Xantrex not powering on with DC power

[Calson]

My RV has a Xantrex Freedom X 2000 and I have found that the only way to get it to power on is to have a source of AC power, either from shore power or by running the Onan generator. Otherwise the Xantrex is dead and pushing the button to turn it one does nothing and the display is not lit.

If I run the generator and then turn on the Xantrex it will stay on even after the Onan is shut off. The inverter functions and I have 110VAC at the outlets.

This is a 2021 Winnegabago Navion that left the factory in November of this year and we have not used it yet as there have been problems like this that we need to resolve.

 

[Winterbagoal]

Try enabling your coach batteries before you try the inverter, when not plugged into shore or running your generator. Your inverter is fed off the coach batteries, and if yours is wired the same as mine, the inverter should light up.

 

[Calson]

I know what should happen but it does not power up and the display on the Xantrex is dark. I need to provide an AC source of power to activate the Xantrex and have the inverter function enabled and to draw power from the batteries. As it is a new RV I suspect that something was not wired properly by the factory.

 

[Winterbagoal]

Just enable your coach batteries and then power up your Xantrex. It will work fine. No AC source required.

 

[Bones2003]

Elkman, this is a very interesting problem. As I understand it:
1) your inverter will not power up from just the coach batteries alone.
2) if you have external 120 VAC from either shore power or the generator, then the inverter will work ok.
Here is the interesting part -
3) once the inverter is working (from external 120 VAC), if you turn off the external 120 VAC the inverter keeps on working (presumably from the coach batteries).

Is that a correct summary?
Do all the other 12 VDC items in your coach work okay without the external 120 VAC?
When you say the inverter continues to work after you remove 120 VAC, do you have any kind of a load on the inverter and does it continue to work for more than a few minutes?

 

[Calson]

Your summary is correct. It requires and AC input to have the Xantrex power up or boot. A DC input from the batteries will not power up the Xantrex.

No issues with other DC powered devices, for example the steps unfolding when the coach door is opened or running the water pump or running the DC fridge. It is only the inverter 110VAC feed that is absent.

DC to DC is OK
AC to DC is OK
DC to AC is not functioning at all as Xantrex does not boot.

I suspect that there is a problem with the way the wiring was done at Winnebago and that a trip to the nearest dealer will be required.

 

[Winterbagoal]

Since I can't be there to see/diagnose the situation in person, I guess you're on your own. I have nothing to add, based on these very odd symptoms.
(the power steps usually run off the chassis battery, so ignore that, and the water pump/fridge are hard wired to the coach batteries, they don't use the inverter, afaik - in my 2018 Navion).
I would suggest that you either take your unit to a Winnebago authorized Service Center, or contact their Owner's Resources Technical people to continue troubleshooting.

 

[Bones2003]

Elkman, since the symptoms are pretty strange you might call Xantrex directly to talk to the experts. I suspect a dealer might also be scratching their heads about this one. Anyway, good luck with it and be sure to let us know what fixed it.

 

[Calson]

I have spoken to the tech support person at Xantrex and learned that a number of default settings need to be changed. I would have expected this to be done at Winnebago and confirmed by the dealer prep person at Guaranty RV but obviously they leave it for the owner to do.



I will be back at the RV on Monday and making the changes to the settings and will post what changes I need to make to get the inverter to Xantrex to auto switch from Grid to Battery mode.

 

[al1florida]

Are you trying to turn on the inverter only from the remote panel or did you try to turn it on from the button on the inverter?

There is info on page 56 of the owners manual about using the inverter on Battery Mode.

Also did you use a meter to verify that there is 12V from the batteries at the inverter.

 

[orangeminnie]

I have spoken to the tech support person at Xantrex and learned that a number of default settings need to be changed. I would have expected this to be done at Winnebago and confirmed by the dealer prep person at Guaranty RV but obviously they leave it for the owner to do.



I will be back at the RV on Monday and making the changes to the settings and will post what changes I need to make to get the inverter to Xantrex to auto switch from Grid to Battery mode.

That was my guess, too. There may be a wire jumper on the unit that also needs to be bridged. This is an inverter only - no charger, correct?

 

[Rsponsford]

It sounds like the transfer switch inside the inverter is not working and could be the culprit.

 

[Calson]

There are two buttons, one on the inverter that is mounted upside down and backwards in the basement compartment and a second on the remote display. The one on the inverter is supposed to be in the UP or Standby position and then it is supposed to be controlled by the Remote display but this is not happening.


The problem is difficult to troubleshoot as there is no information whatsoever in the user manual as to how to set up the charger/inverter and the use of the remote display.

 

[rprochnow]

We have a 2021 View 24D.

The inverter does require a power source - either the coach batteries, generator or shore power.

The auto transfer switch (ATS) switches appears to default to the generator power - and then switches to shore power when that's present, determining which of the sources is providing power to the inverter and coach. And if neither is present, the coach is powered by the coach batteries. If the inverter is seeing shore or generator power, seems unlikely this would be this would prevent the inverter from running off battery power.

If the inverter is on when running on shore power, and then stays on after shore power is disconnected, that should confirm the batteries are properly connected to the inverter (which is extremely important, since shore or generator power are the primary sources for charging the batteries - through the inverter - though you can get a much slower charge from solar panels, which doesn't go through the inverter).

NOTE that the inverter will automatically turn itself off when it doesn't see a load (setting 5, default is 25 hours). After it turns off you'll need to manually turn on the inverter at the panel or on the panel connected to the inverter.

I've found it can require some patience on our inverter to turn it on sometimes with the power button, if we've had it disconnected from shore power for an extended period (such as after I get it back from Mercedes service). Though once the inverter is on - and we're using the RV, the inverter will stay on - and needs to be on in order to charge batteries from the shore or generator power.

Since the inverter appears to be working while on shore power and off battery after shore power is disconnected, recommend manually turning the inverter off - and if it fails to come on, then contact Xantrex or your RV dealer's service dept while the inverter is in this state and see if they can help you diagnose this problem.

Agree with the Xantrex comment about setting parameters. We have lithium batteries installed - and I found a few of the settings did not match our battery specifications - and manually changed them. Though I don't believe any of the settings I changed would have resulted in the type of problem the OP is reporting.

 

[orangeminnie]

There are two buttons, one on the inverter that is mounted upside down and backwards in the basement compartment and a second on the remote display. The one on the inverter is supposed to be in the UP or Standby position and then it is supposed to be controlled by the Remote display but this is not happening.


The problem is difficult to troubleshoot as there is no information whatsoever in the user manual as to how to set up the charger/inverter and the use of the remote display.

If you control the inverter from the attached screen (pushing the button in), does it operate properly? If so then the remote unit or its cable is bad.

 

[Rsponsford]

We have a 2021 View 24D.

The auto transfer switch (ATS) switches appears to default to the generator power - and then switches to shore power when that's present, determining which of the sources is providing power to the inverter and coach. And if neither is present, the coach is powered by the coach batteries. If the inverter is seeing shore or generator power, seems unlikely this would be this would prevent the inverter from running off battery power.

This not quite correct regarding the automatic transfer switch (ATS) inside the Xantrex. Upstream of the Xantrex typically is an additional, completely separate, ATS. This is the one that looks for shore power or generator power and switches automatically between the two. Typically an ATS such as this is used on RV’s with built-in generators. RV’s without a built-in genset don’t benefit from an ATS because you have to manually plug the RV into either a generator or shore power and the person manually performs the role by switching power sources.

There is a second ATS installed inside the Xantrex. The job of this ATS is to simply switch between the battery bank or an external AC power as a power source. In other words, if it doesn’t “see” AC power coming in from the coach distribution panel then it will switch to the battery bank as a power source to provide AC power via the inverter (as long as the inverter is turn ON). The reason for this setup is that not all loads from the distribution panel should run through the inverter. Especially high load items such as air conditioners. Another function of the integrated ATS is to turn on the converter when there is an external AC power source so the batteries will be charged.

The ON/OFF switch for the inverter needs power to function and it sounds like it’s not getting power unless there is AC power coming into the Xantrex. That’s why it seems to me that it’s likely an issue with the internal ATS. If so, I think you would have to send it in for repair. Perhaps the issue is being caused by an incorrect setting, but I can’t think of a setting that would cause this problem.

 

[al1florida]

There are two buttons, one on the inverter that is mounted upside down and backwards in the basement compartment and a second on the remote display. The one on the inverter is supposed to be in the UP or Standby position and then it is supposed to be controlled by the Remote display but this is not happening.


The problem is difficult to troubleshoot as there is no information whatsoever in the user manual as to how to set up the charger/inverter and the use of the remote display.

The install and use of the remote is shown in this manual: https://www.batterystuff.com/files/1062-freedom-x-remote-panel-user-guide.pdf
It looks like it is just a plug & play. Mount the remote and plug the cable that came with the remote into the inverter and the remote.
Instructions on how to use the remotes switches are in the document, however they look very the same as the switches on the panel on the inverter.

 

[Calson]

The problem is that the manual does not cover when the remote overrides the main unit. With the main unit in "standbymode" which is recommended there is no activation of the remote console unless there is first a 110-AC feed from the shore power connection or by starting the generator.

There are a number of default settings that are wrong for use in this situation as the apply to a installaition with the remote panel. There is also no explanation of what the setting should be and when to use a given setting. The documentation was written by an engineer who knows how it works and not for the benefit of people who are customers.

 

[al1florida]

Are you stating that the inverter works the way it is supposed to when you turn it off and on from the switch on the panel mounted on the inverter, but not when you use the remote panel?

About the configuration settings: Looking at pages 51-55 in the owners manual I see the list of feature configuration settings and the directions on how to view and change them. The settings look well detailed as to what they do.

One setting is interesting, the LBCO Recovery Voltage defaults to 13.1V. To me that means if the inverter detects a LBCO voltage below 10.5V (the default setting) then to recover you can't just connect a fully charged battery at 12.6V to recover. You need to have a charging voltage of over 13.1V.

That setting makes me wonder if, when the battery is disconnected and reconnected the inverter won't recover until it sees a voltage over 13.1V.