Xantrex Pro Inverter

Iam2alan · 09-05-2018, 06:58 PM

We have owned our 31FK for about 18 months and I am sure there is still many things about it that I don’t know about it. But, in our 31FK, we have a Xantrex Pro inverter that came with the motorhome. The problem is I have absolutely no idea what the hell it does or how to use it. Can anyone provide any useful information for me?
I have tried to attach an image of it below.

Iam2alan · 09-05-2018, 07:02 PM

Grumpy · 09-05-2018, 07:19 PM

It will run the front TV while boondocking and probably rear TV too.

Robbbyr · 09-05-2018, 07:22 PM

Your inverter can supply 120-volt alternating current (AC) to select circuits in your motorhome when you are not plugged into shore power or running the generator. It "inverts" 12-volts direct current (DC) from your house battery or batteries into 120-volt AC. It likely can power your main TV and possibly a second TV if you have one. I am unsure if in your model the microwave is on the inverter circuits. In my Seneca it does indeed power 2 of my 3 TVs and my microwave. My outside TV is not on the inverter circuits.

You should be able to find out what items are on the inverter circuits, just be unplugged (and not running generator) and turn it on to see what items still have AC power.

WinnieView · 09-05-2018, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iam2alan

Attachment 43857

You should stop using the inverter when the voltage reads 12.3 or less and plug in or start the generator to prevent long-term damage to the battery.

Iam2alan · 09-05-2018, 08:42 PM

Thank you Grumpy, 2008 Seneca and Robbbyr. That’s what I thought it would do but I had not located the connected outlets because it is rare for us to use our tv’s. I will take a look tomorrow. I appreciate the info on the voltage limits too, I was not aware of that. Thank you all again.

hoppers4 · 09-05-2018, 09:52 PM

On my MV, the only outlet that the inverter is wired to is the one for the front TV. This outlet is disabled on engine start/run unless you've modified the outlet to bypass this inconvenience.

pconroy · 09-05-2018, 10:16 PM

I have a 2016 31FK so can share some specifics. The inverter powers only the socket behind the big TV. The bedroom TV is not powered and no other outlets are either.

It's only a 1000 watt inverter so you can't plug in a toaster oven (you wouldn't want to anyway.)

There's a safety relay that powers that outlet down when the coach is on. To make sure you're not watching TV and driving. Should you ever want to change that, the procedure is easy and we can help.

The display can show you some useful info. I usually leave it as you have it - showing the charge flowing into the battery.

Finally you can Google the make and model and download a PDF copy of the manual.

Iam2alan · 09-12-2018, 05:00 PM

Thanks pc, I appreciate the info.

WinnieView · 09-12-2018, 05:25 PM

The inverter in our Jayco is located directly below the rear TV and we found it had extra standard outlets available on the opposite side of where the hard wiring was located connected to the front TV. So we simply ran an extension cord up the back of the cabinets and to the rear TV.

Precept14 · 10-17-2018, 06:54 AM

We a 2014 Jayco Precept. Our 1000 watt inverter is under the bed and it feed only the living room tv, one 120 volt outlet and two usb charging outlets all in the passenger side seat area. What I did was ran a circuit to bedroom and outside tv and also installed a ground fault receptacle in the outside entertainment area, for cell phone charging. We will never run more than one tv at a time but I did have all three running at one time. However I am interested in the
“correct”way to disable the living room tv turning off when you start the engine. Couple reasons, Our grandkids would love to watch TV while traveling and at times I like to just start my engine to charge the batteries when the generator is not an option and of course the tv goes out. Thanks

WinnieView · 10-17-2018, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Precept14

However I am interested in the
“correct”way to disable the living room tv turning off when you start the engine. Couple reasons, Our grandkids would love to watch TV while traveling and at times I like to just start my engine to charge the batteries when the generator is not an option and of course the tv goes out. Thanks

Unplug the TV and plug it into a non-switched outlet is what we've always done in all our motorhomes.

billjmck · 10-19-2018, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

Unplug the TV and plug it into a non-switched outlet is what we've always done in all our motorhomes.

You can't do that! It's too easy and it must be illegal somewhere!

Camper_bob · 10-19-2018, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by billjmck

You can't do that! It's too easy and it must be illegal somewhere!

Next week I'm going to have my rig out, and I'm going to take a simple circuit tester to the outlets in my MH to see which ones are powered by the inverter, and which ones are not.

One odd thing (I haven't verified with testing) is that only one side of the outlet behind my main TV is powered. I went into the MH to get a DVD out, fired up the inverter, found that the TV would power up, but not the DVD player. Switched the DVD and TV plugs in the outlet and got my DVD out. Kind of annoying if only ONE side of ONE outlet in the whole MH is powered by the inverter... But we shall see...

I'll probably go about cleaning up the rat's nest of wiring behind that outlet while I'm up there this time; I had to put blinders on when I went in there to disable the ignition lockout circuit on that outlet...

jfro · 11-20-2018, 07:33 PM

My panel on my xm1000 Xantrex PRO is cycling between ---- and then some 000's. With a click and "a blink of the overhead led lights" between the 0's and -'s. This is in my Greyhawk 2015 ME. Reading some of these inverter posts, I'm wondering whether to replace the inverter or maybe go run the generator for an hour as at the battery, it's only showing 12.3 volts and someone suggested that's too low. If I run the generator and then check the panel, it show the E05 and OL errors. Which is overload. Any suggestions is welcome. I'm doing a 2nd over night disconnection of the battery to see if that helps. Inverter is on black friday sale right now so tempted to buy it but not sure if I have a problem or maybe just my battery didn't charge sitting on 110 in my driveway before going to storage.

WinnieView · 11-20-2018, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfro

My panel on my xm1000 Xantrex PRO is cycling between ---- and then some 000's. With a click and "a blink of the overhead led lights" between the 0's and -'s. This is in my Greyhawk 2015 ME. Reading some of these inverter posts, I'm wondering whether to replace the inverter or maybe go run the generator for an hour as at the battery, it's only showing 12.3 volts and someone suggested that's too low. If I run the generator and then check the panel, it show the E05 and OL errors. Which is overload. Any suggestions is welcome. I'm doing a 2nd over night disconnection of the battery to see if that helps. Inverter is on black friday sale right now so tempted to buy it but not sure if I have a problem or maybe just my battery didn't charge sitting on 110 in my driveway before going to storage.

99.9% of the time the problem is the battery. Get the battery back up to 13 volts and try again. If you spend money on anything it should be a new battery if required. Have it tested if needed.

jfro · 11-20-2018, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

99.9% of the time the problem is the battery. Get the battery back up to 13 volts and try again. If you spend money on anything it should be a new battery if required. Have it tested if needed.

Charging up a battery right now and will try in AM. Hope that is all it is..... Will know tomorrow.

Camper_bob · 11-21-2018, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Next week I'm going to have my rig out, and I'm going to take a simple circuit tester to the outlets in my MH to see which ones are powered by the inverter, and which ones are not.

One odd thing (I haven't verified with testing) is that only one side of the outlet behind my main TV is powered. I went into the MH to get a DVD out, fired up the inverter, found that the TV would power up, but not the DVD player. Switched the DVD and TV plugs in the outlet and got my DVD out. Kind of annoying if only ONE side of ONE outlet in the whole MH is powered by the inverter... But we shall see...

I'll probably go about cleaning up the rat's nest of wiring behind that outlet while I'm up there this time; I had to put blinders on when I went in there to disable the ignition lockout circuit on that outlet...

Update on this: I don't know what was happening that day, but both sides of that outlet do indeed work. I travel with the generator running quite a lot, but needed to travel with it off recently and I still wanted my son to be able to watch a movie in transit (already did the ignition cut-out mod). So I fired up the inverter and all worked flawlessly for the rest of the trip. That was my first time to actually use the inverter (outside of one or two simple tests) since purchasing this rig back in April.

I still haven't traced down what outlets are actually powered.

Steve1152 · 11-23-2018, 08:03 PM

camper bob in my 2018 29mv the inverter powers the front and back tvs and both plugs by the bed in the back bedroom. i know it doesnt power the fridge, but i didnt check any other plugs.

jfro · 11-27-2018, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

99.9% of the time the problem is the battery. Get the battery back up to 13 volts and try again. If you spend money on anything it should be a new battery if required. Have it tested if needed.

Bought a new inverter. Had the battery checked and it is fine as is my old battery.

It works but is pretty useless on my 2015 Greyhawk ME. After countless tech calls to Xantrex and Jayco, I've come to this conclusion.

In 13000 miles and 2 years of camping the only time we hit the on button on the control panel for the inverter was to check the 12 volt battery levels. Never used the outlet up front that the TV is plugged into except when on shore power or with the generator running .

Now, in the cold weather with the battery at 12.9 volts, the unit works but when I put a 75 watt light bulb on connected to the tv outlet (nothing else is on) the light stays on for just a few seconds and then cycles on and off every 5-10 seconds.

Xantrex had me monitor and check the battery levels at the battery and the inputs on the xantex (used 2 meters to verify) and they were within specs when the inverter was off. HOWEVER, when inverter was turned on the input voltage at the posts would drops from 12.9 to below 12.2 volts which causes the inverter to cycle on /off.

Last of 4 Xantrex phone calls said battery cable to inverter should be 1 awg for short runs. When I told him the length was probably more like 12-15 ft of wire, he did his calculations and said wire should be 00 otherwise voltage drop would be too great and cause the inverter to cycle power on/off.

So I check the positive wire coming into the inverter (with an extra 2+ feet of wire that isn't needed)and guess what, it's only 6 awg. No wonder the friggin inverter doesn't work with a simple 75 watt light bulb.

I'm currently looking at a 5th wheel and this is seemingly is an engineering faux pas or builders using the wrong wire which doesn't make me want to run out and buy another Jayco.

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