Xantrex Inverter Died Already! 2023 Micro Minnie FLX 2108FBS

[rbarbot2]

We are enjoying a ‘23 2108FBS FLX purchased Feb. 2023. After 9 months of 15+ camping trips, our Xantrex Freedom PRO 3000 completely died. No lights, no errors, just completely dead other than allowing pass-thru 120V. Xantrex has been great and sent a new unit under warranty.

I’m a little concerned with why this happened. I’ve read several posts from people that are adding ventilation (Vents, 12v fans, etc.) to the front storage area in order to cool the inverter. It does get hot in there, the Xantrex fan runs a lot, even when you are on shore power and the Xantrex is “OFF”.
Someone recommended dialing down the battery charge rate on the Xantrex App to 80 AMPs (Factory is 150A I believe) because that is supposedly a real heat generator when you demand that max battery charge rate.

Has anyone else had issues like this? I don’t see Winnebago making any OEM changes or recalling FLX units, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. It’s going to stink for people if electronics start to fail prematurely but are outside of warranty.

 

[SactoSteve-WO]

Haven’t had an issue, but it does get warm/hot in that space. We did have the “system” shut down (battery shut off) cause unknown.
Assuming fans/ventilation might help, where would one exhaust warm air and replace with ambient air. Seems easy to make a worse environment for electronics?

- Steve

 

[Morich]

My ideas are limited without having hands on but would turning the unit 90 degrees make it possible to put the two fans against the outside wall of the compartment?
Do I see the compartment wall as the thin stuff at left? My thoughts might be that would let you use the existing fans instead of adding and still get the heat out of that small space?
Heat is a definite hazard to electronics in lots of ways, even if it doesn't totally kill them. Over time, the small parts like capacitors, etc. begin to drift off their OEM specs and that does eventually cause problems.

Do I also see another box of electronics behind this one? That would double my interest in getting air moving in that space!
since power is there, a couple 12V muffin fins might be a really good investment, one blowing in, one blowing out!

 

[rbarbot2]

My ideas are limited without having hands on but would turning the unit 90 degrees make it possible to put the two fans against the outside wall of the compartment?
Do I see the compartment wall as the thin stuff at left? My thoughts might be that would let you use the existing fans instead of adding and still get the heat out of that small space?
Heat is a definite hazard to electronics in lots of ways, even if it doesn't totally kill them. Over time, the small parts like capacitors, etc. begin to drift off their OEM specs and that does eventually cause problems.

Do I also see another box of electronics behind this one? That would double my interest in getting air moving in that space!
since power is there, a couple 12V muffin fins might be a really good investment, one blowing in, one blowing out!

Sorry, just realized that photo is rotated 90• counterclockwise.
It’s mounted to the side wall which would be under the bed. If you ventilate into there you’re going to push all kind of heat and fan noise under your bed.
Most DIY solutions are putting a 12v fan on the driver side furthest away and pulling out air with a passive dryer type vent on the passenger side.
I’m going to monitor the temp in here as summer approaches before I start cutting holes but I really don’t want to be dropping $1500 on an out of warranty inverter either.

 

[Downytide]

2 of them died on me last year during the chaos, there was bunch of issues with the trailer, shop couldn't figure out what and why, but both inverters pretty much just fried itself and one almost caught on fire.

Since then whenever we are plugged in I just set charging to 10amp, and shop also installed a toggle switch for the solar controller, it's been good since, the system does work just require some attention, now I'm going to run 2 additional batteries it'll be an interesting test for the next season.

 

[SactoSteve-WO]

Good to hear things are looking up!

-steve

 

[AandPB]

We have a 2022 2108TB Micro Mini, our first trip out our inverter shut itself down due to overheating code with an alarm. We were able to contact Xantrex who helped us reconfigure our settings when hooked up to shore power. However we continued to have issues then discovered that the inverter was installed with the inverter fans were positioned against the floor of the trailer. We discovered that installation recommendations were a 5” clearance for air circulation. The dealer turned the inverter but unfortunately split the 1” wood frame and totally ignored the screw holes in the metal frame of the inverter and just toenailed it in an attempt to mount the inverter in the new/correct position. We verified that we our warranty would not be effected if we mounted it correctly. Also we opened the void, added 2 each 2” holes for added circulation. The dealer also added two vents into the pass through cavity to help cool the battery and inverter. We have had great customer service calling Xantrex directly and very happy with there responses while we learn how to effectively use the system. We have gone cross country from ID to VA spanning over 2 months and 6k miles. We have learned a lot.

 

[SactoSteve-WO]

Ventilating the void

Also we opened the void, added 2 each 2” holes for added circulation. The dealer also added two vents into the pass through cavity to help cool the battery and inverter.

Can you elaborate on this? What do you mean by “the void”?
The 2022 version had no top on the area where the electronics are located. Is there now a “lid”, if so I could see where “holes” would be necessary.
Where did the dealer add “vents”? Do the “vents” vent to/from outside the trailer?

Thanks,
-steve

 

[gjtravellers]

I am having the same issues with Code 04 Overheating

I too am having these same issues with the invertor overheating on out 2022 2108TB FLX unit. My unit as seen in the pictures is mounted right on the floor. I have removed the shrouding around the unit to take pictures. The above access panel which is located right above the mattress is also removed for the pictures.
It appears the ground wire was cut to short to allow any space under the unit where that fans are located. I was thinking of trying to remount the unit horizontally as well. Any pictures would be appreciated and pictures of where vent holes were added. I have included pictures of my current factory install. Our unit was a build date of 05/22.

 

[gjtravellers]

I am also wondering what changes Xantrax had you do for settings when hooked up to shore power.

 

[Steph-WO]

I have a 2023 FLX 2108DS. In 2024 I plan on being on the road at least 4 months and then spending the winter 2025 in Baja. I am spending this winter outfitting and modifying based on passed trailer knowledge. So, this discussion really interesting. I have not taken a hard look at the inverter install yet. Just based on what was written above could you drill holes through the floor into the sealed underbelly to vent the fans?

I am also interested in additional batteries being added. In talking to Lithionics, they were very blunt that if you added a non Lithionics battery it would not register on the current FLX system. This could be just sales speak wanting you to but a $5k battery instead of buying another battery for much less that has all the same functions. And of course, Winnebago owns Lithioncs. Has anyone actaully added addition batteries?

 

[Marine359]

Don’t mean to butt in Steph,
But if you want to add more batteries, do you really need them to “register” on the FLX system? All you really need is a way to monitor the added battery, and there are plenty of 230ah lithiums out there with Bluetooth, for way less than a kilobuck. To be totally safe with the Lithionics being on the same bus, you could just put the added battery on an A/B/off switch-disconnect. In that way, the two batteries could not feed and attempt to balance each other. You’d just being using one at a time. If you want power that you can take out of the camper and use at home, consider a large powerstation with high amp dc output, and connect to A/B switch for dc direct, or connect to ac SP to send ac power to the Xantrex transfer switch. Still way less than a $5,000 extra Lithionics.

We got a 2kWh powerstation which doubled out total storage, and it was a boondocking game changer. It does duty at home as power backup during power outages.

 

[BobKatr1]

The fans on the Xantrex inverter are located on the end that is opposite the connections. I the photos above that would put the fans facing the floor with very little room for the air to circulate. I would assume that there are required minimum clearances. Just my thoughts.

 

[RayIN]

The Xantrex inverter/charger should be set according to how many batteries you have, their collective amp-rating and type.
If you have standard lead-acid batteries, the charge rate is 10% of total amp-rating.
reference: https://www.batteryskills.com/charg..._charging_voltage_for_a_12V_lead_acid_battery


added: I thought Xantrex inverter/chargers came with a 3 yr. warranty?

 

[Steph-WO]

In speaking with Zantrex, they said the minimum clearance around all four side is 3". They said the front and back of unit is the most important. There should be nothing that obstructs the ventilation vents on each end. In certainly looks from the picture that the front of the unit is too close to the wall. I told them I had a FLX and they put someone on who was familiar with the FLX. He said the reason they do not put a top on the install area is to help with ventilation. I asked if the 3" rule applied to the bottom as well and was told no. The vital areas are the front and back vents. I asked him about outside vents to help with heat buildup. He was not sure why they are needed since the install area is already venting into the passthrough since it is not enclosed on top. He suggested putting vents on each side of the pass through if that area is getting hot. One last thing, he said never ever mount the inverter vertical, it is not designed for mounting that way.

This Friday I will pull the enclosure around the install area and see how the Zantrex is installed.
.