Trace 2512 Inverter Trouble - Repair or Replace ?

[flopster]

Hello, I have a Trace 2512 Inverter/Charger, that trips out after a minute or so operation. It doesn't matter if their is load or not, just trips out..... I have been in touch with Xantrex who directed me to repair depots in Eastern Canada. When I contacted the depot which was in Toronto, they told me parts for this inverter are hard to come by, and recommended replacing unit. They then told me they would give me a great price on a new one. I hate throwing out what seems to be a good unit other than this problem, charging side works great.
Has anyone had any similar issues, or would recommend wether or not that depot was correct in their trying to sell me a new one or not. I would have to ship unit to a depot which would be fairly expensive due to weight, and to only find they could not repair due to lack of parts, or would anyone recommend wither or not I could fix this myself. I am not an electrician, but don't mind tackling new challenges. I have installed all electronics on my boat and have rewired my starter motor and know how to use a multimeter fairly well. Any help or suggestions. I live in remote newfoundland, and to send this unit away to authorized depot to find they cannot fix is worrying me. I even tried to get local electrical repair shop to repair, but they wouldn't do it because they said they don't have service manuals for it, and now of days with liability issues abound, no one wants to try anything any more. I hope someone can help me. Thanks, Jerry Belbin
flopster

[amarinesurveyor]

Jerry,
I have heard the same about parts availability with the older Trace inverters. I agree with you about throwing things away, but by the time you ship it and pay for parts (that may not be available) and labor, it's probably best to just bite the bullet and buy a new one.

[flopster]

I thought as much, but was just wondering before I went out and spent the money on a new one. I was hoping beyond hope that someone had a similar problem and that by changing out a diode or relay it would have worked. Now the next step, to find a reasonably priced inverter/charger that would fit without too much extra wiring or fooling around. Thanks for your response amarinesurveyor..... Jerry

[Rick]

make darn sure that the input voltage measured directly at the input of the inverter is above 10.5V at the entire time that it is turned on and up until the unit trips out. You must observe this the entire time to make sure that low voltage trip-out is not the real problem.

[Captain Bill]

I once had an issue with my inverter from Xantrex and went through the standard support desk with no luck. Being an old computer guy I asked the guy if there was any intelligence in the machine. II otherwords was there a microprocessor running it. He said yes. So I asked him how I would force a hard reboot of the processor. He said put an 110 volt load on it and disconnect the dc power for 10 minutes. This would drain all power from the system and the processor would coldstart after that the next time power was applied. 3 years later it's still running fine. It's certainly worth a try before sending it in for repair or buying a new one. The other issue might be a poor connection from the battery. Sometimes a poor connection will cause a bigger voltage drop as it gets hot which might cause your unit to drop out.

[St. Elsewhere]

Last year I had a Trace 4024 with a failed circuit board. The unit is now thirteen years old and replacement parts were available.

[btrayfors]

If you can't get it going, an alternative might be to keep if for battery charging and get a standalone inverter.

Pure sine wave inverters -- which IMHO are the only way to go these days -- are available in many capacities for relatively little money. There are dozens of them on eBay. The trick is finding one which is relatively good. I think if I were in the market for one, I'd get one from Ferris Power Products in MA. Ham Ferris has a range of power products, including some sine wave inverters, and he's knowledgeable, reliable, and been in the business a very long time. I'd not try to go for the lowest cost one, given the profusion of products with uncertain origins and experience.

Bill

[Akha]

Hi. The Trace inverter that I have is a 4024MC, in an RV. I run it on 4 L-16 batteries. When I first got the bus the inverter didn't work, there was a corrosion on the circuit board, standard "Authorized Dealer" reply was BUY A NEW INVERTER or $900 board. Thanks, I'll pass. I took it home, pulled the board and took it to an electronics guy, he repaired the trace, replaced the chip that he had to order, took a day or two, and I picked it up. Cost me $60. These are simple circuit boards. I would think most chips are available, an electronics guy can fix it, unless its been totally fried. People rely on these inverters, they cost a lot of money, easily as much as a used car, but when you take your car in for work, they don't automatically tell you to get a new car. I think this mentality trickling down from Xantrex doesn't do their reputation much good or the authorized dealers either.

Currently the fans are staying on. Guage says "Heatsink Temp 166" Has to be over 195 for the fans to shut off. This is cold weather. I was going to think only the heat sink was bad but a number of times during the day the temp fluxuates to 245 (normal) and the fans shut off so I am thinking a control chip is screwed up or dirt on it. So has anyone had this problem before, and if so, do you know where the control chip is for the the heatsink heat sensor?

Thanks

[Akka]

Where did you find replacement parts? Not Xantrex, I'm guessing.

[senormechanico]

Whenever I have to look for an electronic part or find out what the heck it is, I just put the part number into an internet search engine.

For example, IRFZ44 gets you this:

irfz44 - Bing
and this:
IRFZ44 Datasheet pdf - N-channel enhancement mode TrenchMOS transistor - Philips

You can easily find what you need via a quick search, and the parts are available from Digikey.com or mouser.com .