Converter, Heart Interface Inverter/Battery Charger

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vballmom

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Feb 19, 2017
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So frustrated!  This wonderful 1995 Winnebago Luxor some days has me at my wits end.

Every weekend we take our Luxor to horse shows. Here is my problem.

When I plug into shoreline on Friday night, I leave my house batteries on. We have air conditioning, tv and microwave. But in 24 hours we have nothing, plus my batteries are dead (house and sometimes starter batteries. )

So another weekend, I run only on generator and the same thing happens.

I call the local RV service center to get some ideas (Because in March I had them check out my shoreline and they concluded that we needed to replace the transfer switch, so we did. )  Now they think it might be a converter. I CANNOT find it anywhere!  I have a Heart Interface Freedom 20 Inverter/Battery Charger, is it possible that I don't have a converter?

Or any ideas on what might be happening?

Thanks - Les
 
Hi Les,

In some travel trailers they have a 'box' (converter) that only is designed to power whatever 12 volt lights, etc are in the trailer and not charge the batteries.  So there is a bit of terminology confusion, chargers/inverters in RVs will usually power whatever loads present and keep the battery bank charged.

It does sound like your transfer switch was bad and it does sound like your Freedom charger/inverter might be bad. (Inverter - changes DC to AC.)
 
Thanks John -

I will search in the forum for suggestions on them.

Unless you have any thoughts??? ;D

L
 
http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Freedom%20series%201.pdf


Just in case you didn't have info on the heart interface. I also have a 1995 Luxor and have had the transfer switch and Heart inverter go out at the same time. The Heart 20 has a built in contactor that switches the 120 volt circuits however the AC will not run on the inverter, that circuit is eliminated from the inverter. I believe the transfer switch is powered by 12v so when the batteries run out of charge it would also disconnect its internal transfer switch.

You certainly have a confusing situation, when mine went out I only had to replace an internal transformer but added a provision that allows me to completely bypass it and carry on temporarily.
 
Just heard from the RV repair shop, that it is the entire inverter/charger that is out.  I was hoping it was just a part inside like you @catblaster

So now it is shopping for a new one.

L
 
You might look around further. Many RV shops won't much around inside electronic components and just replace everything. Simpler for them and its your money they are spending.  Further, Xantrex no longer has parts available for the older Heart Interface devices, but they can sometimes be found online.

Be aware that the remote display panel is often unique to the brand/model of inverter/charger, so replacing the inverter often means a new remote panel as well.
 
  When I replaced the transformer on mine I ordered one from Allied Electronics that was slightly larger capacity and wired it into the spot where the old one was attached to the circuit board. I also moved the board mounted fuse to a panel mounted fuse holder, the factory should have done this when they built it. Since it was discontinued there was no reason for me to think parts would still be available. It has been over 5 years and still going great.

Out of curiosity I would like to see yours just in case it could be fixed.
 
Switch mode power supplies and inverters are relatively complex beasts plus they would have a micro-controller and firmware. I took my Xantrex RS2000 apart (replaced with a Magnum last year) looking for the obvious toasted part but no luck. With a schematic it would be possible to troubleshoot but that's likely unavailable and you would have to reverse engineer the circuitry. Just not worth the time so I'm going to put it on Craigs List or fleaBay.

Recommend you replace it with a Magnum model.
 
Les
Try Colaw RV Salvage.
https://colawrvsalvage.com/contact-us/
The last time I was there they had 5-6 used  Heart Interface Freedom 20 Inverter/Chargers.
 
Ok...  The RV shop still has my Luxor.  So I have been looking at Magnum Inverter/Chargers (way too many to choose from). Do I need to look at a 2000W / 100Amp like the Freedom 20 was or look at something different?  So confused, but want to educate myself and make the right 1st choice than having to purchase another one down the road

Thanks - Les
 
I recommend the Magnum MS2012 2,000 watt pure sine wave model. I've bought two inverters from Don Rowe, good prices and really good tech support. Call them and discuss your situation with them. You will need the monitor panel and you can add auto generator start (nice feature) if you want.
 
Do I need to look at a 2000W / 100Amp like the Freedom 20 was or look at something different?
Click to expand...

Same spec is good, but slightly better (more amps or watts) is OK too. There is no particular reason to seek upgraded specs, but you might consider a pure sine (PSW) model instead of modified sine.  If you ever wanted to change to a residential fridge, pure sine would be an advantage, but it also costs substantially more. The Freedom SW 20 is the PSW equivalent to the Freedom 20 MSW. Magnum has similar offerings.

You can get a newer Freedom 20 or a similar Magnum.
Here's one source for the Freedom 20:
http://www.pplmotorhomes.com/parts/cfp/electrical-12v/inverters-xantrex-freedom/55-1808.htm
Freedom SW 2000:
https://www.donrowe.com/Xantrex-Freedom-SW-2000-Inverter-Charger-p/815-2012.htm
 
The MS2012 is a good unit, but not necessarily better than its competitors. I'm not a big Xantrex fan, but have no reason to bad mouth the Freedom SW 2000 either.  And I'm betting you will have to replace the remote control with either one, so that aspect is the same as well.

The only real question in my mind would be whether you get enough extra value from PSW vs MSW to pay the $$ difference. The battery charging is going to work the same either way, and if you mostly use shore or genset power, the inverter sine mode is of little significance.
 
That's a good choice. There are two 'versions' of that one with slightly different model numbers. One has a terminal strip where the 120V wiring terminates and the slightly less expensive model deletes the terminal strip and you connect 120V in/out with wire nuts. Don Rowe was out of the less expensive model but sold me the one with the terminating strip for the same price as the other model.

Call Don Rowe and discuss your requirements with them, they are really helpful (I have zero financial interest in them  ;) .)
 
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