General Boards > Technical Support
Coach Batteries / Xantrex /
John Fearnow:
The xantrex heat sensors go bad routinely. When my sensor went it gave an extremely high reading shutting the unit down. at least one fix to that problem is to disconnect it from the inverter plug-in connection. just disconnecting it from the battery will not solve the problem.
My xantrex prosine 2000 in our 2002 Thunder sporadically but not infrequently shuts down resulting in loss of the pass through AC. I have always been able to resolve the problem by "rebooting" using the on-off switch on the inverter unit itself. This can be a pain in the a.. but i have learned to keep access to the inverter switch clear and hope my back survives bending over far enough to reach into the cargo bay and get to the switch. If you are loosing only the DC lighting then this is probably not the problem.
John Fearnow
2002 Patriot-Thunder
Dave Porter:
My latest problem turns out to be that the Xantrex unit itself has failed. I was really concerned that because I hadn't winterized the coach (relying on the Hydro-Hot for heat) that I was in for bigger problems if I didn't act quickly. After revisiting everything that I had previously done, I convinced myself that I needed professional help and rather quickly. Luckily there is a CW about 10 miles from where I store the unit, so off we went. Their investigation said the Xantrex unit itself had died as there was no 12V output anywhere. They say they called the service center in TN, but were told that the unit was no longer (or was ever) repairable. Not really sure about that…but working in the computer business I’ve seen some of the same logic applied to some of our products. In short, a unit replacement is required. "Luckily" CW had a closeout in another store of the exact same unit, so I have a new unit coming that at least has a 3 yr warranty.
One of the confounding events during all of this was why the Hydro-Hot wasn't working when plugged into shore power. I'm told (and it makes sense) that all the Hydro-Hot controls are all 12V....so no inverter output....no Hydro-Hot controls. And I think that explanation is partially correct as we couldn't force the diesel portion to fire up but there was some warm air coming from the vents (not forced air) that I suspect was convection from the AC heater portion of the Hydro-Hot.
So the big learning for me was how central the inverter is to normal daily life. Everyone had always described it in turns of providing AC power when no generator or shore line was being used. And at a simplistic level, that is correct. But the next layer seems to reveal that you need 12V for most everything in the coach.
When I had started the battery corrosion spring cleaning, I had luckily disconnected it from shore power, turned off the switches in the battery bay and proceeded with my cleaning. So I was reasonably sure that I hadn't done anything from that perspective. I've read some of the other postings suggesting an order to re-energizing the coach and I honestly can't say that if I did or did not turn the battery disconnect switch on before reintroducing shore power. I think the battery switch was on first, then shore power.....but I just don't remember. I guess I'm still questioning my own actions as to contributing to the Xantrex death but I'm not feeling as guilty as I had been. In the future I will follow the suggestion of hosing off the batteries as part of the coach cleaning process.
Our first clue that we had a problem was in going in to the coach, none of the DC lights (the halogens) would light. The overhead fluorescents were trying to come on (like a single bulb being partially lit) and the CO detector in the bedroom was also complaining about lack of power (or at least that my the conclusion) since nothing had been run in a week. Batteries at this point had deteriorated another couple of volts (now in the 8V range).
And just another footnote….I’m certainly going to rethink relying on using the Hydro-Hot as a means to avoid winterizing the coach. With the unit sitting at CW for the next week waiting for parts, I had them winterize the coach and they informed me that I had two cracked drain pipes (bathroom sinks) that were leaking. Normally Georgia doesn’t have the sustained cold winters we have experienced this year and we are/were hopeful that we’d be able to get some winter excursions in. So, maybe this is a question for a different thread but are there easy ways to winterize/de-winterize a coach for weekend use? Or am I just over-reacting?
Oh well, our first MH (we'd been camping in a pop-up for 23 years) and there is MUCH to learn....and boy are we learning. We have yet to have our first maiden voyage and we’re anxiously waiting for a much happier weekend adventure!
Thanks to all, again, for your helpful insights.
Richard And Babs Ames:
--- Quote from: Dave Porter ---One of the confounding events during all of this was why the Hydro-Hot wasn't working when plugged into shore power. I'm told (and it makes sense) that all the Hydro-Hot controls are all 12V....so no inverter output....no Hydro-Hot controls. And I think that explanation is partially correct as we couldn't force the diesel portion to fire up but there was some warm air coming from the vents (not forced air) that I suspect was convection from the AC heater portion of the Hydro-Hot.
/quote]
The thermostates requires 12 volts to function or to turn the 120 volt electric elememt on and off on the Aqua Hot and includes the AC units and refrigerator.
Your Inverter/Charger has two functions.
1. Inverter - Takes 12 DC volt power from the house batteries and changes to 120 AC when required and
2. Charger - Converts 120 AC to 12 DC to charge the house Battieiers.
Your charger function quit working so you used up all the 12 volt power without refilling the batteries. Hence no thermostats to control the 110 Aqua Hot.
--- End quote ---
Edward Buker:
Your Xantrex fail could be just a chance occurance or it could have been under a lot of stress due to a bad battery. Just one bad cell in one battery that is shorted will drag down the battery bank voltage and force the charger to ramp up the current supply and continuously charge at high rates. You should not over react to this and get new batteries, you just need to be sure that all cells have water in them that is over the plate level, that the cells behave the same from a water usage viewpoint, and that the charger brings the bank up voltage wise and drops the current level to a trickle charge of an amp or two without any load being drawn by the coach. This info is available on the status panel. The current being drawn in fully charged state is the best indicator that you have as to the state of health of your battery bank.
I live in coastal Alabama and have been wrestling with the same cold/winterizing issue. Down to about 25 degrees I have had no problems with just using the electric hydrohot element with the interior temp set at 40 degrees and leaving cuboard doors at the sinks open. The storage bay stays 45 degrees and the interior heaters rarely come on. Given that your sink drains seem to be the most susceptible issue, you can pour a little non toxic antifreeze in all the drains without much expense and effort. I do check the bay temp and the charge status panel daily to be sure all is well. I have the coach on a 120V/30 amp circuit. Less than that available current level as a supply might might be a concern if running both the charger and the electric element of the hydro hot at the same time. I do not like to rely on the diesel burner. Mine has failed to start several times when it is cold and very damp out. My suspicion is that the electrodes and parts are all coated with condensation and the spark does not end up jumping the gap that it is supposed to.
Joel Ashley:
As far as the cracked drains, pouring a half cup of RV antifreeze (not automotive antifreeze!) down each, sinks and shower, will keep them from freezing again while stored. Opening all the faucets and toilet valves while having opened all the water system manifold drain valves is easy enough. Of course, open the main water tank drain. Open any drains near the water pump and run the pump to help clear water from it. Pour a cup or two of RV antifreeze in the washer/dryer drum if you have one - see its instructions for winterizing. Blowing 40 psi air through the system to clear it has always worked for me, but then I also turn on the HydroHot element in super cold weather and set the thermostats at 40. But you need a functioning inverter.
If you have an icemaker, that gets a little trickier as it has to be cycled to open its valve so water can drain back towards the valve you opened near the pump; see refrigerator or seperate icemaker owner's manual for that. Without a functioning inverter or 12v. you didn't have power to the heat strip around the icemaker's solenoid valve, so hope that didn't freeze and crack. Hopefully your new inverter and infrequent Alabama freezes will keep you from having to deal with that threat again. You were unfortunate enough to get hit by the perfect storm of unusual weather in the deep south and a belly-up inverter.
Using the water pump to push RV antifreeze throughout the system is best, but impractical procedurally for winter weekend warriors - that is how CW winterized your rig. For weekenders, I'd use the RV antifreeze in drains and air blowout procedure mentioned above, and during projected freezing weather, keep the living room thermostat at 40 with the HydroHot 110v AC on, and check the inverter output/battery voltage every couple days if possible.
Of course, make sure your engine antifreeze tests up to snuff - antifreeze testers are available at auto parts stores.
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