Suspect my Xantrex inverter/ charger is dying.

[CompuNerd]

Circa 2003 Xantrex Freedom 25 inverter/ charger, with Link 2000 remote control panel. Blue Sea main panel. Disconnected from shore power, genset not running. No AC or DC loads on at the main panel.

Symptoms: when Link 2000 inverter function is turned on, the two-pole inverter breaker's power LED continually flickers, and the reverse polarity LED flickers intermittently. When the Link's inverter function is turned off, flickering stops. From my admittedly short (heh) understanding of electricity, intermittent AC output to the panel is bad enough, but reverse polarity (indicating neutral and ground are swapped) is a Very Bad Thing. Any thoughts on root cause from you wise and experienced trawler folk?

Ideally I'd like to put off a new charger/ inverter purchase until next spring, but you all know how plans never survive contact with reality. Many grateful thanks aforehand for your suggestions. Cheers!

 

[gsholz]

The inverter is probably just in standby mode. That is, it will test for loads every few seconds. Put a 100W load on it and see if it still flickers. Alternately, disable the standby mode.

 

[CompuNerd]

I'll do that today and report back. Thank you, G!

 

[syjos]

Do a reset of the inverter to factory settings.

That usually solves 50% of issues with Xantrex inverters.

 

[SteveK]

Circa 2003 Xantrex Freedom 25 inverter/ charger, with Link 2000 remote control panel. Blue Sea main panel. Disconnected from shore power, genset not running. No AC or DC loads on at the main panel.

Symptoms: when Link 2000 inverter function is turned on, the two-pole inverter breaker's power LED continually flickers, and the reverse polarity LED flickers intermittently. When the Link's inverter function is turned off, flickering stops. From my admittedly short (heh) understanding of electricity, intermittent AC output to the panel is bad enough, but reverse polarity (indicating neutral and ground are swapped) is a Very Bad Thing. Any thoughts on root cause from you wise and experienced trawler folk?

Ideally I'd like to put off a new charger/ inverter purchase until next spring, but you all know how plans never survive contact with reality. Many grateful thanks aforehand for your suggestions. Cheers!

With no shore power connected the main breaker led should not flicker. If it does then power is leaking backwards.
The neutral bus must be separate for shore and inverter. Breakers that are only powered from shore have led and those neutral wires must not go to the inverter neutral buss. It will cause this flickering or dim lit.

 

[CompuNerd]

So without a load, both LEDs for the inverter as power source flicker. With load, no flickering. But I will definitely check the separate bus issue. No loads are powered only from shore except the charger/ inverter itself. The AC bus has three potential sources: shore, genset, inverter. Lockout sliders to select shore/ genset and shore/ inverter. I'm pretty sure this is tough to picture in the abstract, but at least I know where to look. An inverter reset is definitely in the cards.

Thank you for the suggestions, it helps me increase my understanding of the systems and their operation!

 

[SteveK]

The AC bus has three potential sources: shore, genset, inverter.

What bus, then you go on to say switches.
Line input to main AC breaker can be switched from shore to Genny or to inverter? If inverter line in is also fed by inverter load out will that not create a loop confusing the inverter? I may be misunderstanding your setup.