I have a small 20-foot Born Free with Freedom 10 charger/inverter. I left it parked for two nights at a friend's house. The inverter was on, and the only thing plugged in was a low consumption Engel fridge. The battery was absolutely completely dead when I went to start it this morning.My question is, if I run the inverter on accident for too long, shouldn't the battery isolator protect the front battery?

Well Land, The isolator should have maintained the separation of the chassis (engine) and coach (house) batteries, but I guess it did not. Even if the inverter was installed by Born Free, that does not mean it was done right. But as for dead, I do not know of an electric refrigerator that will not do harm to any normal house bank in two days. The Engel coolers that I have known still have a battery drain that is a lot like leaving the parking lights on. Not many vehicles can do that for two days. I suggest that: You determine that the Freedom 10 I connected to the house bank. You test the isolator to determine if it is functioning properly. If the isolator is a BIRD or CDsolenoid, the device can stick or the contacts weld and then you have your case. In the boat business that the depression killed, I used to replace more than a few of the contactor kind isolators in any season. Matt

"The inverter was on, and the only thing plugged in was a low consumption Engel fridge."You misunderstood the consumption of the fridge, and draining the battery completely down has greatly harmed the battery. Running half the time at 3 amps or so for two full days would use about 80 amp hours just for the fridge. Far more than 99% of all RV single batteries could handle.

Hey Matt, The Freedom 10 is definitely connected to the house bank. The odd thing is that the fridge and house lights were working fine. What is the best way to test the battery isolator? Thanks a lot. LL

When you went out in the morning, battery was absolutely completely dead: are you referring to house battery or chassis battery (i.e. engine would not start)??In post immediately above, it sounds like your house bank is not low (i.e. above 12 VDC). Please, post actual voltages, much better for diagnostics than saying "battery dead" or "house lights working".

I should have tested the batteries, but we were blocking someone's way to get to work and we had to get on the highway, so we jumped it and took off. Our house batteries seemed fine. The fridge was working, all lights still turned on in the coach. However, the chassis battery was completely drained (would not start). Sorry for my lack of terminology. To clear things up, we have a Freedom 10 inverter that's wired to two house batteries, and from there, it goes up to the chassis battery with an isolator between. Now I'm a bit freaked about leaving my inverter on at all. Some of my research has made me think a Xantrex ECHO battery charger may help?

Dead Battery Question | Good Sam Community

landlordy
Explorer
Dec 18, 2017
Hey Matt,

The Freedom 10 is definitely connected to the house bank. The odd thing is that the fridge and house lights were working fine. What is the best way to test the battery isolator?

Thanks a lot.

LL
Lwiddis
Explorer II
Dec 18, 2017
"The inverter was on, and the only thing plugged in was a low consumption Engel fridge."

You misunderstood the consumption of the fridge, and draining the battery completely down has greatly harmed the battery. Running half the time at 3 amps or so for two full days would use about 80 amp hours just for the fridge. Far more than 99% of all RV single batteries could handle.
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Dec 18, 2017
Well Land,

The isolator should have maintained the separation of the chassis (engine) and coach (house) batteries, but I guess it did not. Even if the inverter was installed by Born Free, that does not mean it was done right. But as for dead, I do not know of an electric refrigerator that will not do harm to any normal house bank in two days.

The Engel coolers that I have known still have a battery drain that is a lot like leaving the parking lights on. Not many vehicles can do that for two days.

I suggest that:
You determine that the Freedom 10 I connected to the house bank.
You test the isolator to determine if it is functioning properly.

If the isolator is a BIRD or CDsolenoid, the device can stick or the contacts weld and then you have your case. In the boat business that the depression killed, I used to replace more than a few of the contactor kind isolators in any season.

Matt

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