Generator/Inverter question

Thank you!!!!!!

Our 1997 Safari Sahara has a Heart Freedom inverter/charger with the wall-mounted remote inside the coach. Choices are “off” and “on” via a rocker switch on the remote. In reading over the manual after our purchase last summer, I found that one of the DIP switches on the back of the remote controls battery charging – one position is “charge when the inverter is turned on,” the other position is “charge continuously.”

I found mine was set to the “charge when the inverter is turned on” position by the previous owner. He also installed two BatteryMinders to maintain the fully charged battery banks instead of relying on the inverter.

Makes perfect sense to me. I turn the inverter on when I’m off-grid or when I choose to charge through the inverter, otherwise I usually leave the inverter off when hooked to shore power.

Wayne

Your year RV and model, show that you have an Inverter/CHARGER, not just a plain Inverter. Your model, when 120 power is supplied(Shore or Genset) the Inv/Charger AUTOMATICALLY charges the coach battery bank. IF you have the Inverter ON, the Inverter goes into standby mode(NOT inverting) while you have the Genset or Shore Power connected. On your Inverter remote wall panel. You can turn the Inverter section On and OFF. The charger is automatic, but you CAN turn the charger off, but there is no reason to do that. The fact you have the overtemp fault light means that the Charger section is not functioning as long as the Overtemp is ON. It is BEST to leave the Inverter side OFF all the time unless you want the Inverter to supply 120 power when no Genset or Shore power. The reason is-- if you forget you have the Inverter ON, then when you disconnect 120 power the Inverter will drain your coach batteries in 3 to 4 days. The 50/30/20/15/5 Shore power should be set to 15 or 20. This reduces the amount of 120 amp draw the charger will pull in bulk charge mode. Real helpful if NOT on 50 amp shore power. The difference between 50 shore and 20 shore setting is just about 1 to 2 hours more(20 setting) to fully recharge the coach batteries. To reset the Overtemp, you turn off all 120 power, disconnect the 12 volt positive cable at the Inverter for 10 minutes, reconnect and then supply 120 power(Shore or genset), If the overtemp light returns you need to get it in for diagnosis. Doug

My 1996 Trace inverter has three positions. Off, Charge only and set to standby. Set to standby is the inverter on position, where it will charge the battery while the generator is running.

So yes I must turn on the inverter at it's remote panel while running the generator to have it recharge. I could leave it in 'charge only' and then it will sit there waiting for the generator to come on, and then start charging. Leaving it in 'charge only' will not consume much power daily.

If left 'on' or set to standby, it will discharge the battery fairly quickly, as it will be providing 120 volt power to all receptacles, any USB adapters, and consuming around 2 amp hours all the time it is in set to standby from the 12 volt battery.

Your RV is also not very energy efficient. Mine consumes about 35 amp hours per day to run the CO and propane detectors and the refrigerator controls.

The 'incoming breaker size' is a great feature if you need it, otherwise can be left on 50 amps forever without any problems. What it is there for is in case you might be using a really small generator, you can set it at say 5 amps. In that case, the inverter will monitor the pass through power, and it that exceeds 5 amps, it will stop charging. Yet if it only sees say 3 amps going through it, it will charge, but only use 2 amps at 120 volts to slowly charge the battery and not exceed 5 amp total. It can also be helpful while plugging into someone's home, if you trip the circuit breaker, because the household loads and your RV exceed the 15 amp circuit breaker limit.

At 5 amp charge rate (at 120 volt input) it might take all night to recharge your battery, but it will get done. Normally I have mine set at 30 amps. However if I where to plug into a 20 amp circuit, I might set it for 15 amps, to not exceed that amperage while charging the batteries.

While charging at 70 amps, the charger might be consuming 7 amps 120 volts. So any setting over 15 amps while running on the generator will allow the charger to run at 100% of it's capacity. Leaving it on 50 amps forever will not harm anything, even while plugged into a 30 amp circuit, or even when visiting friends and plugged into a long extension cord and 15 amp receptacle. You just have the 'advantage' of setting the inverter to limit power consumption while charging to reduce the possibility of tripping a incoming circuit breaker with this feature. It is a handy feature for someone using a 1,000 watt lightweight and quiet generator to charge the batteries. But basically it is not needed by most RV'ers with a 4,000 watt and larger generator.

I can also limit my charge max rate in 10% steps from 7 amps to 70 amps! Normally I set mine to only about 40% max charge rate, as high charge rates can warm the battery. I also normally have a long time that I can charge the battery, not from a generator. If I was dry camping, and running the generator, I would have the charge rate at 100%, to lessen run time and generator noise!

Good luck!

Fred.

SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
We have a XANTREX inverter and an Onan onboard generator.


Should the inverter be turned on when the generator is?

there is a "battery state" guage on the left that is red when low, yellow medium charge and green totally charged.

I noticed the other day when running the generator, it didn't charge when the inverter was off, when I turned it on, it charged quicker.

Also, there is a fault overtemp light that is on. Husband checked the inverter and it isn't overheating. There is plenty of room around it in the compartment.

The incoming breaker amps are 50, 30, 20, 15 and 5. Should I put it on 50?

thanks in advance :) this is all pretty techincal for me, so hopefully, I've given enough details.

Carefully go thru your inverter setup procedure step by step.

http://xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/FreedomRemote-445-0191-01-01_Rev-A(Artwork).pdf

there is no need to have the inverter on during charge cycle.

We also have the Freedom 458 combi in the Newmar, and are replacing it due to similar problems, they get old and do not charge to the proper voltage level if at all.

When your generator is on line, the automatic transfer switch will switch the power from it to the coach and this will be the same power 120VAC to the inverter as the shore power would be. You should see an increase in voltage as the generator comes on line( it has a delay) so just watch the voltage rise as the gen/set takes the load.

with the generator running you don't need "invert" mode but you do need "Charge" mode

leave the switch ON, unless the RV is in storage
the inverter will auto switch from invert to charge when the generator is running or shore power is connected
the 50,30,20 setting is used to tell the charger section how much 120v power is availble for charging and "pass thru"
and to control the charge rate when the batteries are low and you turn on some appliance, like the MW or coffee maker etc.
it reduces/controls power used so you don't overload and trip the shore breaker

how big is the onboard Onan ?
set the power at 30 or 50, depending on your generator

if parked in DAD's drive way you might set it at 15 or 20, depending on whats available

SuzzeeeQ2012 wrote:
The incoming breaker amps are 50, 30, 20, 15 and 5. Should I put it on 50?

If you are plugged into 50 amp supply then yes.

You want the battery charged to by all means turn on the inverter.

Might help to post the Xantrex model number.

Why do you turn the invertor off? I'm not saying it's wrong, just I've never heard of doing it?

Bill