Xantrex Inverter / Charger Caution

[SV Liberty]

I have a Xantrex Freedom 2000 inverter/charger installed on Liberty - actually, its with the local repair technician, and that's the issue. It was installed new about 6 years ago.

Connected to shore power a few days ago, I plugged in a 10 amp power saw to the house AC, and used it just fine for the first cut. Second cut, pulled the trigger and the house AC power shut down and the reverse polarity light came on. My brother has a marine electrical business, so I called him, and in troubleshooting he figured out that the AC power coming from the dock, thru the Shore/Off/Gen switch, and then to the Xantrex unit was good, but the power coming out of the Xantrex was bad.

Called Xantrex, took unit to local tech, and diagnosis was burned out AC transfer switch (or something like that), caused by high amp load. It was noted that AC from the dock goes thru a relatively new 30 amp breaker, and this did not trip on the momentary inrush current when the saw kicked on, but this inrush current was apparently enough to fry the Xantrex AC transfer switch.

We discussed whether this is some sort of design flaw, and decided that the only way to be safe is to install an outlet upstream of the Xantrex unit for possible high amp draws (such as power tools). When this was discussed with Xantrex they basically said "go pound sand", and reminded that they caution against using high amperage devices.

I guess I'll be rewiring another part of the boat, and paying $435 to Xantrex to repair a unit that somehow failed even when the circuit breaker did not trip.

[Dynamo1181]

I would say Xantrex fed you a crock.... Thats why many people are refusing to deal with them . I am shocked that they are able/willing to repair the unit vs give you a "really good deal" on another since you are a cherished customer.
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[SV Demeter]

behappy you found a locat xantrex tech to deal with. I cant even get a return call...

[Vasco]

I've given up on Zantrex moving to Victron.

[Dynamo1181]

Magnam is getting excellent reviews in the rv market place. It will be my next "good deal"!
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PS:
They stopped returning my call as well.
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[Beausoleil]

Originally Posted by Dynamo1181

Magnam is getting excellent reviews in the rv market place. It will be my next "good deal"!
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PS:
They stopped returning my call as well.
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Magnum's are great - with one caveat: We have the MS-2800, which we chose because it can handle (read that as pass through) two 30A feeds. The problem is that there's only a single neutral connection on the input and output - so you're not ABYC compliant when you have two 30A shorepower connections. Better to wire your boat for a single 50A 120/240V connection - or feed the MS-2800 with only one 30A connection. When in invert mode, the output L1 &L2 are bridged into a single 30A connection.

Minor, I know, but you should be aware of the limitation. I don't remember if Mastervolt or Victron have this capability/limitation.

[bazzer]

I have a older freedom 3000 which
I purchased at a yard sale for $20 but of course it needed repair, the main problem was the 110 transfer relays were burnt out the cost of repair by Ernie in Vallejo was 300 bucks and he sold me a control panel for 115 bucks. I installed it myself and made several calls to Xantrex. I alway got through to a real person very quickly That being said I am told that the newer full sine wave inverter/chargers are not as reliable as the older models. It is recommended that larger loads are routed via a dual input dual output model. It is also wise to put a breaker on the output with a lower rating than the Inverter. Just because you have a 30 amp breaker on the shore that might not completely protect your in inverter