Inverter Upgrade: Xantrex 3000-watt Pure Sine Wave

Hi Dick,

Since our RV came from the factory with a 2,800W inverter-charger (IC), all of our cables & fuses were appropriately sized already. Going to a 3,000W IC wasn't that big of a jump. But if your RV has a 2,000W IC, it likely has smaller cabling and fuses. So we'd suspect they'd need to be upgraded. If in doubt, check the installation instructions for your new IC... it will most likely include minimum requirements for the cables & fuse so that you'll know for sure.

Hope this helps!

Hi Robert,

Seems like the more high-tech something is, the smaller the documentation that comes with it! LOL!

The System Control Panel (SCP) manual is fairly generic... showing you HOW to change things, not what to change. Check out the Owner's Manual for the Freedom SW (PDF available here) for some more detail about the settings you can change... and what you can change them to.

The settings we changed on our Freedom SW Inverter (made using the SCP) were to the battery type... switching it from one of the preset default options ("Flooded", "Gel" or "AGM") to "Custom" so that we could configure all of the charging voltages to match Lifeline's recommendations.

This isn't a complete step-by-step instructional... but should be enough to get you through the process of changing your settings (double-check with Lifeline for your batteries to be sure the voltages we're listing are the same for yours):

From the main screen on the SCP, press the "Enter" button to access the "Menu" Use the arrows to scroll down to your Freedom SW Inverter Charger (ours is listed as "FSW3012 00") and once highlighted, press the "Enter" button to access it's settings While viewing the settings for the Freedom SW, use the arrow keys to scroll down. If you see an option for "Advanced Settings", highlight it and press "Enter"... if you don't, you need to enable access to the "Advanced Settings" by pressing the following three keys simultaneously: "Enter" + the Up arrow + the Down arrow... then press the down arrow again to highlight "Advanced Settings" and press "Enter" to access it. Select the "Charger Settings" option and press the "Enter" button Select the "Battery Type" option and press the "Enter" button to start editing the setting... use the arrow keys to scroll until "Custom" is displaying and then press the "Enter" button Once "Custom" has been set as the battery type, scroll to and select the "Custom Settings" option. You should now see the list of options you can customize for the "Custom" battery settings: "Eqlz Support" — "Enabled" "Eqlz Voltage" — 15.5V "Bulk Voltage" — 14.3V "Absorb Voltage" — 14.3V "Float Voltage" — 13.3V "BattTempComp" — -27mV/C (this was the default as we recall... and didn't change it)

Page 58 of the above-linked PDF for the Freedom SW 3012 Owner's Manual lists out the charge profiles of the three pre-set options available for "Battery Type" (with "Bulk" voltage being the same as "Absorption" voltage). You may be able to just set the "Battery Type" to "AGM" if your Lifeline batteries require a close enough voltage profile that it will work for you (Lifeline changes their recommendations over time).

Hope this helps!

Craigslist WAS indeed our plan.... sold it on Craigs a few months ago. The guy who bought it lives on an island off the Canadian coast, totally off the grid, and needed more power from his battery bank. He came across on the ferry just to meet us in Vancouver to buy it. Sorry if you were looking for it.

Hey Gene... it's our pleasure to demonstrate these things for our fellow Mountain Aire owners! And you are correct... your Magnum 2012 inverter is modified sine wave (MSW). It's not unusual for devices (like your microwave) to sound different when running on MSW power, but we would assume that Newmar chose units that would be alright being powered that way (plus the fact that it has lasted this long indicates that it has handled it OK this whole time).

And while it's true that your coach is 50A... your inverter isn't. A Magnum 2000W inverter provides 16.7A of power (2000 watts divided by 120V = 16.66666667A). So, in all likelihood, the breaker(s) mounted on the inverter are actually 20A capacity (to handle the surge capacity of the inverter), not 30A. Our Xantrex SW3012 has a 30A breaker on it (3000 watts divided by 120V = 25A, again with surge capacity on the 30A breaker). And your inverter doesn't really NEED to be 50A, since they don't power everything in your coach. In Newmar's installation, the inverter only power the outlets, not the larger amp-draw devices (like air conditioners, water heater, block heater, washer/dryer, etc). Which is good! Those power-hungry devices would drain your battery bank in just a few minutes if they were! ?

Running a 1,500W electric heater probably pulls around 12-13 amps through the circuit. And if you then fire up the microwave, you could easily pull another 13-15 amps. So you could be pulling as much as 28 amps of power, just from those two devices... way exceeding the 20A breaker built into the inverter. The fact that it pops is a good thing... it's protecting you from drawing too much power through a circuit that wasn't designed to handle it.

Over time, repeatedly popping the inverter's circuit breaker could have weakened the breaker... which just makes it more susceptible to popping when it nears it's maximum capacity. You could have the breaker replaced, but we'd also recommend that you always be aware of your loads on the inverter, and make sure you keep them below that threshold (which it sounds like you've been doing) by turning the space heater off before running the microwave.

Finally, we haven't heard the term "FULL pass-through" in relation to an inverter (Basement storage? YES! Inverters? No!). Both the Magnum AND the Xantrex have an AC pass-through feature. What that means is that they allow 120V power from the shore connection (or the generator) to pass through them to the circuits connected to the inverter, so that when one of those two sources of power are available, the inverter doesn't need to be on for you to have power at those outlets. If they DIDN'T offer pass-through of the AC power, your inverter would be the ONLY way to get 120V power to those outlets... which would mean that when you were plugged into shore power (or when running the generator) your inverter would still be pulling power OUT of the batteries to power the outlets... and you'd have to turn it off to stop that... which would mean you wouldn't have power at those outlets any more.

Upgrading to a larger inverter would eliminate a lot of the concern about popping the breaker (but not all... again, you'd need to make sure you don't pull more power through the inverter's circuit breaker than it can handle). And upgrading to a pure sine wave model would most likely improve the sound of your microwave when it's running. But if you don't NEED the extra power, and you've adjusted to what your microwave sounds like when running on the inverter, there's really no need.

Hope this helps! Maybe we'll see you somewhere out on the road.

Hey Peter! Yosemite & Sequoia are fantastic.... both in our Top 5 National Parks. But solar panels aren't likely to be as useful in either of those places due to the forested settings. So that leave even those of us with solar panels in the same boat: running the generator more than we'd like.

Here's some things you can do to reduce generator usage: Install LED lighting to reduce demand; cook using propane instead of the microwave; when possible, choose an RV fridge (propane/electric) instead of a residential one (the single biggest power hog); go the bed earlier to reduce need for lighting after sunset; increase battery bank size if you have the space for it; combine tasks (if you need to run the genny to charge batteries, maybe do it when you also need power for other tasks, such as on a hot afternoon when A/C is also needed, or when prepping that occasional microwave dinner).

As far as getting the most accurate battery reading, the Newmar panel with the tank readings is the absolute LEAST useful method. We NEVER use that. The Xantrex reading should be the most accurate, as long as it's not currently under heavy load or charging the batteries. During those times, the batteries are not "at rest" so they show lower (under heavy load) or higher (while being charged) than they actually are.