Xantrex heart 20 Christmas lights...

[Tim Schafer]

First off, posting from my phone, so I apologize for any auto correct nonsense.

I drove my 97 patriot about 25 miles lastnight with the generator running and the AC on, everything was normal. Shut everything down correctly, left for the night and got back to the coach this evening. Went to turn the inverter on to run a few fans to cool down the coach and as soon as I pressed the inverter on button the charge light, inverter light, the amp draw lights and the lights that show the amp share all started blinking about the same speed, but not in sync with each other and the carbon monoxide alarm started beeping low voltage. I shut it back off and fired up the generator and as soon as the transfer switch kicked in the inverter panel went back to doing the same thing. I went outside and flipped the power switch on the actual inverter waited a minute and turned it back on came back inside the lights were doing the same thing. Went back to the breaker panel and killed the breaker labeled inveter and all the lights went out. Waited about 5 minutes and turned the breaker back on and its doing the same thing.

This is not the original control panel, I purchased a new one at the start of the season and it's worked fine all summer, but it could be part of the issue. I have the old control panel and will try installing it later, but was curious if anyone else had seen this before.

Thanks

Tim &  Ann

[Edward Buker]

Tim,

You did not mention what brand inverter so I am assuming it was a Xantrex. Once in awhile on my Xantrex I get a strange panel result where the unit shuts down acting like an error, blinking lights, but stores no error code. It is a rare event and I got an inkling of what was going on when a person with a push mower went by my battery compartment and the alarm and error flashing started. That was not a random event so I think RF noise at times may attach itself (in this case from the mower spark ignition plug generating stray RF) and get into the circuitry of a Xantrex, probably coming down the battery temperature sensor cable but I am unsure of if it is this cable or battery cables.

The way to reset the Xantrex, if you are getting strange readouts, is to shut down all AC power at the campground post and then turn off the house battery switch if you have one, if not disconnect the house battery plus leads to the coach and wait for 30 seconds. Reconnect the house batteries by cable or switch and turn on the AC at the post. If that does not clear the issue then you have to seek some service or an alternative unit. Hope this helps.

Later Ed

[Tim Schafer]

Yes, I believe it's a Xantrex.  It says Heart 20 on the original control panel.  Where we camped last night we had no AC, so ran very minimal stuff on the inverter.  We just moved to a real campground and are hooked up to 50 amp, was still doing the same thing.  I unfortunately do not have battery shut off's, so will have to disconnect the battery cables.

In the mean time I hooked my old control panel back up, it's the kind that only has a on/off switch, and you have to mess with dip switches on the back, but as soon as I plugged it in all the lights look normal on it.

I may try your advice and kill all power and the batteries in the morning when I have some light and see what the newer control panel does.  I really like it because it's color coded and has buttons for charge, inverter and allows me to control the amp draw on the inverter.  It's worked fine all summer, so either it just went bad or like you said something caused interference.

Thanks for the advice!

Tim & Ann

Either way, since I'm on 50 amp, all it has to do is charge, and the old control panel says it's doing that right now.

[Edward Buker]

Tim,

You should not have to power down, your system is working properly with the old panel. The new panel. when you unplugged it from the charger inverter connection, dropped power to it and therefor the solid state logic parts in the panel were reset if it had any built in components. It would appear that if you get an error with the new panel there is no way to reset it easily.

A Heart Freedom 20 is one of the older more reliable systems and was well made. Xantrex bought them out and these older units were discontinued, so I'm not sure there is any tech support, maybe Xantrex has some knowledge. Sometimes they were mounted in environments that were hard on them, like under a bed over an engine compartment. They seem to survive, to their credit they were a robustly designed unit.

Later Ed

[Tim Schafer]

Mine is mounted on a shelf in the basement near the water compartment, but well away from the engine and other high temperature areas.

Thanks again for everything Edward, you are always a good source of knowledge!

Tim & Ann