I have a Freedom 20 inverter with charger. It has two breakers and the 30AMP breaker keeps tripping, it is the input breaker. What could be causing this breaker to trip? It trips when on shore power and when it is also on the generator. The 20AMP breaker is for the charger and it is fine.
Is this a new thing or did you just install the inverter?
How is the inverter wired into the bus? Is there a breaker panel between the inverter and the bus systems?
Breakers trip because they are overloaded; typically due to a short. Can you isolate the inverter by turning off all breakers in
your distribution panel? Then one by one turn them back on till the inverter trips and you can then tell what circuit is causing
it and find what's on that circuit.
I had the same problem with a RV that came into the campground last year and the problem ended up being that whoever did the wiring of the receptacles wired the hot and neutral backwards on a kitchen circuit. Once that was fixed, the problem went away.
Do as Craig says and turn off all the breakers and see if the inverter continues to function, then turn on one circuit at a time until the breaker pops again.
You may also want to use a clamp-on amp meter to see if the breaker is being asked to carry too much at any time.
IHTH
Dallas
Eagle,
Can you provide the model or part number for this? I'm having trouble identifying the unit from what you have posted.
The "Freedom 20", which is really a marine unit, comes with only one breaker, which is 25 amps. It looks like this:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xantrex.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Ffreedom-marine_290x230.jpg&hash=7677cc8baf628e0d0d0f5f9c593a3154eecf5392)
Perhaps you have a "Freedom 458 model 20", which would have two breakers. However, neither of those would be 30 amps. It looks like this:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xantrex.com%2Fimages%2Fproducts%2Ffreedom458_290x230.jpg&hash=0ede2d4fc67f111394d2f1bf385920904055f71a)
Are these the round pop-out "push to reset" type of breakers? I'm wondering if you have either an older unit that I can't find documentation for, or perhaps the unit has been modified in some way. In any case, without knowing how the breaker is connected, it's hard to answer your question.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
This problem just started has been working fine for seven years. Sean it is probably 10 years old. It looks nothing like the pictures itis black and it does have the pop out type breakers and you push them back in to reset. Like I said before it is just the 30AMP input breaker the 25AMP breaker is fine for the charger and the batteries stay charged.
Turned off all breakers in panel and the 30AMP breaker still tripped. Could this be a circuit board or breaker is getting hot or weak?
OK...
Disconnect the output completely (hot and neutral) at the inverter, then apply power to the input and see if the breaker still trips. If it does not, your problem has likely developed downstream of the unit, and we can work on further diagnosis.
If it still trips with the output completely disconnected, then the problem is internal to the unit. It can be as simple as the breaker itself has gone bad, or as complex as the control logic has run amok, with all sorts of possibilities in between, including transformer windings shorting against the case, melted power transistors, etc. etc.. You could see if Xantrex will repair it, but I would not hold out too much hope. You could also open it up yourself looking for problems, some of which would be quite obvious.
HTH.
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
Sean I disconnected the AC output and the breaker still tripped.
Test the breaker - HTH
If it will help, I have a manual for the 2500 watt version of this old inverter.
Jay
87 SaftLiner
Quote from: Eagle on November 26, 2007, 11:52:51 AM
Sean I disconnected the AC output and the breaker still tripped.
Then you have gone as far as you can go without opening up the inverter. Once you're in there, you will either need to know what you are looking at, or have a good schematic, or have some help.
As Niles suggested, I would start by looking at the breaker. But even that will require opening up the inverter and possibly cutting wires -- these little breakers are often soldered in place.
Before cracking the case open, you might want to call Xantrex and at least ask if they will repair it, and for how much. They may also be able to refer you to a local shop that can do it.
If it were mine, I would open it up and start poking around with a meter. And, as I wrote before, some types of problems will be obvious (scorch marks, melted insulation, etc.).
-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com
Want to thank everyone for the help. I spoke with Xantrex and they had me do some test and they think it is a weak breaker so I am going to change that and hope that solves the problem