Hello. I have a 2000 dutchstar with the xantrex freedom combi 458 inverter/charger. it keeps popping the fuse on the inverter when i try to charge my batteries. It hums, getting louder till it pops the fuse. And when I'm on battery power through the inverter, I get noise from my gfci outlets and noise from my elec motors (fans)I'm hooked up to shore power currently. When I disconnect the batteries to charge with an external charger none of my 12 volt lights ect will work.(120 still works) I'm GUESSING the converter/charger side of my inverter is not working. From what I understand, when pluged into shore power some of the power splits off to the converter to power the 12 volt system. This doesn't seem to be happening with the batteries disconnected. Still GUESSING, that the power isnt reaching or isnt being converted to 12 volt and that I'm running my 12 volt system off the batteries since i get nothing with the batteries disconnected and the batteries seem to discharge too fast considering I'm plugged into shore power.Also, before the fuse started to blow, while charging, (and the engine batteries disconnected) i get power to my dash system and from what I understand, these are supposed to be two separate systems. What can I do to check the inverter,charger before I buy a new one. Open it up and take a look? I have a multimeter if that will help.Or maybe I have a short some place else and thats causing the fuse to pop? The batteries are new. Any help would be appreciated.

You don't mention any brand names of your coach or converter. That said in general converters are not designed to be run with no batteries connected. The reason for this is the converter needs the capacitive effect of the batteries. The power produced by the converter is not "clean" and some converters won't even produce power if they don't see a minimum voltage on the output side. It is very possible to damage a converter by operating it without batteries installed.

Is the cooling fan operating within the inverter/charger when you are trying to charge your batteries?

Measure the battery voltage at the battery terminals. Charger OFF voltage should be 12 something. With the charger ON voltage should be 13-14 something. Report back to us.

Thanks for the responses. I have a 2000 dutchstar with the xantrex freedom combi 458 inverter/chargerthe fuse was blowing before I disconnected them. No, the fan doesnt come on. Should it come on as soon as the charger is turned on? Or after it gets hot?The battery voltage was 12 something with the charger off and 13 something with it on but will not stay on when the fuse blown. Assuming fully charged batteries, what should the maintenance (to keep bat topped off) be?

You say the batt's are new did this start after you installed the new batt's? If so are you sure the new batt's are connected right?

inverter/converter problems? | Good Sam Community

ElDoctor
Explorer
Jan 12, 2017
Doug. it is the fuse on the unit. the 25 amp. Im as sure as I can be that the batteries are connected correctly. Like I said, we did them one at a time and it was done by an interstate employee. I disconnected the chassis batteries because one was dead/had a dead cell or short and I thought that might be tripping the fuse on the inverter.

I replaced the chassis batteries and reconnected them and everything seemed to work fine for a spell but is now doing the same thing.

When I push the charge button to charge the batteries ( and I just did) there was a hum that got louder (seems to be the same sound I get from my gfci outlets when inverting) then the fuse blows on the inverter. sometimes when i turn the charger on the fan comes on right away and sometimes not but the fan sounds fine (no rattling). Also, the cables get warm pretty quick. not hot and no burning smells but warm.

Walmart sells a battery maintainer for 58 bucks. Can I hook them up to my batteries to maintain them without disconnecting them? Also, can i hook it up to all 4 of my house batteries at once?
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Jan 12, 2017
All of your house batteries should always be hooked up together. The chassis battery (ies) will be on a separate circuit and may or may not be charged by the inverter/charger.
I assume you have 4 6V batteries is you have a bank of 4. 2 will need to be connected in series to create a 12V circuit and then the 2 12V circuits will need to be connect in parallel to increase the capacity without creating a 24V circuit. There are some easy to understand diagrams here but there are many good instructional information out there.
Batteries/serial/parallel
MrWizard
Moderator
Jan 12, 2017
"Doug. it is the fuse on the unit. the 25 amp. Im as sure as I can be that the batteries are connected correctly. Like I said, we did them one at a time and it was done by an interstate employee. I disconnected the chassis batteries because one was dead/had a dead cell or short and I thought that might be tripping the fuse on the inverter. "

this sounds like the 120v input circuit breaker
not a 12v Dc output fuse

this would handle NOT just the power used for charging, but also the pass thru 120v power going to the outlets powered by the inverter

do you have an electric heater plugged into an outlet that is on the inverter circuit
if so you might be overloading the circuit
30amp main feeding 25amp input on a whole RV inverter, trying to charge and power heaters, too much 120v load
garry1p
Explorer
Jan 13, 2017
The fact the wires get warm/hot to touch in such a short time tell me the batteries may not be connected correctly or there is a short to ground in the cable going to the batteries.

Where are you checking the battery voltage?

The fuse is there to protect the wiring and sounds like it is doing its job.
ElDoctor
Explorer
Jan 13, 2017
So I turned the powershare dow to 20 amps and they are charging fine. Is this okay or is it a sign of coming issues?
Clay_Smith
Explorer
Jan 14, 2017
It is good that you turned it down to 20 amps.
That limits the current into the charger so that the 25 amp breaker for the charger no longer trips and the batteries charge at a slower rate, thereby not heating the cables so much.

For your safety, I recommend you have a professonel check things over.
wolfe10
Explorer
Jan 14, 2017
ElDoctor wrote:
So I turned the powershare dow to 20 amps and they are charging fine. Is this okay or is it a sign of coming issues?

Not really. 20 amps times 120 VAC= 240 watts divided by 12 volts would give just under 200 amps of battery charge! It would take a SERIOUSLY discharged large battery bank to accept more than 200 amps of charging.

How many amps are you showing on your remote panel for charge rate? My guess is that you are WAY, WAY under 200, so a power share of 20 would have no effect.
curleyrockwood
Explorer
Jan 15, 2017
El Doctor, You are talking about the "Power Share" on the remote panel, correct? Ok, so you have to adjust the panel according to the type of batteries and AH of your battery bank. The remote panel owner's manual shows how to adjust. Been there.. Don't call Zantrex, theyre pretty much worthless for technical support.

chris
tropical36
Explorer
Jan 15, 2017
ElDoctor wrote:
Hello. I have a 2000 dutchstar with the xantrex freedom combi 458 inverter/charger. it keeps popping the fuse on the inverter when i try to charge my batteries. It hums, getting louder till it pops the fuse. And when I'm on battery power through the inverter, I get noise from my gfci outlets and noise from my elec motors (fans)

I'm hooked up to shore power currently. When I disconnect the batteries to charge with an external charger none of my 12 volt lights ect will work.(120 still works) I'm GUESSING the converter/charger side of my inverter is not working. From what I understand, when pluged into shore power some of the power splits off to the converter to power the 12 volt system. This doesn't seem to be happening with the batteries disconnected. Still GUESSING, that the power isnt reaching or isnt being converted to 12 volt and that I'm running my 12 volt system off the batteries since i get nothing with the batteries disconnected and the batteries seem to discharge too fast considering I'm plugged into shore power.

Also, before the fuse started to blow, while charging, (and the engine batteries disconnected) i get power to my dash system and from what I understand, these are supposed to be two separate systems.

What can I do to check the inverter,charger before I buy a new one. Open it up and take a look? I have a multimeter if that will help.Or maybe I have a short some place else and thats causing the fuse to pop? The batteries are new.

Any help would be appreciated.

If you turn off the circuit breaker, feeding the inverter/converter, what is the battery voltage and do your lights...etc, work?
I'm sorta, kinda, thinking that your batteries aren't hooked up right or possibly have a shorted cell somewhere.
Are your batteries 6 or 12v and if 6v, then you need for each pair, to be connected in series, as in pos to neg. each pair then needs to be connected in parallel, as in pos to pos and neg to neg.
With 12v, then pos to pos and neg to neg.....

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