Foretravel Owners' Forum

Foretravel Motorhome Forums => Foretravel Tech Talk => Topic started by: jeff on November 20, 2010, 02:04:19 pm

Title: inverter setting
Post by: jeff on November 20, 2010, 02:04:19 pm
I don't believe my Inverter Charger is  set for the capacity, type and voltage of the house batteries..

Have a Freedon25 invertor that is approx 3 years old..

Will only charge to 12.8-13.0.  Have read manual twice and cannot locate how to change settings. And, not sure if this is the problem...batteries are good.  Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 
Title: Re: inverter setting
Post by: wolfe10 on November 20, 2010, 02:23:12 pm
On the older units, it was called "Setting the Dip Switches".  Tiny switches on the inverter itself that were set to "communicate" things like battery technology, battery bank size (in amp hrs), ambient temperature, etc.

Next generation had the same tiny switches, but located them to the back of the Xantrex remote.

Then they made them programmable from the front of the remote panel.

If a question of what generation you have/how to program it, call Xantrex with your inverter model number:  Xantrex (800) 446-6180 or 408 987-6030.

Brett Wolfe
Title: Re: inverter setting
Post by: jeff on November 20, 2010, 02:31:18 pm
Brett,

Thanks for the phone number and info..Will call Monday..Haven't had to dry camp yet, but checking out system for when we do.  Great help
Title: Re: inverter setting
Post by: Dave Head on November 20, 2010, 04:20:09 pm
Max with AGM during bulk charge is 14.2 to 14.3V. 130A is max current. From that point it should taper.
 
Come off shore power, run on batteries for a few hours until you are down to 12.5 with little load then turn shore power back on. See where you go.
 

Title: Re: inverter setting
Post by: Barry & Cindy on November 20, 2010, 05:47:21 pm
Jeff,
 
We had a Freedom 25 (2500 watt modified sine wave inverter, 120 amp charger) for over 8 years.
One day, a year ago it stopped charging, so we ourselves replaced it with a Xantrex ProSine 2.0 (2000 true sine wave watt inverter, 100 amp charger).
 
Modified sine wave inverters can damage some electronics. True sine wave inverters have the same 60 cycle sine wave as the electric utility and do not cause any problems.
 
If you have the inside control panel without digital display, the back of the panel (remove with 4 small screws) has DIP switches. Two of the DIP switches are set based upon type of battery.  Another dip switch indicates battery temperature, which controls charging voltage
(warmer battery, lower voltage).
 
If your panel has digital readout, I will have to look at manual to see how to set it.
 
If battery charger 'thinks' battery is hot, charging voltage will be low, but higher than 12.8-13.0.
 
If battery terminals are clean & tight at charger and battery, charger may be the problem.
 
Possibly, you could find a 40 amp intelligent battery charger to see if does the job while you figure out what to do. You would plug it in to an outlet in a bay that is NOT on the inverter and when generator or shore is on battery would be charged. In this case you would keep Freedom charger off. This way, you could determine if your batteries have a problem.
 
This type of charger may help.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=black+%26+decker+40+amp+charger&num=100&hl=en&rlz=1Q1DLUS_enUS354US354&prmd=s&resnum=5&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9621901545072132882&ei=Kk7oTJrEEoG8lQfpgsCvCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEUQ8wIwAA# (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=black+%26+decker+40+amp+charger&num=100&hl=en&rlz=1Q1DLUS_enUS354US354&prmd=s&resnum=5&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=9621901545072132882&ei=Kk7oTJrEEoG8lQfpgsCvCQ&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CEUQ8wIwAA#)
 
Barry