R_nilsen@msn.com

Thanks all for your support. I talked with Xantrex this morning and they're inclined to agree that the breaker is probably defective. They are sending me a new one today (no charge). That's great service!! Now, I'll have to remove the inverter, take off the cowling, and remove 2 circut boards and lots of wires to get to the breaker... guess I'll take lots of pictures and tag everything carefully during the process. I'll post the proceedure when finished (if successful...) thanks again... Bob

Thanks for your reply Brett. Yes only one of the branch circuits fails, the breaker doesn't trip but the circuit goes out. By resetting "it" (the breaker on the side of the inverter) the power comes back on (it's like the contacts in the breaker itself are defective) and I don't know if you can replace those. The other branch circuit breaker seems fine and we haven't had any outages on that side of the motorhome. Also this happens when on shore power and hasn't happened while using the generator, not to say it won't, we just haven't been using the gen. much.

We have a Freedom 458 series 12 volt 2000 watt inverter/charger P/N 81-2022-12 (SD 15/20). Single feed in, dual breakers out (one 15 and one 20amp). Heart Interface remote panel installed in hallway. A IOTA ITS-50R 50 Amp Power Switch in the basement (replaced 2 years ago) due to short. The batteries were replaced 3 years ago and all connections are good and clean. All this in our 2001 National RV Tradewinds LTC 7390 Motorhome. The 20 Amp side of the circuit handles the two TV's, the microwave, and a few other outlets. The 15 amp supplies lights and receptacles. We've lived full time in our motorhome since 2005 so the systems have had a lot of use. For quite some time now the power goes out on the 20 amp circuit only. We flip the inverter breakers off and back on and the power comes back on. The breakers in the coach never trip. Sometimes this occurs under a heavy load like the TV running and oven or microwave being turned on. Other times the power outage occurs when only one TV is on and nothing else. I've isolated the microwave and both tv's by unplugging them one at a time and found the outage can still occur in all three cases. Also sometimes the power will come back on after a short period of time without going out to reset the breakers. We don't use the diesel generator much but haven't noticed any power outages while using the generator. The inverter seems to be charging the batteries fine also. We had a power surge about 18 months ago and had to replace the little fuse inside the inverter cowling. I'm thinking about replacing the inverter with a new one (doesn't look too difficult). Was just wondering if someone knew of some circuit troubleshooting that should be done first. ***any ideas would be greatly appreciated as well as links to a good supplier of Xantrex inverters*** Thanks Bob

Well the weather has cooled here now about 20 deg cooler than last week and moving the thermostat up on the cooling fins, restricting the drain, seems to have improved the efficiency of the refrigerator both on gas and electric. The refer inside temp is dropping to 34 deg at night both on gas or electric. I'm still going to install the muffin fans as soon as I can find a good source for them. The temps are going back up to near 100 later this week. thanks Brett and Jimmy for your help... We priced a replacement (about $3500) so we'll just keep on tweaking this one for as long as we can. bob

Thanks, Brett & Jimmy for the info. The door seal seems to be working properly. I noticed the drip tube had no restrictor in it so I installed a rock that still lets droplets by. I moved the thermistat on the cooling fins up also. Waiting to see if that helps, also will look at installing a fan tomorrow if there's still a problem. I'm hoping I can remove the roof vent cap and put the fan in there somehow and routing the 12 volt wiring down and back behind the refer rather than sliding the refer out to put one near the upper back. thanks again for your help...

Correction...( the temp on the inside of the Refrigerator has been rising not dropping). Also, it has been very hot here (mid- to high 90s) and the Refrigerator is on the sunny side of the coach. Not sure what the dollar bill test is but when I close the door on one there is some tension when pulling one out. The Refrigerator is defrosted and there's very little ice on the fins. After a full night of the door being closed the inside temp made it down to 39 last night on the highest setting in gas mode. It won't go below 45 on the electric mode. Thanks, Brett, for your imput.

We have a Dometic New Dimensions refrigerator model NDR 1292 in our 2001 Tradewinds Motorhome. For the last couple of weeks the temp on the inside of the refrigerator has been dropping. I checked a couple of troubleshooting websites and thought I would check the electric side first as the refrigerator worked fine on gas. The recommended ohm reading on the electric heaters was in range. The 12Volt fuse was fine. Now the refrigerator is barely keeping temps of 41 deg. on gas. The seals on the door are in pretty good shape. Has anyone had simular problems and found a reasonable cure?...

Thanks Brett. I downloaded Xantrex troubleshooting guide this morning http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/275/DocServe.aspx and replaced the 1/4 amp 250V fuse and all is working well now. I couldn't find a 1/4 amp fuse in our area so I replaced with a 1/2 amp fuse which I'll replace when I can find a 1/4 amp fuse.

Thanks Brett for your input. Unfortunatly there's no fuse on the 120 VAC incoming line. If there was I probably wouldn't be having problems. There is a fuse on the P+ cable going to the house batteries and I checked for continuity across that fuse and found it to be ok. I have the Fredom 458 Owners manual which covers operation, batteries, charging batteries, installation, and a troubleshooting led chart (which is how I came up with the idea that the inverter is not recognizing the incoming 120V). I was just wondering if there's a internal fuse to protect the unit. I guess I'll try the Xantex tech support # next. thanks again...

The electrical service that we were plugged into shorted out (the neutral wires and lug melted. I immediatly tripped the breaker at the pole as I knew there was something wrong with the service. After getting the service repaired we plugged back into the shore power. Our inverter does not seem to be charging the coach batteries now. The charge light flashes at one second intervals indicating no shore power present. I checked the shore power at the power relay and verified that 120 volts is being sent to the inverter. I also unhooked shore pwr. and started the generator but the same condition exists. Can inverters be repaired or do we need to replace it? I'm using my car charger to charge the house batteries which I checked fluids in and topped off. The house batteries are only 1 year old. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We believe the reason for the shore power service failure (30 amp) was because we overloaded it by having too many appliances on at once, air, an extra freezer and tv's all at once. Once we solve the inverter problem should we do an equalizer charge?