you have determined key settings are wrong. Those would be;
Notable Incorrect Parameters
GoPower!
- Battery type: Gel
- Capacity: 200Ah
Xantrex
- Battery type: Flooded

If these are wrong I would expect Winnebago would be able to look at the build date and determine if is before they implemented the “fix”. But it sounds like the rep didn't or wouldn’t?
It also may be that yours is after they corrected the missed settings?
In another post on this thread I detailed my experience with the resets.
-steve

I haven’t verified my trailer needs parameters updated, so I might be okay. I have been unable to connect the GoPower Connect App to get the parameters. I called GoPower and they recommended a system reset (unplug power from solar controller for 30-60 minutes, reconnect and try again). They said if that doesn’t work, they will need to send me a new remote.

Without looking at the parameters, what is the most obvious symptom of needing config updated? I have seen my battery at >70% full. Thanks!