[C320-list] Freedom 20 Invertor

[Doug Treff]

I had a similar dilemma when my Freedom 20 failed. I went with the
HF1800 and it's been rock solid after 2 years. I did buy the 2 year West
Marine extended warranty because I'd heard of some people having issues
with the Xantrex warranty department. 

No complaints, other than the Freedom series does not have the ability
to do an equalization charge. 

One thing to note, if you buy the HF series (1000 or 1800) is that the
"handy" paper mounting template that comes with the inverter is not to
scale. If you drill the holes using this template, the inverter will not
fit. Check your template before relying on it! 

Because of the wiring locations, the HF1800 was a drop-in replacement
for my Freedom 20. I was able to reuse all the existing wires without
needing to extend or reconfigure the wiring layout. Just needed to drill
new mounting holes. 

I used the included extender cable and installed the control panel by
the Nav station and it it sure is handy to have the ability to monitor
status and (digital) voltage of the bank right there. The only down side
is that the control panel for the HF is smaller than the Freedom 20. I
had to make an adapter panel out of sheet metal. I painted it black to
match the HF control panel and it looks OK. 

---
Doug Treff
doug at treff.us

On 2015-09-27 20:32, Jeffrey Brown wrote: 

> My batteries are only a few years old. However I've concluded I need to replace the inverter/charger. Dick said the Xantrex Freedom HF 1800 is what he replaced in his boat and it works great. Do others concur or have other suggestions?
> Jeff Brown
> 949-350-5123
> 
>> On Sep 26, 2015, at 2:18 AM, argates2nd <argates2nd at comcast.net> wrote: How old are your batteries? Rollie. #182 Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone -------- Original message -------- From: Jeffrey Brown <oceanblues at mac.com> Date: 09/25/2015 6:24 PM (GMT-05:00) To: Catalina C320 List List <C320-List at Catalina320.com> Subject: [C320-list] Freedom 20 Invertor Hi everyone I'm hull 78 and have been battling my Inverter for a few years. Recently I forgot to hookup shore power and drained the batteries. When I plugged in after a little while it blows the 25amp breaker on the dock. So in the past I discovered I should charge only one battery at a time. That seemed to work in the past. This time, even with both batteries shut to the off position the heart interface is flashing overloaded. I turn the switch off on the heart interface for a few minutes and then back on. For about 15 seconds it appears to start working then it clicks and goes back to the flashing overload.
  The
question I have is there some easy troubleshooting I can do, or do I suck it up and replace the 20 year old unit and if so, any suggestions. Jeff Brown 949-350-5123