HELP CLASS B SHORE POWER ISSUE 220/110

[landlordy]

I'm sick over this. I just got a 1997 born free 4x4 class b and I camped the first night and shore power worked perfect. I brought it home and found my shed actually had a 30amp plug so i plugged in so i could use the ac while i worked on it but noticed it didnt move to "ac connected". Long story short it was a 220 in my shed from the former owner having a welder. I unplugged and converted the plug to a proper 110 30amp and it still does not go to "ac connected", however everything else still works (lights, outlets, microwave, tv) on dc. I flipped the main breakers and it didnt work. So it doesnt seem I fried everthing but it does seem like I fried something. My first rv (upgrade from van) and ive owned it for about 3 days im so bummed. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[landlordy]

Mr Wizard thank you. I believe I have located it left of center basically behind the push button breakers. However, it is mounted to the floor of the unit not a circuit board? It has a screw on each side holding one green wire on left and i believe 2 green wires on the right. The it has 3 connectors coming off the top (like speaker wire connecter) that are red, red, and orange. Does this sound like it? Other than that the only thing I see that sounds similar to what you described its looking at the unit from the front mounted to the inside of the front on a circuit board but it is on the right side to the right of the push button breakers. It basically forms the right front corner of the unit and then the main board goes down that right side. This circuit board has a bunch of wire connections and 2 tiny fuses and then a plastic looking black box that I thought might also be it? Sorry if that all sounded like jargon. We are hot on the trail. Also I am about to post one more comment from another person in the born free forum. Let me know what you guys make of it, I think he might be onto something.

[MrWizard]

top off
looking from the front
the pass thru relay is left of center
the board is mounted vertical, the relay pokes out from the board ,
a plastic box with its top pointing to the rear of the inverter

NOTE
with no intervening external TS switch, the F-10 combo would be in charge mode anytime you has shore power (IF it is working)

for inverter mode you still have to use the inside control panel switch (if you have one)
or the Face mounted switch on the F-10 above the push button breakers
i'm thinking the 220 spiked the main control board and shut everything down
and will need repair

[enblethen]

Yes, it could be.
Use an Ohm meter to check for continuity or plug it in and check for 120 volts AC at a safe place on the input of the inverter.
Inspect the splices between the cord connector and the inverter.

[landlordy]

Could it be the actual plug of my shore power had some feature from letting the 220 in? I know wishful thinking but what the heck.

[landlordy]

ok I removed the cover of the freedom 10 and everything looks amazing. Nothing is burnt in any way.I even found some very very small fuses inside it that are in tact. How do I know what is the transfer relay (sorry for my bad terminology I still don't get it lol)? I see the big red and black battery cables going into some copper looking thing from a high school science project and then other than that only a couple of circuit boards and one little thing that looks almost like a car amplifier w the neg leads screwed to it.

[enblethen]

Yes, the feed through relay(transfer relay, bad term for this) is in the inverter. When there is no 120 volt shore power the relay contacts are closed to feed from the batteries via the inverter.

[landlordy]

Ok guys here is the report. 100% without a doubt the wiring comes in from shore plug straight into the freedom 10. Then the "ac out" goes into the breaker panel w main and breakers for the appliances. There is also a control panel above the breakers that show me battery function etc. The freedom 10 does have that 30amp reset breaker/button on the front and as someone has said maybe that is enough protection for this kind of wiring for my rv? It is a 20ft 4x4 sports van w only the basics. It has no water and no generator. Only has a microwave, cooktop, fridge, rooftop ac unit and 2 110v outlets. I am under the impression that the "transfer relay" is inside the freedom 10 and I am therefor ready to pull that bad boy out right now lol. I can not find anything else at all that could be the relay, and the owners manual makes it sound internal as well. Please let me know do I need to disconnect the battery even under the hood? Can I just power everything down and disconnect the deep cycle batteries and that is good? Feel like we are making progress lol

[Bobbo]

landlordy wrote:
However, after looking at that diagram I do have one circular thing above the inverter which I thought was just a splitter (but its been making me wonder the whole time), but maybe its the transfer switch. It has 2 BIG red wires screwed to it, one of which goes to the breaker panel.

If it was a transfer switch, it would need 3 BIG wires to it. It would need HOT and NEUTRAL from shore power in a sheath, HOT and NEUTRAL from generator in a sheath, and HOT and NEUTRAL to breaker box in a sheath.

[MrWizard]

My 1995 DP came with a Freedom 10
And a MW that was 700w

So power went to the Transfer Switch > breaker box > then one circuit to Freedom > to four outlets

What ever body keeps calling the transfer switch, is the internal 'pass thru' relay
If you have 120v shore/generator it is allowed to pass thru to the outlets
If there is no power available and you turn on the INVERTER is use the battery to make 120v for that circuit
The Freedom is a combo unit, it is also the battery charger , 50 amp battery charge, when 120v power is available

There is no need for another converter charger, as is being mentioned in some posts, although i have never seen one wired in the manner the op is describing

I don't think He Will get any help from Xantrex , regarding parts and repair or wiring diagrams, i have searched the web, as have others
I think there is a guy in Arizona who repairs them, depending on the amount of damage
From the descriptions from the poster
I think his wiring is , shore power > TS
The Freedom > TS
TS > Breaker panel
In other words if power is available the Freedom is out of the circuit
But that means the Freedom would not be used for charging
If no shore power the freedom is the power source (if turned on)

Like others, i think the first owner, who worked for BF, modified the RV and installed the Freedom in that manner
The 220 may have fried the TS
The 110v the op is reading might be coming from the freedom using the batteries ? Which will soon be dead

Two big Red wires
Sounds like a fuse or circuit breaker from DC battery power to the inverter, Not 120v

These forums don't have picture uploading
You have to use another image host to store your pictures
Then put the image link in your post
Try tiny pic, or Google picture storage
Also one of our moderators set up a upload link and picture storage
But I'm on my tablet and don't have the link handy
Maybe somebody else can post it here for you

[landlordy]

Hey guys I'm going to harbor freight now to grab a clamp on style meter to check the power into the inverter and the power coming out of the inverter. As far as the transfer switch, based on what I read in the manual, I was thinking it was inside the inverter. However, after looking at that diagram I do have one circular thing above the inverter which I thought was just a splitter (but its been making me wonder the whole time), but maybe its the transfer switch. It has 2 BIG red wires screwed to it, one of which goes to the breaker panel. I have listed this on the born free forum and had little response. One guy is helping me a great deal but that is about it. Can someone please explain to me how this ancient photo uploader works so I can attach a couple pictures.? Thanks again guys learning so much.

[j-d]

The gist I'm getting, is the "Transfer Switch" within the Heart Interface unit, is to let it provide 120 VAC from Battery, WHEN there is no 120 VAC Input to the Heart Interface.

In that gist, there is some other, external, "Transfer" to accommodate 120 VAC coming from Either Shore Tie --OR-- Onboard Generator. If this is true, there's a Transfer device of some kind, then probably a Breaker Panel, feeding the Heart Interface unit.

Transfer can be an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) --OR-- a Receptacle, usually in the Short Tie Cable Storage area. To do a "manual transfer" the Shore Tie Cable gets plugged into that Receptacle and the Generator is started up. In the following diagram, the Transfer Point is marked "SWITCH."


We need some OP's who have or had BF coaches to help explain how they're set up. Some of the posts here suggest the 120 VAC input is straight from Switch to Heart Interface, so when the Heart Interface detects NO 120 VAC on it's Input, it produces 120 VAC from the Batteries, to AC Out, and the whole coach is served by the Sub Panel. In this scenario, there is no Main Panel.

[enblethen]

If this was the intent, the wiring would have to be of sufficient size to be protected by a thirty amp breaker in pedestal.
Microwave along could overload the 1000 watt inverter without taking battery charging into account.
I believe someone has modified the installation.

[Bobbo]

If Born Free intended for the inverter to power the whole MH, I can see it wired that way. The only downside is the need to turn off the converter/charger when that happens. I wonder if they wired in some kind of control to do that.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

It may well be that relay sense fried. Dedicated power is not uncommon when a thirty amp relay is used. Regardless of inverter potential.

I diverted generator power. One hotel load goes to kitchen and bedroom, the diversion goes to the 220 ampere 28 volt charger. The 4024 Trace uses a 60 amp relay but my humongous inductive loads will not see that path.

One of my extra Klixxon 15 amp breakers is for troubleshooting. In such a case as this, it would go inline before the inverter.

Switch off all the rig's breakers including master.

Switch off the inverter if possible.

Enable circuit FAULT: end test

No fault: Switch on converter breaker and test for function if it does not fault the beaker right off the bat.

A watt meter inline would be of great help. Wattmeter agrees with load is a good sign.

And so on. One by one. Repeat, test, verify with wattmeter.

Wattmeter means Kill-A-Watt or clone.

[road-runner]

I know little about the Freedom units so this is all speculation. I'd think there's a chance that the transfer switch itself, a relay, is just fine because it possibly never engaged. Instead, the circuit board that operates the relay could be fried (not necessarily visible). If you're lucky only the power supply for the control circuits would be gone, or double-lucky if there an internal fuse that blew before any damage occurred. Equally good chance however that one or more circuit boards got toasted.