Xantrex butcher job in 2011 Adventurer 37F

[Jakm]

The Xantrex Pro 1000 in my 2011 Adventurer 37F hasn’t worked since buying the coach in 2019. When I’d try turning it on from remote panel located inside on the EMS panel it would throw an error code ‘E05 OL’. All the 120v receptacles inside worked when on shore power. The ground fault receptacle on the front of inverter had power although it wouldn’t trip or reset so I thought it was a bad gfi. Today I decided to investigate, pulled the gfi loose and discovered the hardwire terminal of the inverter had the romex feed tied down properly but nothing on the outfeed side. Instead there were 2 braided conductors coming out through a hole from inside the inverter tied into the line side of the gfi along with the downstream romex of the coach. So that explained why the gfi wouldn’t trip and the hole in the case eliminated the possibility of sending it in for repair so we dismantled it and discovered a couple blown transistor mosfets and the location on the board that appears to be where the braided conductors originated and are now tied into the backside of the infeed terminals. Circled in red are the rerouted outfeed conductors and the location of their original termination. Circled in yellow are the blown mosfets. I talked to a local TV repairman who’s a good board tech and will take it to him tomorrow for assessment.
Question 1: the mosfets have numbers on them but I’ve searched to no avail to find spec info on them. I’ll post pic of numbers if anyone can help.
Question 2: Xantrex is pretty tight lipped with any internal schematics if by chance anyone can help there it would be extremely useful.
Question 3: In the likely event that this thing becomes a boat anchor, other than the exact replacement, is there a better option out there that includes the transfer switch and maybe Bluetooth connection? TIA.

 

[powercat_ras]

You might consider building your own one branch circuit 20A max transfer switch for $ 20 in parts using a standard electrical box with cover and romex clamps using Two SPDT Power Relays. It's a pretty simple circuit given your post # 1 I'm sure its within your capabilities to wire it up. One relay for hot and one relay for neutral. NC contact is branch circuit power feed. NO contact is inverter power feed. Coils to inverter power feed. Common contacts to load.

Then you can use any replacement inverter with a remote on/off switch in place of the $ 400 Xantrex with integrated transfer switch.

Your only limitation will be the current 150 amp DC fuse and 2 AWG wire that Winnebago uses to feed 1,000 watt Xantrex Inverters, that will continue to limit the inverter size to 1,500 watts max. You will want to do a Neutral to Ground bond connection on the inverter side of the transfer switch relay contacts so that any GFCI protection in devices on the load side of the transfer switch will work right.

 

[Jakm]

Powercat, thank you for that, 2 heads are always better than 1. Clever concept and doable, we’ll see what the TV man’s verdict is today. In my years of RVING we’ve never had a need to use the inverter so I’m tempted to just eliminate it. But, you never know and as for resell value, it would be best to keep it. We’ll keep you posted, thanks again.

 

[Jakm]

Update:

I finally got back to my inverter replacement. After having the old Xantrex checked by a local board tech it was declared ‘toast’. Renogy is currently having a Halloween Sale til the end of the month so I ordered a Renogy 1000W with remote switch and Bluetooth dongle. Feel I got a good deal at a fraction of the price of what a new Xantrex would have cost although it doesn’t have the pass-through. The branch circuit fed by the inverter only feeds my 3 A/V centers and a couple outlets so I’d considered doing without. Ordered the ATS relays suggested by Powercat and after receiving the wrong ones and waiting on the correct ones we put everything together and it works like a charm. Thanks again Powercat.